Wooden Earth Premiere Title-Track Video From Sun City EP
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Wooden Earth want to be the fast band playing your slow show. The Dallas, Texas, outfit founded by guitarist Devin Moreno and drummer/vocalist Griffin Thomas have undergone some changes since their 2019 single “Fangs” (review here), and they’ve got the new five-tracker Sun City EP and two new band members to prove it. The former duo/now-four-piece rounded out by guitarist Aaron Longoria and bassist Tyler DeRosa recorded and mixed with Michael Briggs at Civil Audio, and they pull distinctly away from the fuzz of Wooden Earth‘s prior offering in favor of a sharper, sometimes metal, sometimes punk approach.
Those aspects were certainly in “Fangs” as well, but it’s a question of where the focus lies, and whether it’s the escapist punk of the party-ready title-track (video premiere below) or the Saviours-style thrash of “Feral King” just before and the lacing, almost Shadows Fall-esque bite of “Carnal Spell” after — riffy though it is, they even have a breakdown — Wooden Earth set their copious Orange amps to nefarious purposes in a showcase of intent that is meaner all around and sets them apart all the more from the grooves proffered by the heavy rockers with whom they’d share a bill.
Sometimes you
remake your band and you’re a different band, and sometimes you end up staying the same band with a shifted dynamic. The aggression Wooden Earth bring forth on “Carnal Spell” and closer “Sordid Black” isn’t so radically removed from the shouty opener “Dead Era (Bleach)” or even the more melodic “Feral King,” when you get right down to it, but to sit and listen to these songs as compared to 2018’s debut Waves of Smoke EP, with its boogie aspirations, and yes, it sounds like a different group of players in no small part because it is. Sun City turns quickly and careens, strikes out at the listener in a way that’s too clean to be grunge, too rock to just be metal and too thrash to be just stoner.
The band, then, would seem to have found a balance of elements that work in favor of their individuality, and if their intention was to set themselves apart, these tracks accomplish that with efficiency and escape clear in under 20 minutes at a run. They leave one curious how they might sustain the nothing-over-four-minutes-long ethic over the course of a full-length and still carry forward the underlying variety of approach here (I suspect it would be a short full-length, duh), but most importantly, despite bringing in two new band members and experiencing the inevitable shift in dynamic as a result of that, Wooden Earth sound sure of their process and ready to find out.
Sun City is out now on all and sundry digital platforms, and streaming at the bottom of this post.
Enjoy the “Sun City” video below:
Wooden Earth, “Sun City” video premiere
https://youtu.be/SSccbGaBAh8
Lyrics:
I can’t believe that there is a place we can leave so far from grace. When will you see its easy for me to pack up my things for Sun City.
I am the one who stares at the sun. Bring it all back to what it was.
The debut music video of our title track, SUN CITY!
Huge thanks to All Hallows Productions for working on this project with us.
Thank you for listening, thank you for sharing, and thank you for your support!
SUN CITY is out on all streaming platforms and available on our Bandcamp for $1.00
Show announcements, new merch, and more new music coming y’all’s way.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michael Briggs at Civil Audio. Art by Cameron Hinojosa.
Music: Devin Moreno, Aaron Longoria
Music/Lyrics: Griffin Thomas
Lyrics (Carnal Spell): Austin Contreras
Wooden Earth are:
Drums/Vocals – Griffin Thomas
Guitar – Devin Moreno
Bass – Tyler DeRosa
Guitar – Aaron Longoria
