Woods’ brand of pop shamanism has undergone several gradual transformations over their past few albums, but on With Light And With Love, the tinkering reveals an expanded sonic palette that includes singing saw, heavier emphasis on percussion, and a saloon piano that sounds like it was rescued from a flooded basement. Distinct from both the stoned volk of their earliest recordings and the Kraut-y dalliances of more recent fare, With Light And With Love showcases a more sophisticated brand of contemporary drug music that owes more to Magical Mystery Tour than motorik. If you’ve ever thought of Woods as a pop group comprised of weirdos, or a weirdo band that happens to excel at playing pop songs almost in spite of itself, With Light And With Love provides a corrective in the form of songs that show these two elements as natural, inextricable bedfellows. Throughout the album, vocals are frequently emitted through Leslie speakers and guitars perform one-string ragas like Sandy Bull reared on shoegaze and skate videos. With Light And With Love is an album of deeply psychedelic, deeply satisfying songs for a new age of searchers, of Don Juan and Animal Chin alike.
– James Toth

04/26 Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel*
04/27 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter*
04/28 Asheville, NC – Mothlight*
04/29 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade – Purgatory*
05/01 Houston, TX – Mangos*
05/02 Austin, TX – Austin Psych Fest*
05/03 Dallas, TX – Club Dada*
05/04 Lawrence, KS – Love Garden’s 24th Anniversary Celebration @ The Granada*
05/06 St Louis, MO – Off Broadway*
05/07 Chicago, IL – Subterranean*
05/09 Toronto, ON – Great Hall / Canadian Music Week*
05/10 Montreal, QC – Cabaret Playhouse*
05/11 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground*
05/13 Portland, ME – SPACE Gallery*
05/14 Boston, MA – Sinclair*
05/15 Kingston, NY – BSP Kingston*
05/16 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom*
08/01 – 08/03 Portland, OR- Pickathon

08/31 End Of The Road – Dorset (UK)
09/02 Dingwalls – London (UK)  (+ Marissa Nadler)
09/03 Paradiso – Amsterdam (NL)
09/04 Vera – Groningen (NL)
09/06 Atelier 210 – Brussels (B)
09/07 Troc Café – Strasbourg (F)
09/08 El Lokal – Zurich (CH)
09/12 Reverence Festival – Valada (PT)
09/09 Le Romandie – Lausanne (CH)
09/13 El Sol – Madrid (ES)
09/14 Caprichos de Apolo – Barcelona (ES)
09/15 La Dynamo – Toulouse (F)
09/18 Phonofestivalen – Bergen (NO)
09/21 Incubate – Tilburg (NL)
09/22 The Lantern – Bristol (UK)
09/23 Button Factory – Dublin (IE)
09/25 Broadcast – Glasgow (UK)
09/26 Think Thank – Newcastle (UK)
09/27 Liverpool Psych Fest – Liverpool (UK)

 

*=w/ Quilt

Woods
With Light and With Love
(Woodsist)
Street Date: April 15, 2014
Formats: CD/LP/CS/DL
Pre-Order here