Preview: Wye Oak, Callers, Caveman

By todd Wednesday April 13, 2011

At the beginning of the year, I called Wye Oak‘s Civilian one of my 5 albums to watch for in 2011. It’s been out for a little over a month now, and it hasn’t let me down. So far, it’s one of my favorite LPs to come out this year, which is a whole different post (forthcoming). But Wye Oak are a long-running love of mine, something I’ve always been candid about. I’ve also seen them several times, and while I’m looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow night, there’s also 2 local bands opening for them at Bowery Ballroom that I’ve been meaning to catch for some time.

UPDATE: Between the time I started writing this post and the time I got around to publishing it, this show sold out. So for the other 500 or so people who are going to be at this with me, make sure you get there in time for the awesome openers.

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Download: Wye Oak – Civilian

Callers have been playing direct support to Wye Oak throughout this tour. The trio – by way of New Orleans – marry smooth, at times jazzy vocals of Sara Lucas with some subtle weirdness. The title track of their newest record, “Life of Love,” could be a Feist b-side. But some of their tracks really dip their feet into a darker, alt-rock groove. I’ve got a feeling that Sara’s vocals, which are already impressive on the LP, are going to be even bigger on a great sound system like Bowery Ballroom. Life of Love was one of my winter soundtracks, and I just found out it’s not their only record. Looking forward to hearing more.

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Download: Callers – Life of Love

Caveman are slightly more enigmatic to me, but have been on my radar since they played I Guess I’m Floating’s big 5th anniversary bash (I couldn’t attend, but was aware of the killer line-up). From what I’ve heard, the band is making delightfully lackadaisical pop music. I feel the same way hearing these songs that I did when I heard Local Natives for the first time: they could be stuck in my head for a long time to come. Check out “Decide” and “December 28” via SoundCloud.