Merge Records

Wye Oak

Wye Oak
Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner spent much of the first Wye Oak record, If Children, submerging their songs of youthful love and dread in a distortion haze, but the band's new record, The Knot, starts with a bell. From the first clarion-clear note, Wye Oak's collective vision is sharpened on The Knot, a set of songs that sway, stretch, and scream while always reaching outward for personal connection.

As ever, Stack's production layers his own multi-instrumental arrangements over Wasner's woozy compositions, but musically, too, things sound more precise. There is perhaps less squalling feedback than before, but lingering violin and pedal steel bring out the droning Americana that has always informed Wye Oak's sound. If Children may not have had anything quite as dark and harrowing as "Mary Is Mary," The Knot's nearly eight-minute centerpiece, but the band has rarely been so blissfully shimmering as on "I Want for Nothing" or "Talking About Money," in which a single-note melodica pattern is willed into a powerful, emotive hook. Throughout The Knot, Wasner's lyrics explore the metaphorical possibilities of the album's title, assessing the ways (voluntary and otherwise) that our ties to other people define our experiences. The Knot encompasses romantic possibility as well as unromantic obligation.

Wye Oak started as two friends recording songwriting demos together, but their basement project has since evolved to include tours of America and Europe and a home on legendary label Merge Records. The Knot reflects that burgeoning confidence and comfort while maintaining the intimacy and emotional directness that are the band's hallmarks. Only good things can come of a band this curious, honest, and oblivious to current trends. Pay attention.


wyeoakmusic.com

www.myspace.com/wyeoak
07/29/10
Wye Oak are hitting the road beginning August 17 with Lou Barlow + the missingmen and have just added new dates with The Mountain Goats and David Bazan. Don’t miss the chance to see Wye Oak and hear new songs before they return to the studio to record the follow-up to The Knot!

Their new EP, My Neighbor / My Creator is available via digital download in the Merge store and at your favorite digital outlets and local record stores.

Wye Oak on tour:
* = w/ Lou Barlow
% = w/ The Mountain Goats
# = w/ David Bazan
Aug 17 Milford, CT – Daniel Street Club *
Aug 18 Washington, DC – Rock N Roll Hotel *
Aug 19 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle *
Aug 20 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle *
Aug 21 Nashville, TN – The Basement *
Aug 23 Madison, WI – The Frequency *
Aug 25 Minneapolis, MN – 400 Bar *
Aug 26 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern *
Aug 27 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop *
Aug 28 Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern *
Aug 29 Montreal, QC – Il Motore *
Aug 31 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse *
Sep 01 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge *
Sep 02 Cambridge, MA – Middle East *
Sep 03 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s *
Sep 04 Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s *
Oct 04 Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck %
Oct 05 Columbia, MO – The Blue Note %
Oct 11 Lubbock, TX – The Foundation #
Oct 12 Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad #
Oct 13 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress #
Oct 15 Los Angeles, CA – Spaceland #
Oct 16 San Diego, CA – The Casbah #
Oct 17 San Luis Obispo, CA – Downtown Brewing Co. #
Oct 18 San Francisco, CA – The Independent #

05/18/10
Wye Oak visited the round room at The Onion AV Club headquarters to deliver a lovely cover of The Kinks’ “Strangers” featuring special guest Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater as part of The AV Club’s Undercover series. Wye Oak’s performance joins The Clientele’s cover of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” and there are many more surprises to come in the series.

Wye Oak’s new EP My Neighbor / My Creator is available now at all digital outlets. The limited-edition CDEP will be in stores on June 8, but you can pre-order it now in the Merge store. Wye Oak have just completed their tour with Shearwater, but check back for more dates soon, and if you haven’t yet, watch Jenn and Andy perform live from NPR’s “tiny desk”!

“The Baltimore duo’s most beautiful recording yet.” ~Tripwire

05/04/10
Spring has sprung and it is time for a new free Merge sampler! Featuring hit songs from the latest albums of Radar Brothers, Spoon, Let’s Wrestle, She & Him and more, visit amazon.com now to download all fourteen free songs with special cover art by Let’s Wrestle’s Wesley Patrick Gonzalez!

