The Woodentops return with their first new studio album in 25 years!
Back in the 1980s, the band enjoyed three Indie chart-topping albums on Rough Trade and a string of hit singles characterised by their trademark mix of bustling rhythms and beguiling melodies.
Fronted by the group's original frontman and principal songwriter Rolo McGinty, the band have recorded Granular Tales, very much rooted in the style of their debut Giant from 1986.
The album will be preceded by the release of a single ‘Third Floor Rooftop’ High’ and will be followed by a short UK tour in March.
Review:
It's been a bit more than a quarter century since the Woodentops last
released an album, and 2014's Granular Tales doesn't suggest the reunited band
has tried to make an album that would convince us nothing has changed since
Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway dropped in 1988. This edition of the
Woodentops – in which original members Rolo McGinty (vocals), Simon Mawby
(guitar), and Frank de Freitas (bass) are joined by drummer Paul Ashby, pianist
Richard Thomas, and keyboardist Aine O'Keeffe – lacks a bit of the youthful
energy of their heyday, with slower tempos and melodies that sound more
contemplative than their work of the ‘80s, and Granular Tales reveals
significantly less of the acoustic undertow they delivered on their touchstone
album, 1986's Giant. But the steady pulse and frequent percussive bursts that
dominate these songs certainly hark back to the Woodentops’ beat-crazy glory
days, and also provide a bridge to the dance music that's been a major part of
McGinty's post-Woodentops résumé. Granular Tales is the work of an older and
more cautious band, but one that hasn't forgotten how to wind up and make its
songs hop, and tunes like “A Pact,” “Third Floor Rooftop High,” and
“Stay Out of the Light” could certainly fill up a dancefloor if given the
chance (while “Every Step of the Way” and “A Little More Time” suggest
a live band approaching the rudiments of electronic dance music, and with
genuine success). And Mawby's guitar fits beautifully into these insistent
arrangements. Granular Tales is a pleasant surprise – an album that
acknowledges the Woodentops' frantic glory days while offering them a way to
move into the 21st century gracefully, and demonstrates how dance music can
mature while still getting the party started; this doesn't exactly pick up where
the Woodentops left off, but certainly finds them just where they want and need
to be.
All Music Guide – Mark Deming