Send "The Wooden Birds " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Andrew Kenny wrote the songs that became the Wooden Birds' hushed 2009 debut, Magnolia, before assembling a band to play them. Though the former American Analog Set leader has since played about 150 shows with a standard bass-drums-guitar quartet, he again handles all the instruments himself on the second Wooden Birds record, conceived after a relocation from Brooklyn to Austin. Kenny even still taps the drums out on the body of his acoustic guitar. More important than Two Matchsticks' simplicity, though, are its songs, lessons of life and love conveyed in clear, unadorned language.Kenny eases the songs out as parables, meant for consideration at length. Over a plain click-clack rhythm and sharp acoustic strums, "Criminals Win" tells how sometimes bad things happen to good people; lovers quarrel when they should be kissing, honest people work when they should be living, and bad guys win when they should be falling. "Too Pretty to Say Please" is a series of desperate observations on a lover who's never content with her counterpart; its spartan sonic set-up affords a certain freshness to Kenny's laments, as though he were too busy considering romantic wounds to write orchestra charts or to fuss over guitar tone. Indeed, time and again during Two Matchsticks, Kenny plays the part of the tour guide who's been here before: He's seen the co-dependence of the title track, the desolation of "Cross My Heart", and the leap-of-faith moment of "Struck by Lightning". At his best, Kenny is relaxed, direct, and relatable, sounding more empathetic than didactic....full text |
| Consequenceofsound |
| For such a mellow, soothing album, The Wooden Birds‘ 2009 debut, Magnolia, caused quite a stir among critics. Some lauded the simplistic composition and former American Analog Set frontman Andrew Kenny’s breathy vocals, while others loathed the exact same qualities, calling it a mediocre Elliott Smith/Iron & Wine knockoff. Fortunately, Kenny, Matt Pond (of Matt Pond PA), and Leslie Sisson persevered–and it paid off. Two Matchsticks maintains the simplicity of Magnolia, while adding sonic depth and variety previously unseen, resulting in an album that grows warmer and more meaningful with each listen. The foundations for each of Two Matchsticks‘ 12 tracks are the same: tenderly harmonized vocals, wandering guitar, and subdued drums. Add in sporadic Ben Gibbard accompanying vocals, soothing grooves that recall American Analog Set’s phenomenal tracks such as “Immaculate Heart 1″, and additional delightfully catchy melodies, and the formula certainly doesn’t lend itself to monotony. Instead, the album is clean and refreshing. Standout segments include the album’s title track and “Company Time”, both of which are mid-tempo songs that employ compelling narrative lyrics and a calming combination of pattering drums and lackadaisical electric guitar to ease the listener into a pleasant trance. Sisson’s increased role in this go-around is amongst its biggest differentiating factors and is arguably Two Matchsticks‘ strongest asset. With stellar lead performances on tracks such as “Baby Jeans”, Wooden Birds goes from sounding like a stripped down, cautious second coming of AmAnSet to a wholly new endeavor. Sure, the influences are still strongly visible, but when Kenny and Sisson sing back and forth on “Believe” and “A lie” or when the haphazard group vocals on “Be No Lie” start, Two Matchsticks marks and forges a charm of its own. Here’s hoping Kenny and company keep up this kind of work, so maybe The Wooden Birds will garner some of the acclaim that always seemed to slight American Analog Set....full text |
| Popmatters |
| It pretty much looks like we’re never going to get another album out of Austin, Texas slow-core band the American Analog Set (much to the dismay of some of my music-loving friends on Facebook, who have opined about the breakup), but fans might have something to rejoice in as frontman Andrew Kenny has a new group on which to now focus his attention: the much more countrified The Wooden Birds. The band was formed in 2008 and is notable for featuring American Analog Set guest performer Leslie Sisson in the ranks, as well as Matt Pond, a noted songwriter in his own right under the Matt Pond PA moniker. Two Matchsticks marks Kenny and company’s second foray into Americana country-folk rock, and it is a confidently assured collection of 12 songs that work extremely well together in a consistent, even, and oak-varnished form. To be honest, the first time I listened to Two Matchsticks, I found the album rather unassuming. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it, but I just thought that it kind of washed over you and was more of an ambient, background noise type of disc – something that was ordinary as opposed to quaint, serving no real utility other than wallpaper that didn’t draw you in and hook you with its melodies. It wasn’t until my kid sister recently gave birth to my nephew, finding myself on a train to visit her in a city two hours away, that I threw on the album (located on my handy iPod) closed my eyes, and got brilliantly swept away by the majestic, soft lull of the 12 songs found on Two Matchsticks. In other words, the album clicked for me. There’s something about the soft, barely-there percussion and plaintive male/female vocals that’s perfectly suited to the click-clack of train wheels speeding on. It’s an album that brings out its best qualities on the road, taking part in a journey, plunging head-first into discovery. In fact, this disc is about as tiny, fragile, and endearingly cute as my sister’s newborn....full text |
The Wooden Birds lyrics
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