Oakley Hall – I’ll Follow You
Brooklyn band Oakley Hall’s skill at weaving disparate elements into its less-traveled sound — psychedelic harmonies, backwoods choogle, feedback frenzy, banjo, steel and violin — is in full force again on I’ll Follow You. But perhaps the area in which the band excels the most is simply songwriting. In the middle of the grinding guitars and hypnotic rhythms are catchy and well-written, if slightly unsettling, songs. The harmonizing by lead singers and lyricists Rachel Cox and Pat Sullivan, along with the vocal backing of Jesse Barnes and Claudia Mogel, is a treat throughout. Cox especially is an appealing and versatile vocalist on the more straightforward “Angela” and the disc-ending freakout “Take My Hands, We’re Free”.