Reflections Vol: 1 (Bumble Bee Crown King)

The release of Woods 11th studio album, Strange to Explain, had the misfortune of coinciding with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, making touring and live performance a public health risk. With unexpected free time on their hands and no prospects for playing live any time in the near future, the band assembled Reflections, Vol. 1: Bumble Bee Crown King, a collection of unreleased rarities recorded between 2009 and 2013. Strange to Explain had continued the infusion of Ethiopian jazz and pop elements into Woods rootsy indie folk sound, but the material on Bumble Bee Crown King largely predates that stylistic shift and is a far more randomized selection of songs, jams, and outlier tracks. Midnight Moment and Be Kind My Love are both outtakes from 2014 album With Light and With Love, and their melodic folk-rock delivery is as strong as anything that made it to the record. A cover of Brian Jonestown Massacres Ballad of Jim Jones is a sweet inclusion, and the laid-back, moody rendition of Bend Beyond (a different approach to the title track of the groups 2012 album) is an interesting counterpoint to the more Neil Young & Crazy Horse-modeled LP version. Noisy and meandering jams like the live track Party in the Pines and roadside freak-out Bumble Bee Crown King are strictly for completists, but they still manage to covey the warmth and curiosity that make Woods such an essential band even at their most offhanded. ~ Fred Thomas