Wye Oak: "Take It In"

Baltimore duo Wye Oak crafted a fantastic debut record last year—all restrained, crystalline guitar-pop with some seriously dark undercurrents, taken to the next level by Jenn Wasner’s half-sleepy vocals. If Children ended up on three CMG writers’ 2008 year-end lists and yet, somehow, we never reviewed it.

Thankfully we’ll will have a chance to make amends this summer when Merge issues The Knot, of which “Take It In” is the first sample. It is, in short, everything I wanted to hear from this band. I’ve seen them play live a couple of times; their MO is to play a couple of songs straight and quiet before Wasner suddenly leaps into J Mascis territory. The mannered, pretty songs on If Children suddenly get opened up, cranked around, and ripped to shreds. She’s vicious and she’s great; audiences get a stunned look on their faces and then go nuts. If “Take It In” is any indication, Wasner and bandmate Andy Stack aren’t planning on beating around the bush nearly as much on The Knot. That may turn out to be a mixed blessing, but it certainly sounds great here.

If Children was subtly dark, but “Take It In” seems just outright menacing. It’s all repression and violence, Wasner attacking on guitar between verses and Stack matching her with that overactive crash cymbal. The verses themselves are calm and buttoned down, but the lyrics cut deep: “Do you never ask because you know I’ll say: / “You’re the only one, please stay”? / But you’re not the only one, and you know it’s only fair / When you close your eyes / Who’s there?” There isn’t a huge climax, but the band alternates back and forth between searing rock passages and dark, angry verses. They pack quite a bit into this track’s five minutes, and as a first indication of where they’re going with The Knot, it couldn’t be better news.

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