As always, you can find new albums from all of these artists and more in our handy Merge store.

Free Merge 2010 digital sampler track listing:
1. Radar Brothers – Horses Warriors (from The Illustrated Garden)
2. Let’s Wrestle – I Won’t Lie to You (from In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s)
3. Destroyer – The Very Modern Dance (from Streethawk: A Seduction)
4. Shout Out Louds – Fall Hard (from Work)
5. Spoon – Written in Reverse (from Transference)
6. Lou Barlow – Don’t Apologize (from Goodnight Unknown)
7. She & Him – Thieves (from Volume Two)
8. Superchunk – Learned to Surf (from Leaves in the Gutter)
9. Alec Bathgate – Glide (from Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox)
10. The Clientele – I Wonder Who We Are (from Bonfires on the Heath)
11. Caribou – Odessa (from Swim)
12. The Clean – In the Dreamlife U Need a Rubber Soul (from Mister Pop)
13. Wye Oak – I Hope You Die (from My Neighbor / My Creator)
14. Lambchop – Give It (from Live at XX Merge)

03/29/10
Wye Oak visited Bob Boilen’s world-famous desk at NPR headquarters in DC to premiere stripped-down live versions of their new EP, My Neighbor / My Creator. Jenn & Andy are currently at the beginning of a nationwide tour with Shearwater, so don’t miss them!

Watch and listen now at NPR.org! Purchase the digital download of My Neighbor / My Creator or pre-order the limited-edition CD-EP now in the Merge store.

03/15/10
Merge will be well-represented at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin this year with eight bands and two special Our Noise events. Our bands will be playing all over the city during the festival, so if you will be in Austin, keep your eyes peeled for all of the cool daytime parties being announced daily.

Our helpful flyer is below – click to make it larger & to print it to take with you! Share the link on your twitter & Facebook, too!

Spoon are headlining the NPR show at Stubbs BBQ on Wednesday, March 17 (12:15 am) and She & Him are playing a free, open to the public show at Auditorium Shores on Saturday March 20 (8 pm).  Superchunk are playing a free Village Voice day party at La Zona Rosa on March 19 (3 pm).

Merge Showcase @ Cedar Street Courtyard
208 West 4th St b/t Colorado & Lavaca
Thursday, March 18th
7 PM
(from first to last)
Special Guest
Let’s Wrestle
Radar Brothers
She & Him
Wye Oak
Lou Barlow + the missingmen
The Love Language


Merge @ Homeslice Pizza’s “Music by the Slice” Party
1415 Congress Ave.
Free & Open to the public

Thursday, March 18:
1:30 pm The Love Language
2:15 pm Radar Brothers

Friday, March 19:
Noon Let’s Wrestle
3:45  Wye Oak
6:45  Lou Barlow

Also, book events!

Our Noise event @ Book People (603 N. Lamar Blvd)
Wednesday, March 17 at 6PM
Free & Open to the Public
Mac & Laura will read selections from their book, Our Noise, and will perform covers of songs from selected bands mentioned in the book. They’ll be available to sign books afterwards, too.

Our Noise panel @ SXSW Convention Center
Thursday, March 18 at 2PM
Open to convention registrants only
Michael Azerrad will moderate a Q&A-style event with Mac & Laura about Our Noise and 20 years of Merge Records.



03/12/10
Less than a year after their acclaimed, dark triumph The Knot, Baltimore’s Wye Oak offer My Neighbor / My Creator, a vibrant EP that brims with melody and creative detours over five new recordings. My Neighbor / My Creator will be released today via digital download in the Merge store. The EP will be available at all other digital outlets on April 20 and the CD will be in stores on June 8. You can also buy the CD from Wye Oak at their spring tour dates.

