Send "The Wooden Birds " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 The American Analog Set toed the line between sleepy and dreamy so closely that it was easy to take the group for granted. When the band worked at its peak, it operated in a sort of twilight haze, and the ease with which one got lost in its beauty played a large part in determining what one got out of it. Factor in their more or less lasting hiatus (recent SXSW reunion aside), and the American Analog Set legacy hangs in a sort of hazy purgatory. Did the band exist, or did we merely imagine it?The ghostly memory of the AmAnSet lingers near leader Andrew Kenny's new project the Wooden Birds as well, but it hardly hovers over it. If anything, Kenny, never a howler, is even more hushed here, with the Wooden Birds' debut Magnolia sounding as if it were recorded under extenuating circumstances-- a sleeping baby upstairs, say, or a sensitive neighbor-- only for Kenny to discover he liked how those muffled results turned out. Kenny and his new cohorts David Wingo, Lymbyc System drummer Michael Bell, and American Analog-vet Leslie Sisson seem to relish working within these spare constraints, where every note counts and nothing slips in to clutter to the songs. That precision and the process seem to have pushed Kenny in an interesting musical direction, too, seeing as so much of Magnolia recalls Lindsey Buckingham at his least manic, specifically the strange little ditties that fill Fleetwood Mac's Tusk and Mirage, nestled between the bigger hits. The resemblance is almost uncanny on songs such as "False Alarm", "Hailey", and the brief "Hometown Fantasy", which contains a heart-grabbing minor turn that's a perfect counter to its initial country feel....full text |
| Popmatters |
| The Wooden Birds, the latest project of American Analog Set singer/songwriter Andrew Kenny, is a humble venture for a guy with a long resume. (He has performed with the Album Leaf, Arthur & Yu and Broken Social Scene, among many others.) The new band collects a few other seasoned musicians and departs from the Krautrock stylings of Kenny’s better-known act (which, incidentally, may be reforming), settling instead for something more traditional. Magnolia is a minor record, but it’s not effective enough for its (unassuming) ambitions. Kenny’s back in Austin, and the leisurely Southwest scene might have rubbed off. A strong sense of American hangs over Magnolia, from the twangy-folk timbres to the vague-suburban ennui running through the album. It’s not all modern, though. The themes and imagery of the album are familiar, timeless pop emotions—love, loss, you know the drill. But it reaches as far back as those wagons crossing Westward—an image reinforced by the group’s favoured trotting rhythm. (More on that rhythm later). The obvious parallel for this album is Jose Gonzalez, as both artists build songs patiently off repetition, pick out acoustic-guitar notes carefully and defy big melodies. However, there’s something more conventional and less affecting about the Wooden Birds....full text |
| 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. AmAnSet always sounded full; their elements blended, even at the corniest, to create this wash that allowed listeners to completely space out. Wooden Birds’ arrangements are sparse: at times, as on “Believe In Love,” we get mostly percussion and vocals. That spareseness invites a closer critique of Kenny’s lyrics, especially because he sings so clearly and slowly. When understated, they can have a real richness. The line “she was seven and I was seventeen,” is a plainspoken expression of an older man’s anxiety over dating a younger woman. It’s when he gets cute ... well, you can imagine. The phrase about “when our bike tires kissed” rings like a D.I.Y. greeting card. And, post-"Exit Music (For a Film)," it’s a little hard to pull off lines about hoping someone chokes ("Choke")....full text |
The Wooden Birds lyrics
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