Woodson

A young band out of Youngstown, Ohio, Woodson plays far above their years. Even though the members are still in college, the band formulates indie-rock songs in the style of Manchester Orchestra or Kevin Devine that show maturity far beyond the quality expected of a band releasing their debut album. While upcoming bands are usually fairly safe with their ordering of tracks, Woodson instantly takes a risk in putting the six minute long emotional blow "Heavy Heart" right at the beginning of the track list, but they succeed in showing the maturity, confidence, and talent of the group. But along with the slow, tearjerking tracks like "Heavy Heart", "Bad Man", "Young Love", and "Leave", Woodson also shows a skill for Americana based rock and roll tracks ("July 4th") and even some keys led tracks similar to Happy Body Slow Brain ("Distorto", "Johnny). While the statement that Woodson is a "long awaited debut album" may be a bit of a stretch, it's impossible not to say that this record will put Woodson on the map. If they keep funneling their musical ambition, well, maybe "long awaited" wasn't an unworthy statement. You can download the entire album for free on their Bandcamp page here.