Woosley Band
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Woosley Band

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band Rock Singer/Songwriter

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"Follow Fire Exit Signs/The Thundermug Eulogies"

Given our proximity to Dayton, Ohio, Columbus has more than its share of Guided By Voices fans. Indie icon and prolific songwriter Robert Pollard mothballed his famous Dayton band at the end of 2004, leaving a hole in the hearts of many thirtysomething indie-rock fans. Believe it or not, that torch may have been picked up by our own Woosley Band, if Follow Fire Exit Signs is any indication. Naysayers can check out the first 10 seconds of "The Clark Grave Vault" if you need further proof. It's all there: the lone distorted and warmly melodic guitar line; the up-front vocals intoning abstract, heartfelt lyrics; and the vague, nagging notion that the song may explode into "Game of Pricks" at any second. After years of less than satisfying efforts from the GBV camp and the wholesale loss of the band altogether, the Woosley band has found a way to scratch that itch and open the floodgates of all those memories of days gone by. The Woosley Band is a lot twangier and rootsier than the Dayton boys ever were, which helps give the album its own identity. Frontman Sean Woosley's voice frequently owes more to Peter Gabriel than Pollard's Roger Daltrey-influenced vocals. Follow Fire Exit Signs actually touches a lot of bases, including Pavement-y slack rock with "Part-Time Players" and a healthy dose of alt-country on "Palm of My Mind". After a couple of listens, you may catch that Woosley's vocals are distorted on the GBV influenced numbers, including "Adults Are Boring" and "Goodbye Columbiana, which aurally recalls the lo-fi days of that band. If Woosley decided to play Pollard for a song or two, more power to him. Woosley's songs are almost on par with Pollard's, and they balance the alternative-rock/country-rock tug of war. They may not be the next Guided By Voices, but it is not for lack of trying- or a lack of potential." - The Other Paper, Rick Allen


"Marveling at the Rings"

A bracing blast of hot-shit alt-country from Sean Woosley and gang. Shining amid 11 tuneful, edgy, twangy numbers is one genuinely great song. "Carpenter" is a darkly humorous tale that would do Warren Zevon proud (if he weren't dead): "I know a carpenter/who's perpetually pissed off/It's not a day goes by/he don't dream of killing someone/If the media has taught us anything at all/it's don't go firing/lonely men with guns." Nearly equal in impact is the rockin' closer, "Famous/American Locust/Milkbreath," a sprawling suite with a Crazy Horse fever. But those are just two highlights; there's really not a weak tune here, and I'm sure given enough time (which I may very well take) I'll fall in love with a few more. Way to go. - Demo Universe


"Sometimes Mighty Tranquilized"

Sean Woosley è riuscito a raccogliere intorno a sè una piccola combricola di amici fidati e realizzare così il sogno di fondare una vera e propria band, che in realtà è solo una scusa per tenere in piedi e dare una forma distinguibile alle sue canzoni. Woosley Band non sarà dunque un progetto solista, ma vive innegabilmente del suo songwriting, attraverso quindici episodi di scalcagnato ed approssimativo country-rock in perfetto stile no depression, in cui la bella forma è in gran parte bandita, ma dove contano i sentimenti, la spontaneità ed una spigliata energia da bar-room band, con una predilezione per l'impasto di chitarre elettriche e pedal-steel. Quest'ultima è senz'altro il tratto distintivo all'interno del ruspante sound elettrico del gruppo, perchè riesce ad evitare una certa monotonia sempre in agguato. Applausi dunque a Barry Hensley (proprio quello degli HensleySturgis), titolare del citato strumento e buon consigliere per Sean, giovane esordiente dalle parti di Columbus, Ohio, e nome del tutto sconosciuto nel circuito altrenative-country, scena che si sta lentamente ma inevitabilmente inflazionando. E' presto per pronunciarsi sul suo futuro: le canzoni di Sometimes Mighty Tranquilized possiedono ironia, carattere e sono indubbiamente piacevoli, ma per il momento non riescono a distinguersi granchè dalla massa delle produzioni del genere. Doveroso comunque citare i punti di svolta del disco, che sono poi, paradossalmente, gli episodi meno elettrici, veloci hillbilly songs quali l'iniziale Dancing Words e Hate it here, in cui si aggiunge una suggestiva armonica "dylaniana", la cadenzata Ten feet down (ricorda i Son Volt più rilassati) o l'oscura Dry (ci credete se vi dico che sembra un'inedito dei Giant Sand?). Non che il resto debba essere assolutamente scartato a priori, come, ad esempio, l'energia country-rock di Cody o della saltellante No one knows, oltre al rallentato e lascivo passo country-blues di Dark hour blues e Bad vibe, ma il fatto che Sean stia al momento già approntando le registrazioni del suo secondo lavoro solista, ci fanno pensare ad un possibile assestamento e sviluppo del suo songwriting. - Roots Highway


"Modify The Engines"

An interesting side project from Sean Woosley, frontman for Columbus' much-beloved Woosley Band, the Fierce Lime & His Ponytail Assassins have gotten overwhelmingly positive feedback on their latest album, Modify the Engines, a smart Roots Rock concept album about an alcoholic who thinks he's Satan and assigns various household appliances new positions in Hell only to realize that life in all forms is interconnected and eternal. Woosley claims influence from Joseph Campbell, Noam Chomsky, William Blake and Bill Hicks, and he has the conceptual chops to prove it. Can you say dichotomy? The Fierce Lime & His Ponytail Assassins most certainly can, and they do it with Prog flair and Roots earthiness. - Cincinnati Beat


