Growing up in the Northwest, I mostly learned about Seattle's rock scene by listening to the radio and reading about it in the now-defunct local free music paper The Rocket. I was too young to go to most of the shows that were happening, but old enough to know that it kind of sucked that I was too young to go to those shows. The Woolen Men, a (mostly) Portland, Oregon-based band, captures the sound that I distinctly remember from those years. The press release namechecks the Wipers, which isn't wrong. The Wipers were great at crafting these ramshackle songs that sounded like they magically appeared from improvisation while also possessing the kind of urgency that comes with having to make art to survive. And while The Woolen Men's "Mayonnaise" is much more laconic and plainly calm, it still possesses those qualities. Their self-titled LP will be out March 5th on Woodsist.
Stream: The Woolen Men, "Mayonnaise"