I'll Follow You

After three beneath-the-radar releases that fell somewhere between shambolic folk-rock and twangy psych, Brooklyn's Oakley Hall released I'LL FOLLOW YOU in 2007 on the esteemed Merge Records. Certainly the band's most accomplished album to date, I'LL FOLLOW YOU contains all of the key elements of Oakley Hall's sound, yet finds them framed in a more lush, sonically expansive context. And while frontman Pat Sullivan's songwriting has never been in question, the songs here are meticulously arranged and show a new attention to studio detail.
On "Alive Among Thieves," the guitars crackle with Crazy Horse-like intensity, yet mesh perfectly with Sullivan and singer Rachel Cox's stunning harmonies; "Rue the Blues" takes a joyful country-folk melody and adds an ever-so-slight motorik thrust via Sullivan's percolating harpsichord. Cox takes center stage on "All the Way Down," and displays a new sense of restraint often absent from her impassioned delivery. A notable step forward, I'LL FOLLOW YOU is both tremendously well-constructed and a joy to listen to, deserving a ranking on par with M. Ward's POST-WAR, My Morning Jacket's Z, and Wilco's SKY BLUE SKY on the list of notable experimental roots albums of the early 2000s.