Listen to "False Alarm" from the Wooden Birds' Magnolia

Magnolia hits stores today courtesy of Barsuk Records, and while I've already gushed profusely about how much I love the Wooden Birds, which is fronted by American Analog Set's Andrew Kenny, you no longer have to take my word for it, because you can listen for yourself. The song is called False Alarm, and it is just lovely. Need comparisons? Critics of this record will likely complain that the Wooden Birds sound too much like American Analog Set, but you know what? It's too early to say for sure, but I think I may wind up liking the Wooden Birds better. And if you do like AAS, Iron & Wine, Damien Jurado, Jason Molina or pared-down folk songs in general, you will probably enjoy the Wooden Birds to some degree. I consider myself to be a picky bitch, but I think Magnolia is so great I listened to it three times in a row last night. Seriously. But in a cruel twist of fate, the band is playing a show at Chop Suey on June 4, which is the same night as the Neko Case concert. Then again, Middle Cyclone isn't doing much for me, no matter how many times I listen to it (more on that in a future post, most likely) and I've seen Neko live a solid half a dozen times by now. I think my choice is made. And when a band can unseat Neko Case in my show attendance priorities, you know they're on to something.

5/13 Edit: I just realized that one of the songs, "Hometown Fantasy," has been recycled from a split EP Andrew Kenny and Ben Gibbard released six years ago, but who cares? It's a good song, it's still Andrew Kenny's song, and if it gets more attention because of this record, good.