Jeremy's Indie Music: Wye Oak, Ruby Lounge Manchester UK, 22 August 2011 8/10

Wye Oak (Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner) is a duo from Baltimore who have played together since childhood, taking their name from the state tree of Maryland. On only their second visit to Manchester, Jenn was most gracious and appreciative towards the audience. They're clearly eager to travel far and wide to share their musical passion, and in a recent interview, they articulated an aim of sustainability rather than chasing great commercial success.

The Ruby Lounge in Manchester city centre is an intimate venue, with excellent sound, and I was close enough to the stage to be really immersed in the performance. We were treated to two support bands: The Steals and Air Cav, both with folk influences and a spiritual dimension which set the mood for the creativity of Wye Oak. The main act's hour long set largely comprised their album Civilian, released in March 2011 on Merge Records; although we also heard a song from the 2009 LP The Knot, and a new and promising number from their next, as yet unrecorded album (see the video at the end of this post).

Wye Oak are an excellent example of an act conveying unexpected joy live: I expected them be thoughtful and restrained, cerebral rather than visceral. Whilst the predominant mood was indeed melancholic, I was amazed by their energy and freedom. They conjured up often dark moods, with sad melodies, defly flipping from anguish to calm shoegaze.

They are multi instrumentalists who produce a slow, subtle building of intensity, with judicious restraint and yearning beauty. It's not quiet music though: we heard thundering drums and ringing guitars in layered textures, and it was fascinating to watch Andy playing drums with one hand and bass keyboard with the other. However, the key to Wye Oak's appeal is Jenn's expressive, dreamy, and often sensual voice, full of emotion and power.

They are very different in character from the folk duo The Civil Wars: more raucous, with influences from rock and noise. Having said that, the final number, Doubt from Civilian was tender and touching, and songs such as We Were Wealth have a quiet beauty.

Commentators have made comparisons with the fellow Baltimore duo Beach House, but Wye Oak has more variety of mood and sound (and sadly less wide recognition at present). They make extensive use of feedback and fuzz, for example in Plains (which also has great melodic qualities). In addition to the title track Civilian, another highlight for me was the relatively upbeat Holy, Holy, which really rocked.

Some may be concerned by the broadness of mix of influences (lo-fi, post punk, shoegaze, folk, indie rock), but I do find their sound original, and its brooding depth rewards concentrated listening.

Elsewhere this gig has been reviewed less positively: Jenn was described as nervous, the performance flawed, and apparently ‘the whole thing droned with grey distortion’. I have years of deep knowledge of classical interpretation, and whilst I’m sure this critical reviewer is more deeply steeped in popular music than me, I’m not too troubled by the disparity in views. In any case, just as I was about to post my review, another far more sympathetic review appeared in my Twitter feed.

For me, music’s all about emotional reaction, and the feelings explored by Wye Oak are often dark and challenging. I became totally absorbed in the performance, and loved Jenn's freedom in interpretation. I didn’t expect or desire a faithful run through of their meticulously created studio album Civilian. We were taken on a voyage to a dark, pensive world, emerging at the end into the light with that beautiful solo performance of Doubt. I've a suspicion despite her youth, she's already experienced plenty of life's pain; perhaps one reason why Wye Oak's deep music engaged me so completely.