#jano rix

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: The Wood Brothers - “Maps” (A.V. Club)

“How the hell are the Wood Brothers going to do this song?,” Chris Wood says. “It was not obvious.”

As with all covers, Oliver Wood says the answer was to “try to make it our own.”

And the band, double bassist Chris, Oliver on acoustic guitar and Jano Rix, alternating between blowing a melodica and tapping a shuitar, did precisely that in transforming the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps” during a live performance for A.V. Club.

With a deep groove, a slide up the neck of Oliver’s axe and three-part harmonies sung into a shared mic, the group could easily fool those who don’t know better this was, in fact, a Wood Brothers song.

Except it wasn’t … until they made “Maps” their own.

Grade card: The Wood Brothers - “Maps” (A.V. Club) - A-

1/13/26

[krispyweiss]

Song Review(s): Wood Brothers - “The River Takes the Town” and “Blue and Green” (Live, May 22, 2025)

For all the energy and good vibes the Wood Brothers bring to the concert stage, they’re also capable of some downers.

Which is to say, the Wood Brothers’ music encapsulates what it means to be human.

On May 22 at DelFest, the trio opened with a song about devastating floods (“The River Takes the Town”) and followed with a song about dead and dying loved ones (“Blue and Green”).

Downcast subject matter notwithstanding, both tracks, released as a teaser for the time-delayed stream, have an underlying hopefulness in the lyrics, delivered in soaring three-part harmony. And the music - courtesy of Oliver Wood’s acoustic guitar, Chris Wood’s double bass and Jano Rix’s drums - only adds to the bitter sweetness of the material.

Grade card: Wood Brothers - “The River Takes the Town” and “Blue and Green” (Live - 5/22/25) - A-/B+

8/13/25

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: The Wood Brothers - “Witness”

Oliver Wood describes the Wood Brothers’ forthcoming Puff of Smoke as “a little bit schizophrenic and eclectic.

“It goes in a number of different directions,” Wood said in a statement accompanying lead single “Witness,” which, with its zigs from acoustic, folk-leaning music, and zags to brass-laden measures, seems a microcosm of the LP.

Sonic eccentricities aside, “Witness” is 100-percent Wood, awash in Chris Wood’s elastic double bass, Jano Rix’s powerful drumming and distorted piano and Oliver’s trademark wordplay delivered in soaring, almost-blood-kin harmony.

I’m not the rusty nail/I’m not the Manhattan/I’m not the dark and stormy/I’m not the old fashioned/I’m not the come to Jesus/sure nuff not the sloe gin fizz/I’m just a witness, goes one verse.

And with that, “Witness” threads the needle and stitches something different while remaining the same in all the important ways.

Grade card: The Wood Brothers - “Witness” - A-

4/25/25

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Oliver Wood feat. Steve Berlin - “Yo I Surrender”

Everybody wants to have some good sax.

And Oliver Wood got a bunch by recruiting Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin to play on “Yo I Surrender,” a slick slice of lo-fi funk from Woods’ forthcoming (June 14) second solo album Fat Cat Silhouette.

Yo, I surrender/I don’t know anything, Wood sings as Berlin’s baritone woodwind snakes off like a serpent full of rodents.

The track grew out a studio jam between Wood, Berlin, Wood Brothers drummer Jano Rix and bassist Ted Pecchio. Despite its origins from what Wood calls “a very childlike” play session, “Yo I Surrender” sounds grown up and fully formed.

“It was so fun to play with amazing musicians who listen to each other and allow you to just trust and surrender,” Wood said.

Read Sound Bites’ review of the preceding “Light and Sweet” here.

Grade card: Oliver Wood feat. Steve Berlin - “Yo I Surrender” - A

5/21/21

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Oliver Wood - “Light and Sweet”

“Light and Sweet” is not a Wood Brothers song. But it sure sounds like a Wood Brothers song.

Perhaps that’s ’cause “Light and Sweet” is the lead single from Oliver Wood’s forthcoming (June 14) solo album Fat Cat Silhouette and features fellow Wood Brother Jano Rix behind the kit and the board.

Then there’re Wood’s lyrics about a sparrow trying to get his divorce lawyer to prevent his soon-to-be-ex from getting the nest and kids in the impending divorce. Add an off-kilter melody and distorted electric guitar, and you’ve got yourself a killer Wood Brothers song.

’Cept “Light and Sweet” ain’t no Wood Brothers song. But it sure sounds like a Wood Brothers song.

Grade card: Oliver Wood - “Light and Sweet” - A

4/26/24

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Oliver Wood and Katie Pruitt - “Have You No Shame”

Oliver Wood and Katie Pruitt are natural collaborators.

The pair teamed to record a magnificent version of Donnie McCormick and Tommy Carlisle’s “Have You No Shame” and the resulting blend of 21st-century Americana and 1960s soul balladry is a brilliant mashup.

Wood coaxes as much emotion from his electric guitar as he and Pruitt bring to the mic as they sing the song of heartbreak both alone and together.

Add harmonies from Jano Rix and Ted Pecchio, on percussion and bass, respectively, and “Have You No Shame” is the song Sound Bites didn’t know he was waiting for.

Grade card: Oliver Wood and Katie Pruitt - “Have You No Shame” - A

12/7/23

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: The Wood Brothers - “Line Those Pockets”

“Line Those Pockets” is not about greed and ripoffs.

The second single from the Wood Brothers’ forthcoming (April 14) Heart is the Hero is instead a plea to be kind to others no matter their lot in life.

Everybody’s just trying to be happy/so put your money away/line those pockets with grace, the group sings.

It’s a weird song, with a ska-inflected rhythm and feed-backing electric guitar and buzzing double bass filling in the holes. The Woods’ trademark harmonies appear here and there, yet “Line Those Pockets” drifts far from the trio’s tried-and-true, which worked so well on the preceding “Pilgrim.”

Grade card: The Wood Brothers - “Line Those Pockets” - C

3/17/23

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: The Wood Brothers - Kingdom in My Mind

Getting right to the point - Kingdom in My Mind is the Wood Brothers' finest studio album to date.

Born from jams, authorship of the 10 tracks - plus a short reprise - is credited to guitarist Oliver Wood, bassist/harmonica player Chris Wood and multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix. Taken as a whole, the 38-minute LP is full of lively numbers even as the trio spends an inordinate time singing about dying on cuts such as "Little Bit Sweet," "Don't Think about My Death" and "Satisfied," which begins with Oliver's rhetorical, Do you remember the day you die?

These songs are heavy to be sure - "Alabaster" is about escaping an abusive relationship; "Little Blue" addresses environmentalism; “Jitterbug Love,” whose lyrics provide the album title, ruminates on Satan’s origin - but the music ensures they aren’t weighed down.

And Kingdom in My Mind is quintessentially Wood, full of bluegrass-cum-gospel harmonies and all the unique instrumentation fans have come to expect from the trio. Oliver, whose sardonic side comes out on “Cry Over Nothing,” when he sings, Got a lot of balls ... in the air, plays nasty acoustic and electric slide and brings the blues. Chris, who takes two turns on lead vocals (“Jitterbug” and “Don’t Think”), is jazzier on his standup and electric basses. And Rix is the secret sauce, adding essential keyboards, providing the clip-clop percussion only his shuitar can offer and playing drums in the style of late-period Beatles Ringo Starr.

Seven LPs in, Kingdom in My Mind is peak Wood Brothers - a band at its collaborative best. Maybe they’ll make a better record someday; but there’s no shame if they don’t.

Grade card: The Wood Brothers - Kingdom in My Mind - A

2/11/20