"Modify The Engines"

From the beginning, I fostered no illusions that The Fierce Lime and His Ponytail Assassins would be guilty of taking their music too seriously. What I didn't expect was the band's ability to mix just enough silliness into an album loaded with full-throttle rock energy. The lyrics get more amusing the more I listen to the 16 short tracks, but the energy in songs like "Holmes, The Heat Director" is what keeps me coming back. I'd love to see these guys live; if Modify The Engines is any indication, it would be one of those shows where the onstage heat leaves the crowd staggering and soaked with sweat. - Score! Music


"Event Failure Vibrations"

"Event Failure Vibrations is a dizzying onslaught of lo-fi rock with hints of glam swagger and rootsy drive. With each release, Woosley Band find a far rockier place to sit and they've certainly come a ways from their full-length alt. country, roots-rock debut, Sometimes Mighty Tranquilized. Led by Sean Woosley, this Columbus, Ohio outfit is finding more in common now with Guided By Voices than Son Volt, but should easily please fans of either one since the songs are attractively raw-energy. 'Shit Tools For Hip Fools' has a Southern rock vibe with Woosley sounding a bit like Ian Hunter. At the album's mid-point is a brooding, drugged out number during which he forces himself to craft a series of rhymes against the song's title, 'Stella'. This is immediate music for a quick fix - these 9 ½ songs were meant to be an EP. It looks like they got carried away." - Miles of Music


"Event Failure Vibrations"

I've always had an affection for Sean Woosley's songs. He's got an off-handed way of making his points that slides right into my logic center. Often enough, he matches those unusual ideas with some solid rock and roll to make memorable songs.

This album finds Woosley and the boys in a decidedly Springsteenian phase. Early Asbury Park, I'd say, somewhere between the first and second albums. Loose, lanky riffs and half-shouted choruses. Music that moves just enough to sound effortless.

The sound, too, is very 1974. Almost no sharp edges whatsoever. It's like this album was recorded in seriously antiquated facilities. Could just be a truly skilled--or inept, I suppose--producer. Whatever the case, the sound fits the songs perfectly. In fact, it's that sound that really takes this album over the top.

Yes, the songs are great, and the performances are wonderfully easy on the ears. Woosley Band doesn't go out on any limbs, and yet the result is a completely satisfying album. Sometimes life works out like that. - Aiding & Abetting


"Modify The Engines"

A concept album about home electrical appliances, hell, alcoholism, and Satan with potshots at American imperialism and religion? Gotta give the band points for ambitious creativity. I also like how they try to tie it all up in a positive myth of world oneness. You might think by the sound of the concept that we've arrived by spaceship in the progrock sector, but The Fierce Lime keeps things anchored in Jayhawks style, rough edged rock. Who knows if everything fits at a thematic level -- maybe it doesn't matter. As long as it rocks, who cares. - Turkshead Review


"Modify The Engines"

Although I was expecting something trippy with a name like "The Fierce Lime and His Ponytail Assassins," I was met with something entirely different. The album has a distinctly normal, timeless rock feel to it. It bridges a variety of different sounds. The seventh track, for example, opens up with a synthesizer part that sounds similar to the beginning of an Elvis Costello song. At other times, aspects like the distortion in "Holmes, the Heat Director," create a more modern feel. Throughout however, the album has a familiar quality to it. At sixteen songs, this can simultaneously lead to an instant appreciation of the CD as well as a tendency to get old rather quickly.

Saving the album from this fate is the Warren Zevon-esque vocalist who belts out lines like "The boys in the town run with the red and blue lights flashing / upon their asses / running with their pants pulled down / sometimes it feels like rebellion to act like a clown" with the right rhythm and intensity to keep the listener enthralled. Although the CD's mixing can cause the vocalist to be drowned out by the instruments occasionally, the product as a whole is very, very good. Check out a track or two at www.woosleyband.com. - Openingbands.com


"Higher Than Caruso"

"...a fascinating portrait of an artist--without being pretentious or stupid...folks with a penchant for the slightly off-kilter ought to search this one out." - Aiding & Abetting


Discography

See You in Chappaqua! (coming in 2008)
Follow Fire Exit Signs/The Thundermug Eulogies (double record-2007)
Event Failure Vibrations (2004)
Modify The Engines (2003) (Fierce Lime)
Higher Than Caruso (2003)
Marveling at the Rings (2002)
Sometimes Mighty Tranquilized (2000)
Floating The Glass Bottomed Boat (EP) (1999)

Sounds Like Columbus Vol. #1- "Nothing Needs You"
OH Crap! Vol. #4- "My Favorite Architect"
Miles of Music Sampler Vol. #1- "Painted"
Midpoint Music Compilation "Holmes, the Heat Director"
Magnet Sampler- "Drifting Like a Seawreck"
Cringe.com Sampler- "Holmes"
Oh Crap! Vol.1- "Holmes"

Photos

Bio

Woosley Band debuted at Schuba's in November of 1998 in Chicago. Time flies, bitches.

Woosley Band used to feature a rotating cast of musicians- they've emerged from their early alt. country, British-influenced power-pop and beer-soaked bar-rock to a solidified 4-piece line-up, described as "Pete Towshend in a straight jacket"

Woosley Band played Chicago, New York City, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Arlington, VA, Long Branch, NJ, Dayton, Cleveland, Cincinnati...and then they passed out.

They have opened for Guided By Voices, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and other massacres, but, are frequently asked to play last.