Cedar Teeth’s “Hoot” is full of rustic wild pastures. This is folk-influenced rock with bite. Songs tell small stories little snapshots from life. Remarkably earnest these are songs that come straight from the heart. At times the music is reminiscent of Modest Mouse’s raw, early work. Emotionally the songs range from the contented to the uneasy. Vocals confirm this with the ability to be intimate as well as screaming. Both worlds are explored with the same level of reverence.
Here is a Bandcamp link:
https://cedarteethband.bandcamp.com/
And here is a Soundcloud link as well:
https://soundcloud.com/cedarteethband/sets/cedar-teeth-hoot
“Locks” blasts the album off with a great deal of passion, with every flourish pitch-perfect from the inquisitive lyrics to the expressive harmonica. Turning down the volume a tad is the stripped down sound of “Boots”. With “Wednesday” they accurately capture the drudgery that is the midweek spirit, right down to the elongated horns and guitars becoming one. By far the highlight is the shouted stream of consciousness “Ugly Overnight”. Distortion works wonders in making in a particularly hard-hitting, prickly, yet ultimately sweet track. This mood continues with the yearning tone of “Fragrance of Cool”. A certain level of chaos is embedded with the metallic clang of the guitars on “Simple Bend in Time”. Burning through its track time is the frantic work of “I Went Down”. A shift towards psychedelic territory occurs on “Behind the Sun”. Ending the album off is the intimate classically-inclined work of “Handy Dagger”.
“Hoot” shows a glimpse of what the future of folk can look like.
Posted by Beach Sloth
