It’s time to jog our ADHD-addled minds with Flashion Backward, a feature that’s the spiritual cousin of Flashion Forward. Here, we rifle through our treasure trove of interviews to fish out a vintage gem–the better to explore the strange vortex in which fashion and musicians meet. Our dose of Ritalin today: Wye Oak.
Indie folksters Wye Oak (named after a 460-year-old tree in Maryland, their home state) have always managed to temper their earnest, reflective lyrics with a dose of bittersweet, poignant edge, saving them from the degrading horrors of existence on lite radio. (Perish the day)!
Fans and critics alike gobble up their pretension-free collision of reverberating noisy fuzz and friendly, naked emotionalism. They seem like the kind of sweet/eccentric duo who would randomly invite you over for a snack after hitting it off at the laundromat, then proceed to serve you PB&J with the crusts cut off and a glass of organic milk while chatting about their pet hamster. And then they’d whip out the pot brownies and Pabst and suggest a game of Twister.
(Check out their latest song of innocence and experience, then check out their new album on July 21).
Below, it sounds like their approach to life hasn’t changed for Jenn and Andy since high school–though Andy’s fashion sense may have improved, and their alleged status as cripplingly embarrassing dorks certainly has. But actually, I’ve always found huge fros, Hawaiian shirts and the practice of playing in a steel-drum band to be rather charming.
TOPICS: Flashion Backward, Kathleen Willcox