Collaborating with outside producers for the first time, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack’s four new songs feel loose and direct, from the tumbling opener “My Neighbor” to the propulsive “Emmylou.” “My Creator” and “I Hope You Die” begin like ballads but soon reveal unexpected layers of saxophone and percussion over Wasner’s cascading vocals. Chris and Mickey Freeland, brothers with ties to everything from Oxes’ math-rock explorations to Baltimore’s indie hip-hop scene, helmed the new EP’s recordings in their own Beat Babies studio, and they bring new textures to Wye Oak’s ever-expanding sound. There’s a heavier reliance on keyboards, culminating in Mickey’s own stunning remix of The Knot’s “That I Do” which must be heard to be believed.

Anything but a stopgap, My Neighbor / My Creator is yet another significant step forward for this young band.

Download “I Hope You Die” from My Neighbor / My Creator now!

Track Listing:
1. My Neighbor
2. Emmylou
3. My Creator
4. I Hope You Die
5. That I Do (Mickey Free Remix)

01/14/10
Wye Oak just announced spring tour dates with Shearwater in support of their 2009 release, The Knot! Jenn & Andy will also be in Austin for the SXSW festival.

Spin Magazine described The Knot in their “Best Albums You May Have Missed” roundup, “Singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner’s hypnotic songwriting has obvious Americana roots, but on the duo’s sophomore full-length, her dreamy vocals artfully join ragged riffs to drummer/keyboardist Andy Stack’s layers of thunderstorm drums and surging keyboard drones.”

Preview and purchase The Knot on CD and digital download in the Merge store.

Also, listen and watch their live performance from the studios of Oregon Public Broadcasting!

Wye Oak on Tour:
1/29 Baltimore, MD G Spot
3/24 Atlanta, GA The Earl
3/25 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
3/26 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel
3/27 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
3/28 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
3/30 Cambridge, MA TT The Bear’s
3/31 Montreal, QC Canada La Sala Rossa
4/01 Toronto, ON Canada Lee’s Palace
4/02 Ithaca, NY Castaways
4/04 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
4/06 Minneapolis, MN 400 Bar
4/07 Grinnell, IA Gardner Lounge – Grinnell College
4/09 Norman, OK The Opolis
*All shows with Shearwater except 1/29

09.01.2010 New York, NY Mercury Lounge w/ Lou Barlow + the missingmen
09.02.2010 Cambridge, MA Middle East w/ Lou Barlow + the missingmen
09.03.2010 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's w/ Lou Barlow + the missingmen
09.04.2010 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's w/ Lou Barlow + the missingmen
10.04.2010 Lawrence, KS Bottleneck w/ The Mountain Goats
10.05.2010 Columbia, MO The Blue Note w/ The Mountain Goats
10.06.2010 Oklahoma City, OK ACM@UCO Performance Lab w/ The Mountain Goats
10.08.2010 San Antonio, TX The Korova w/ David Bazan
10.11.2010 Lubbock, TX The Foundation w/ David Bazan
10.12.2010 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad w/ David Bazan
10.13.2010 Tucson, AZ Club Congress w/ David Bazan
10.15.2010 Los Angeles, CA Spaceland w/ David Bazan
10.16.2010 San Diego, CA The Casbah w/ David Bazan
10.17.2010 San Luis Obispo, CA Downtown Brewing Co. w/ David Bazan
10.18.2010 San Francisco, CA The Independent w/ David Bazan
10.21.2010 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios w/ Fruit Bats
10.22.2010 Seattle, WA The Showbox w/ Blitzen Trapper, Seabear
10.23.2010 Nampa, ID Flying M Coffee
10.25.2010 Denver, CO Hi Dive w/ Avi Buffalo
10.26.2010 Omaha, NE Slowdown Jr.
10.27.2010 St. Louis, MO Old Rock House
The Knot (Merge) 2009
If Children (Merge) 2008

Take It In


from The Knot
DOWNLOAD 

Warning


from If Children
DOWNLOAD 
loading...

