At Echo Lake

It’s probably easy to hate on Woods. The band plays what has been invariably described as “spooky campfire folk” with a serious hippie-1960s-classic rock influence, which would be all well and good if they came from where their music sounded like it came from (say, Vermont). Fact is, however, they’re from Brooklyn. Yes, another Brooklyn hipster band, and this one with the audacity to sing songs about woods and lakes when anyone who’s been to Brooklyn knows these things exist there in very short supply.

Tape culture has become all zeitgeisty these past couple of years; the New York Times, Guardian and Pitchfork amongst others have all devoted articles to the resurgence of the 'dead' format. Whatever the reasons behind it – nostalgia, aesthetics, rejection of modern technology, willful obsolescence – it's popular. Last year writer Ceci Moss identified 101 cassette labels in operation. There's probably more now. The whole movement ties in with the chillwave/glo-fi/whatever scene – Ducktails, Toro Y Moi, Washed Out and others have released tapes in the past year. And Fuck It Tapes, the cassette label of Woods frontman Jeremy Earl have releases from Vivian Girls, Wavves and Blank Dogs in the catalogue.