In and Out and Back Again

iTunes Review

This noisy threesome from Austin (by way of Florida) brews up a head-expanding brew of feral, psych-spiked garage rock that drones even as it throws out subtle hooks. Less nuanced than Austin scenemates Black Angels, Woven Bones’ songs don’t wash and roil and snake. They thrum and pound and pummel, echoing as if recorded in an aluminum-sided room. Andrew Burr’s raspy, bratty snarl is as charming as your 15-year-old neighbor’s newborn band that you’ve come to sort of love (even on Saturday mornings), with his mad-dog delivery feeling more stealthy and commanding after a minute or two. When you hear the seductive bass line and rattlesnake percussion on “Creepy Bone” and shimmy hard enough to dig a hole in the dance floor to “7 Year Mirror,” you’ll think The Cramps have been resurrected. Burr’s love of The Velvet Underground is buried under a few layers of reverb on “If It Feels Alright” and on the corrosive guitars of “Couldn’t Help but Stare.” It’s glowering, propulsive fun, not a bad trip as much as a detour, taken with care.