On Tour

Arcade Fire [+]

September
02 Bologna Arena Parco Nord
10 Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes
22 St. Paul, MN Roy Wilkins Auditorium
23 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
25 Saskatoon Credit Union Centre
[see all]

Lou Barlow [+]

September
02 Cambridge, MA Middle East
03 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
04 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's

Richard Buckner [+]

September
07 Charlottesville, VA The Southern
08 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
09 Columbia, SC Columbia Museum of Art
10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival
11 Charlotte, NC Evening Muse
[see all]

Caribou [+]

September
14 Guelph, ON Ebar
15 Ottawa, ON Babylon
16 Montreal, QC Le National
17 Toronto, ON The Drake
17 Toronto, ON Phoenix Theatre
[see all]

The Clean [+]

September
28 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
29 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's
30 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
October
02 Lawrence, KS Granada Theater - SCION Festival
04 San Francisco, CA The Independent
[see all]

The Clientele [+]

September
06 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot
07 Portland, OR Doug Fir
09 Oakland, CA New Parish
10 San Francisco, CA Independent
11 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex
[see all]

Fucked Up [+]

September
05 Monticello, NY All Tomorrow's Parties
09 Washington, DC Rock n' Roll Hotel
10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival
11 Atlanta, GA The Drunken Unicorn
12 Charlotte, NC Amos Southend
[see all]

Lambchop [+]

November
11 Berlin Admiralspalast - 20 Years of City Slang
22 Katowice Ars Cameralis Festival
24 Zagreb Kino SC
25 Munich Amerikahaus
27 Copenhagen DR Concert House
[see all]

Let's Wrestle [+]

September
04 Los Angeles, CA FYF Fest
05 Santa Barbara, CA Club Mercy Presents
06 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
08 Seattle, WA Neumo's
09 Vancouver, BC Rickshaw Theatre
[see all]

The Love Language [+]

September
03 Atlanta, GA The Earl
03 Atlanta, GA Criminal Records
04 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre
09 Winston Salem, NC Earshot Records
09 Winston Salem, NC Krankies
[see all]

Conor Oberst [+]

September
28 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriets
30 Santa Barbara, CA Soho in SB
October
01 Big Sur, CA Fernwood
02 San Francisco, CA Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Polvo [+]

November
05 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
06 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's Downstairs
07 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo

Radar Bros. [+]

September
24 Montreal, QC Le National
25 Boston, MA Royale
27 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
28 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
October
01 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Theatre
[see all]

The Rosebuds [+]

September
10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival

Shark Quest [+]

October
09 Carrboro, NC Carrboro ArtsCenter

She & Him [+]

September
05 Los Angeles, CA Paramount Studios
October
17 San Francisco, CA Treasure Island
22 Portland, OR Schnitzer Hall
23 Seattle, WA City Arts Music Festival - 5th Avenue Theatre
24 Vancouver, BC The Orpheum

Spoon [+]

September
11 Harrisburg, PA The Forum
12 Clark, NJ Oak Ridge Park
13 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
30 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium
October
01 San Diego, CA Soma
[see all]

Superchunk [+]

September
16 Durham, NC The Nasher Museum of Art
17 Washington 9:30 Club
18 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
19 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
21 Boston, MA Royale
[see all]

Teenage Fanclub [+]

September
22 Toronto, ON The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
23 Toronto, ON The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
24 Montreal, QC Le National
25 Boston, MA Royale
27 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
[see all]

Telekinesis [+]

September
02 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
03 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
04 Toronto, ON El Mocambo
06 Montreal, QC Casa Del Popolo
07 Cambridge, MA TT The Bear's
[see all]

Versus [+]

September
21 Boston, MA Royale
22 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Theatre

Wye Oak [+]

September
02 Cambridge, MA Middle East
03 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
04 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's
October
04 Lawrence, KS Bottleneck
05 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
[see all]
see all tour dates

Sign Up

Enter your email to receive our monthly newsletter:

Merge Radio

Stream full-length songs (at random) from our entire catalog.

Listen Now