The Wooden Birds - Magnolia reviews
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| Allmusic |
 The Wooden Birds borrow much of their foundation from the American Analog Set, whose textured arrangements and heavy-lidded ambience are channeled throughout this debut effort. But while the American Analog Set often masked Andrew Kenny's melodies with trace-like washes of guitar and synthesizer, the Wooden Birds push his vocals to the front, highlighting the resulting melodies with a soft, gauzy glow reminiscent of early mornings and rainy Sunday afternoons. Accordingly, Magnolia is more indebted to the bedroom recordings of Iron & Wine than the spacy soundscapes of Brian Eno, with palm-muted bass and makeshift percussion (often little more than the sound of Kenny slapping his acoustic guitar) adding a gentle gait. A glance at Magnolia's lyric sheet indicates that Kenny isn't as serene as the music may indicate, but his croon belies such heated lyrics as "With his hands on the small of your back, I hope you choke." Meanwhile, Leslie Sisson's understated harmonies add a cooling touch, and the boy-girl interplay of "Seven Seventeen" -- a light, lilting examination of an age gap's effect on love -- makes for one of the most engaging moments on the disc. For fans of Andrew Kenny's past work, Magnolia is a sobering counterpart to American Analog's gentle buzz, a soundtrack for those moments in which dreams give way to the slow ascent of morning....full text |
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| Dustedmagazine |
American Analog Set’s career split nearly in half. Their first three records (released between 1996-1999) refined a shimmery kraut-ish drone that neared sublimity at times. On their latter three, from 2000 until their 2005 demise, they incorporated a vibraphone and made some of the finest easy-listening indie rock. With the vibes’ mellow accentuation of leader Andrew Kenny’s delicate lyrics, the repetitive riffs and snare-heavy percussion, AmAnSet an ideal band for solitary late-night activities, like homework or soldering.
As the Wooden Birds, Kenny emphasizes acoustic guitars and female backing vocals, but otherwise barely departs from anything he wrote during AmAnSet’s second half. In fact, Magnolia‘s “The Other One” – a lovely song in its own right – is so similar to Kenny’s “Aaron and Maria,” that you can hum the latter’s vocals over the former’s melody. Lacking the vibes, the Wooden Birds heighten their percussion section with maracas, claves, and muted guitar picking. It’s hard to think of other singer-songwriter music with such emphatic rhythms....full text |
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| Spin |
| merican Analog Set frontman Andrew Kenny brings much of that band's modus operandi -- mellow grooves, hypnotic whispers—to the Wooden Birds, but strips away the synth wash and motorik beat in favor of a folksier foundation. He wasn't hiding anything in those layers: Magnolia inspires the same pleasurable hypnosis (particularly on the spooky-sweet "Quit You Once"). The mostly terrific, though somewhat samey, songs are delivered with a simple acoustic strum and Kenny's voice assisted by a sweet female foil. It's patient, pretty music, tinged with a cozy claustrophobia....full text |
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