Woods' second album shows marked improvement in their songwriting and instrumentation, not just leaving their songs to simple guitar and weird singing, but fleshing them out more and bringing out better hooks. With a fuller sound, their high pitched goblin voices sound a lot less like outsider oddness and more like junk shop TV on the Radio, perhaps this time chosing old school Sebadoh to cover instead of the Pixies. The songs are so solid, the band can no longer be held down by cassette culture - their limited-to-100 Fuck It tape version of the album already sold out with CD version just released on Shrimper and LP version shortly forthcoming on Woodsist (the vinyl arm of Fuck It Tapes).
Almost all of these 11 songs are very nice, accessible pop songs, rarely overpowered by the duo's shut off from the world presentation. "Don't Pass On Me" sounds like the theme song to some acid-fueled Jesus Franco horror/schlock movie from the 70s, using death and graveyard imagery to drain any sentimentality from their anti-love folk song. Woods even breaks out of the bedroom/backwoods folk mold to add electric guitar, which heightens the psychedelic sound of songs like "Be Still." Even psyched-up rock has a well crafted hook though, as in this song where the Woods boys sing "Be still, be still, the police will break you of your will." Their ambitions even lead them to turn their tiny, intimate sound into Bunyan-like baroque folk on "Bone Tapper." How to Survive In/In the Woods highlight "Keep It On" is re-recorded here, as well, this time bringing more guitar out from beneath the tape hum, though wisely not changing the Young-ian anthem too much. Overall it's just a better album than its predecessor; check it out even if you were luke warm on the band before.
