Philadelphia's Hermit Thrushes have a knack for stretching the boundaries of what could be perceived as a "pop song." On last year's last effort, Slight Fountain, Hermit Thrushes presented tightly woven songs that gradually fell apart at the seams. Recently, the band has released this 4-track EP entitled Wooded Blankets for the price of a donation at a minimum of 10 cents, as well as a cassette version available from Single Girl, Married Girl Records.
What Wooded Blankets has to offer isn't much of a departure from Hermit Thrushes' past work. The opener "Black Smoking Mirror" is completely evident of this, with its cheerful chant-along melody interrupted by a cacophonous explosion, and later followed by disjointed skronk. There are a couple of exceptions to this, though: the additional drummer inductee Matt Hampson (of Power Animal) and accompanying lap steel guitarist/keyboardist Nicholas Brannon bring a new layer to Hermit Thrushes' already colorful instrumentation. The second newly acquired trait would be Yianni Kourmadas's vocals, which are more pronounced this time around. Simply put, Wooded Blankets carries on in the band's usual fashion-- but as well written and sharply executed as ever.
Each of these four songs are condensed, unconventional, mildly folk-tinged pop ditties. Inching just over nine minutes, Wooded Blankets has the susceptibility to seem unremarkable within an inattentive listen. With enough consideration, however, the eccentric subtleties and unique structures will be revealed. Wooded Blankets's brief, playful rock by way of avant-garde songs serve as a proper introduction to the band, but also keep me satiated for (and hopefully allude to) Hermit Thrushes' next full-length.
[Hermit Thrushes Myspace]
[Buy Wooded Blankets from Single Girl, Married Girl/Download from Joyful Noise]
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