The indie version of Jaws?

This is the post of 2 July 2012, in which I once again ignore my edict of New Music Monday, being that songs featured here be no more than 12 months in age, by featuring a song that is in fact nearly a full 16 months in age, but in which I once again also say the hell with it, close enough.

And the song that I have deemed worthy of breaking the bylaws of New Music Monday? That would be “Dogs Eyes,” by Wye Oak, from their March 2011 album, Civilian. Wye Oak, a duo composed of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, has been described as “indie folk,” but folk is a somewhat misleading term for what they do. I suppose it’s because there are a lot of quiet parts throughout the album, but I would say that it’s more a case of low-key indie rock than folk. There’s certainly a lot more loudness than you would find in any album typically considered “folk.” You hear the influence of PJ Harvey, Cat Power, and Pavement, but they have forged a fairly distinctive sound of their own.

“Dogs Eyes,” is more snake-like than dog-like, slithering along with a slightly off-key guitar line until it comes to a halt, turning to a thumping feedback-laden guitar churn, and then back again. The quiet, coiled tension of the verse is released in that chorus, to use the word very loosely — there isn’t truly a chorus, it’s just an appendage to the main melody. Wye Oak aren’t really that much of a verse-chorus-verse type of band, but that’s fine — they’re doing their own thing, and it sounds good to these ears.