White Fence (US, Drag City) + Woods (US, Woodsist) at Bi Nuu Berlin / Monday, 17.08.2015

Psychedelic lo-fi rock band White Fence is the latest project from Los Angeles-based musician Tim Presley. His musical career began in 2004 as the guitar player for hardcore punk band The Nerve Agents; that same year Presley founded psych rock band Darker My Love. He also sings backing vocals in The Strange Boys, has collaborated on an album with garage rocker Ty Segall and performed as a touring member of The Fall.

In 2010, Presley released his self-titled debut album as White Fence on Woodsist Records. Is Growing Faith came out in 2011. White Fence then put out three albums in 2012: Family Perfume Vol. 1 and 2, as well as Hair, the aforementioned collaboration with Ty Segall. In 2013, Castle Face Records released Cyclops Reap, which was recorded on a 4-track in Presley’s bedroom. In July 2014, Drag City put out White Fence’s sixth studio album, For the Recently Found Innocent, which was mixed by Segall.

Woods may have been born in a Brooklyn bedroom, but more often than not they’re mistaken for having California roots. And for good reason: the band’s music, especially from their last two albums Bend Beyond and With Light With Love, leans toward sunny, shimmering, psych-folk rock that could have been birthed in Topanga Canyon, circa 1968.

Early Woods recordings are the dictionary definition of lo-fi: stark, simple folk dirges that stand out mainly for Earl’s distinctive high-pitched singing voice, like Neil Young might sound if he’d just walked 20 miles through a pounding rainstorm. A sound described by Pitchfork as “spooky campfire rock” with “deceptively sturdy melodies.”

Earl says the move away from scratchy sound collages and muffled dirges was all very organic; they simply got better at what they do. “If you listen to our catalog, you can see that we’ve figured out whatever it is, certain aspects of recording,” he adds. “We’ve been stirring the pot for a while and cooking it down.”