Albums by this artist

The Uncontainable Light (2000)

Jen Wood

The Uncontainable Light

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» WESTERN HOMES | STAFF WRITER

Jen Wood The Uncontainable Light Tree, 2000 RiYL: Throwing Muses, Belly, Pullman

Jen Wood is best known as backing vocalist on Joan of Arc's unflinchingly wacky Live In Chicago, 1999, where she takes on the unenviable task of harmonizing with Tim Kinsella. After scaling that cliff, it must have been a pleasant retreat making this succinct EP, which sounds sort of like Pullman meets Belly. I happen to really like both Pullman and Belly, so I dig it.

As we all know, the last decade has been a real good one for innovation in the structure of rock bands. Two bassists, no bassists, as many as four bassists and a couple of vibraphones -- we are living in a renaissance age indeed. This Uncontainable Light's band is two acoustic guitars and drums, and it works well. With the setting being the Pacific Northwest, Wood's guitarist/co-songwriter being Katrina Thomson, and a bass player being nowhere in sight, a less perceptive critic could dismiss this as Sleater-Kinney for the adult contemporary set, but I won't be so terse.

Here's why: "Lie For A Lie," and to a lesser extent the other three tracks on this disc, are really good. Wood has a terrific voice, Thomson's quiet alto harmonies are a real pleasure if you're the sort who can get into harmonies and Jayzon Tolsdorf's precise, cut-time drumming is about as cool as low-key percussion can get. The guitars avoid sterotypical full-chord folk strum for more of a modal feel, in the vein of aforementioned acoustic post-rock band Pullman.

The underdeveloped aspect of This Uncontainable Light EP are the lyrics, which aren't quite worthy of the music supporting them. "You're as cold as ice," Wood sings on "Let's Fight," "So why don't we just fight? / That is something that I'm used to." While the words on the song don't quite hit center, the surprisingly tense guitar buildup during an instrumental passage in the tune's middle works very well.

On "See-Through," Wood repeats the line, "Will I ever convince you / That I'm an innocuous heart?" several times, never explaining exactly what an "innocuous heart" is or whether there is a donor program established to remedy the condition.

Nevertheless, the strength of Wood and Thomson's harmonies and the band performances on this EP definitely make it worth checking out. If Wood's collaborations with Joan of Arc and Juno haunted you, you'll definitely want to see what she can do on her own.

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