Los Angeles – Midway through August, about a month before their second album was released, Lawton Browning of The Woolen Men made a simple request of writers reviewing Temporary Monument: Speaking in no uncertain terms, he appealed for a write-up that skipped the PR-style RIYL-isms that are all too common in music journalism. In place of that, he yearned for “an actual honest to god conversation with what we just made and how it fits into all the shit that’s goin’ on right now.” Writing a review that satisfies his desire for an existential evaluation of the contemporary underground music and social climates may be an impossible task; however, his own online dispatch does shed a light on the values and ethics his band holds most dear.
Following in the steps of idealistic, steadfast punks like Minutemen with their “jam econo” touring and recording principles, The Woolen Men have set their sights on cultivating and nurturing the Pacific Northwest’s tight-knit local music scene. Temporary Monument sees the homegrown band lashing out at the realization that Portland (and so many cities just like it) may have passed an impossible-to-replicate moment in time; that period when a scene has reached a critical mass of quality and community without becoming diluted with disingenuous, disinterested newcomers who are superficially attracted to the excitement for their egos’ sake. In other words, the album essentially is the review that Browning requested from music journalists; the album itself is the conversation of how The Woolen Men fit into a rapidly gentrifying and changing Portland.
In press releases, The Woolen Men grumble about the infiltration of luxury condos and silly niche businesses replacing the places they lived and performed, forever altering the organic and inward-looking city they have always called home. This sentiment comes on clearly nearly immediately with the second song of the album, “Life in Hell”. Guitarist/vocalist Raf Spielman expresses frustration at becoming a stranger in his own home: “I don’t belong here in this place / I don’t belong here with you… / A confession that I make / I can no longer see the shape of the thing.” Drummer/vocalist Browning’s take on the subject is not much more hopeful, as he laments coming home to an “Alien City”: “…wiping out the past / I don’t know what it is / but I can’t feel a thing”
Temporary Monument is full of lean-and-mean, no frills art-punk outbursts like “Life in Hell,” “Untitled”, “The Dissolving Man”, and “Hard Revision”. But what set bands like Wire and Mission of Burma apart from their less-acclaimed peers was an ability to excel at the moments between the aggression, and The Woolen Men promisingly follow in those same footsteps. The rambling sing-speak and extended closing jam of “Clean Dreams”, the organ-driven retro-psych-pop of “After the Flood”, the metronomic Krautrock pace of “Temporary Monument” are vital cogs in making those frenetic moments feel all the more urgent.
Spielman’s guitar playing on Temporary Monument is some of the most fun and exhilarating in recent memory. He plays with a loose-wristed style, galloping all over fairly standard rock ‘n roll chords but manipulating their structures by hammering-on, pulling-off and sliding around in such a manner to create textural, melodic, urgent, rhythmic – and most importantly, memorable post-punk riffs. From the high-octane verse of “University” to the pondering, wandering leads of the album’s perfect conclusion “Walking Out”, the album is chock full of unforgettable guitar moments; at those times which Spielman does exit the mix, there is Alex Geddes’ raucous bass work to keep the groove steady.
It is a bit ironic that Temporary Monument is the kind of high-caliber release that thrusts bands directly into the spotlight, attracting precisely the type of go-with-the-flow trend-hopping nouveau riche hipsters that inspired the disdain channeled into these 10 nearly-flawless songs. This is truly a transcendent record for the band, one that takes them from the middle of late 70’s-early 80’s post-punk revival heap and flings them directly to the top. This could (and should) very well be the moment the band can put their ideals to the test – will they make Steve Albini proud and stick to their ethos?
Temporary Monument is out now via Woodsist Records. Those on the West Coast can catch The Woolen Men at the end of September as they play shows in California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington. Check out the band’s press site for more information.
Matt Matasci
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