Pitchfork

"Warning", the first single from Wye Oak's forthcoming Merge debut If Children, is itself dangerous. Its main threat: sending me to Facebook and MySpace for an hour or so to dig for lapsed high school friends, when I should no doubt be doing anything but that. Within a few seconds of hearing Jenn Wasner's first partially-discernible words, I started nostalgia-tripping about the dewy assurance of Tanya Donnelly's timbre from junior year, which convinced me to like Belly despite the specious admonitions of my more strident friends. Wasner's own utterances flicker in front of Andy Stack's overcast background, itself equally drawn from the foggy depths of 1990s indie guitarmanship. "Warning" is a wonderfully simple song, but Wasner's way with the guitar-- not unlike like Medicine's Brad Laner-- makes it feel compelling, even pressing. The ragged jangle that accompanies Wasner's vocal out of the lead break, the smeared canvas of feedback squall behind the verses, both offset Wasner perfectly, calling into question her tone here-- is it playfulness or trepidation? A bit of both? Even with the addition of my own wistfulness as I click through a never-ending parade of flanneled former classmates while playing the song on repeat, "Warning" is evidence that those two sensations can work together quite well.

MP3:> Wye Oak: "Warning"
[from If Children; due 04/08/08 from Merge]