{"id":913,"date":"2014-02-18T11:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T16:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=913"},"modified":"2014-02-26T09:16:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T14:16:19","slug":"the-woodentops-granular-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-woodentops-granular-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"The Woodentops <br>Granular Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/woodentops-granular_tales.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-914\" alt=\"The Woodentops, Granular Tales\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/woodentops-granular_tales.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/woodentops-granular_tales.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/woodentops-granular_tales-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>Despite what many might perceive, pop music of the \u201980s wasn\u2019t all Flock of Seagull haircuts and DX7 synths. Among those going against the proverbial grain, The Woodentops, who formed in South London in 1983, took an organic approach that was as startling for its propulsive rhythms, acoustic hooks, and mantra-like choruses as its lack of artifice. Their debut album, 1986\u2019s <i>Giant<\/i>, and the singles that led up to it were revelatory slices of unbridled passion for pop\u2019s basic elements taken to the nth degree by an energy every bit as manic as that of the punk explosion from the decade previous.<\/p>\n<p>As such, in these days where the ephemeral nature of the decade of excess is once again being embraced, there is probably no reunion that is more necessary than that of The Woodentops. Regrouping in 2006 to play live and releasing a compilation of their studio recordings last year, the band is set to release its first album in 25 years next week.<\/p>\n<p>To these ears, <i>Granular Tales<\/i> (Cherry Red Records) picks up where <i>Giant<\/i> left off. As it turned out, the Tops were not impervious to some of the sonic faults to their times, and despite \u201cspiritual assistance\u201d from Lee Perry, who wound up at the studio where they were recording through a taxi mishap, their follow-up, 1988\u2019s <i>Woodenfoot Cops on the Highway<\/i>, suffered from \u201980s production values, most notably on the drum tracks. On <i>Granular Tales<\/i>, the band, which includes original members Rolo McGinty (vocals, guitar), Simon Mawby (guitar), and Frank de Freitas (bass), has tapped into the vibe of its earlier years without rehashing past formulas. \u201cA Pact\u201d matches frenetic rhythms to a galvanic acoustic riff and keyboard flutters that are belied by a darkened tone, while \u201cThird Floor Rooftop High\u201d is a bombastic romp seemingly channeling the same energy of yore. Best, though, is \u201cEvery Step of the Way,\u201d whose intro is vaguely reminiscent of that of \u201cGood Thing,\u201d but which finds a low-key groove and burrows into it. Though not quite a perfect 10, <i>Granular Tales<\/i> is an amazing return to form that will hopefully continue onward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite what many might perceive, pop music of the \u201980s wasn\u2019t all Flock of Seagull haircuts and DX7 synths. Among those going against the proverbial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,387,386],"class_list":["post-913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-cherry-red-records","tag-the-woodentops"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Woodentops Granular Tales - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/the-woodentops-granular-tales\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Woodentops Granular Tales - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite what many might perceive, pop music of the \u201980s wasn\u2019t all Flock of Seagull haircuts and DX7 synths. 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