Valleyfield transplants David Dugas Dion and Martin Höek have achieved a certain ubiquity since moving to the “big city” of Montreal in the last year. A stunning ability with a wide swath of musical genres, from the blazing improv shit-core of Brutal Gooch to the seething time-bending math punk of Crabe to the ear-lickingly pretty and heartrending songsmithery of David and the Woods , it seems this duo are everywhere at all times, spewing great music like twin volcanoes.
In the form of David and the Woods, David (Dugas Dion) is the main protagonist, Martin bashes out on the drums and they are joined by bass wielder Jessica Robidoux and psych-guitar wizard Jérôme Deroo . Together, these four fearsome francophones create an alchemical bond that spins old genres into incredibly compelling golden filaments. Uncluttered, indelicate and immediately engaging, the 10 songs on the latest release by D&TW seem planted firmly in a My Bloody Valentine plot, yet their roots and branches extend widely and magnificently. Unfettered by the ear-tiring murk that seems to bog down most neo-shoegaze projects, there is a sparkliness to much of the tunage here that offset the obligatory giant-sounding distortion slabs. “Fantôme d’automne” for example bears some righteous harmonies, bringing to mind …Cinquieme Saison -era Harmonium with a skein of Wilco -esque chording and effortlessly surprising structure that evokes childhood-blue sky and teenage road trips. The joyfulness continues through reveries like “Building a Home”, suddenly turning to a riff-heavy Sabbathy krautrock jam on the title track “The Peace Den”. From there we whiplash into a total fucking gem, an instant classic of psych garage punk (Oh that fuzz! Perfection!) on “Ensemble Dans Mes Veines”. It’s just endless, how much joy and life crackles out of these songs.. referents are inevitable (even a sort of Gerry Rafferty/Grateful Dead vibe pops up on “The Mourning”) but like most good bands these days, David and the Woods have the skill to weave a tight new cloth from the myriad influences at their fingertips.
Because they sing a portion of their songs in french, I fear they might be stuck in the novelty corner with the trailblazing Queebs Malajube and Karkwa . David and the Woods, to this writer, have some sort of intimate and immediate appeal that I think even lacks from the aforementioned. The songs are graspable and tailored to sound-tracking the good parts of your life, evoking every heart-lifting and sunny open road you ever drove down.
Put The Peace Den in your crappy car stereo and GO.
http://www.myspace.com/davidandthewoods
http://www.myspace.com/cuchabatarecords
