Wooden Boy

Australian band made up of teenagers who produce a wonderfully layered and expressive funk/jazz/hip-hop/world amalgamation. All the tracks are instrumental with phenomenal drumming and some all around really impressive musicianship. WARNING: YOU WILL FEEL DANGEROUSLY COOL WHILE LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM.
Favorites: 1, 3, 4, 7, 9 but play anything here. No FCCs.

Similar artists/releases: William Onyeabor, Antibalas, Hiatus Kiayote

1. (4:00) *** Starts right off the bat with some groovy guitar and explosive horns. Sounds like a spy movie set in Morocco or something. This track hits hard and keeps its propulsive, infectious, momentum. What an outstanding opener to an album.
2. (4:32) Much more toned down than the first track but still excellent. Great drumming and mainly driven by horns. I could imagine this being sampled in a hip-hop song
3. (3:44) ** Cool, sharp, opening moment before breaking out into a full on jam. Expressive, dynamic, and upbeat
4. (3:11) ** A more up-tempo companion to track 2 with some cool effects and melodic layers
5. (4:51) Mid-tempo. Takes about 30 seconds to build up and then transforms into a sleek jazzy beast
6. (4:16) * Snazzy drum fill in the opening few seconds. Some nice horn interplay with repeating guitar line
7. (3:54) ** I can’t get enough of this track, great guitar line with some smooth organ/horn passages and fantastic percussion as always. You can tell they’re having fun playing this stuff
8. (4:35) Gloomy horns with a hypnotic bass line that builds to a cool groove. Has a neo-noir vibe
9. (3:33) ** Starts off with what you expect to be a down-tempo track before bursting into life within seconds. This is an absolutely entrancing jam
10. (5:20) Begins with some guitar and develops into a laidback groove. Escalates to a cinematic climax in the last 2 minutes. Nice end to an inventive, hectic, album

Reviewed by Muscat