Like their previous albums,
Woolfy vs. Projections' 2015 effort Stations walks a high wire between chilled-to-the-point-of-freezing electro-pop, slo-mo disco, and straight-up new age-inspired easy listening that's heavy on the flamenco-fast acoustic guitar picking. While there are a few occasions when they get a little too smooth for comfort and seem ready to sink into the background, their skills at creating nice melodies, grooves that flow like gentle streams, and relaxing moods save the day. The opening "Jackie" and a few other tracks hit the soft-rock-meets-disco sweet spot the hardest, with sounds and songs matching up perfectly to send the listener drifting off on clouds of wistful melancholy. Elsewhere, they get a little funky (the bubbling "Set It Up") and a little dubby ("Walkaway"), delve into some IDM grooves ("Combination"), take an echoey trip to the soft side of Laurel Canyon ("The Bright Light of the Truth"), and generally set the controls for the heart of the couch. A few tracks come fully suited up for a night on the dancefloor, "Who" being a prime example, and only a couple songs feature the kind of sounds you might hear while waiting for a customer service person to answer a call, and even these are rescued by their knack for making something golden out of something pretty cheesy. If you come looking to
Woolfy vs. Projections albums for excitement, you're going to be disappointed; if you want music to serve as a backdrop to a night spent Moonlighting or for solace during a long day spent wasting away in a cubicle, then they might be right for you and Stations will serve as a smooth, easy-to-digest fix for unpleasant times. ~ Tim Sendra