Civilian by Wye Oak

Civilian, the third studio album from Baltimore duo Wye Oak, came out on March 8, 2011, on Merge in the US and City Slang in Europe, and it's the record where two people started sounding like a whole storm front. John Congleton produced, and he lets the space between Jenn Wasner's guitar and Andy Stack's drums fill up with fog and feedback.

Wasner sings lead and handles the guitars, her voice cool and steady even as the noise rises around her, while Stack keeps time with his feet and right hand and plays the bass lines on keys with his left, which explains the strange, lopsided heft of the sound. It's folk-rooted indie rock that keeps drifting toward dream pop and then tearing into a squall. The A.V. Club named it the best album of 2011, and the title track found its way onto the countdowns years later. Shriek came next.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.