Woodpecker!

Every so often, there comes along an album that stands out amongst the thousands of productions based simply on its inventiveness and identity. For a début full-length record, f-hole by Woodpecker! offers an experience that will either entertain you to no end, or leave you confused and perhaps even slightly traumatized. Coming out of Brooklyn, one would expect this band to adhere to the almost standardised forms of pop-punk and contemporary indie work associated with the East Coast scenes, but from ‘Fullerton’ to ‘Tall Buildings’ the metallic assault of bluegrass banjos and washboards cannot be stopped.

Jordan Anderson had originally come together with co-creator Josh Steinbauer to create a band that took many punk classics and turned them into bluegrass renditions, with varying success, eventually disbanding. Now reunited with the various instrumental work of Al Huang and Andy Xue, Woodpecker! has released an album that not only features an ingenious use of instrumentals but razor-sharp lyrical content that spans a variety of moods and sentimentalities. ‘Fullerton’ is a minute and a half spin of bitter recollection that leads into the diabolic ‘Spork’, a song that is so easy to relate to that it almost feels wrong, but each is an upbeat blast of banjo work that sets the tone for much of the album.

Even more impressive is that Woodpecker! is not afraid to assault the every day conventions of our lives and entertainment amidst bluegrass tomfoolery, a sarcastically brilliant blast emerging from ‘8 Miles & 2.5 Inches’ that serenades the accolades of “…the Rush Limbaugh of hip-hopcracy� as it were. Even with a mere thirty-six seconds given to them, the band manages to ambush you from the rear with a song like ‘Nothing Gets a Girl Hot Like A Guy Who Cares’, leaving you hurt and impressed with the tongue-lashing your ears have just received.

Simply for smashing all conventions and guilty associations rendered towards the bluegrass movement, f-hole is a witty début piece that exhibits the work of a band in their natural element, refusing to adhere to mainstream pressures. It shows a brilliant imaginative spark and stands firmly based on its foundation of cynical assassinations and toe-tapping rhythms; for those seeking a legitimate support of creative independent work, this record and band would certainly surprise and legitimise. - Music-critic.ca

Brooklyn's Woodpecker! originally set out to play bluegrass-style covers of punk tunes. Now the group's doing originals, but it has found other ways to sound contemporary: clever, wordy lyrics (Slim Shady is namechecked) and sophisticated hooks that betray a penchant for indie pop.

* Critic's Choice - Time Out: New York

"vibrant pre-movie performance by Woodpecker!, a local bluegrass/punk/acoustic band who played the kind of music Flatt and Scruggs might be doing today if they were 25 and lived in Brooklyn." - Richard Grayson

Here’s the thing though, Woodpecker is brilliant. They're a talented trio who have put out an upbeat bluegrass album replete with suggestive tongue-in-cheek love and loss tunes.

http://www.cdreviews.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2031 - cdreviews.com