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Second Guessing

by Oakley Hall

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1.
Hiway 07:15
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Blaze 04:19
8.
Mumbles 04:04
9.
Landlord 04:35
10.
11.
Cod'ine 05:35

about

Oakley Hall are a six-piece electric string band hailing from Brooklyn. They've always had one foot in American roots music and the other among that borough's storied rock underground. They've earned a reputation among their peers and fans alike for a killer live show featuring top-notch co-ed harmony, interlocking electric fiddle and guitars, and great songwriting hooks. While haunting the same underground spots and sharing many bills with bands that recently have made Brooklyn famous (Oneida, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Animal Collective, Black Dice to name a few), Oakley Hall largely worked against the current in leading a small but vibrant psychedelic roots community and subverting American traditional music by finding the rainbows at the root.

The process began when the band reconfigured from a previous incarnation, which had released a debut record, Oakley Hall, on Bulb in early 2004. That record, described as "a great basement album" by pitchforkmedia.com, was a freak-country free-for-all. But the new Oakley Hall began in the fall of 2004 with the recruitment of drummer Greg Anderson and singer-songtrix Rachel Cox. His swinging drum-style and her undeniable pipes lit a fire under the recently streamlined crew and a new energy has emerged. With Sullivan and Cox introducing a whole new batch of songs, the energy has only increased. Banjo player Fred Wallace, tired of being lost in the mix, strung a fender like a banjo and plugged in, while fiddler Claudia Mogel bought herself a Marshall stack and started shredding.

Second Guessing was recorded in Feb of 2005 after the band had just toured America with the Constantines. This record captures a young band in full roar as if only first discovering the joys of electricity. The highlights on this record are many. Singers Pat Sullivan, Rachel Cox, Jesse Barnes and Claudia Mogel trade close harmony on "Light of My Love" and the Celtic-tinged "Eyes, Lock & Steel.” Fred Wallace's Roscoe Holcomb-meets-ZZ Top guitar attack dominate all eight minutes of "Volume Rambler," while Sullivan and Mogel trade guitar and fiddle slashes on the Crazy Horse-inspired "Landlord." The album closes with a spookily layered cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie's “Cod'ine.” The NY Press has already called Second Guessing "an indie classic." Time Out New York's Mike Wolf has described it as "excellent," naming Oakley Hall "the untamed sound of country rock," a band that "rocks so damn hard it makes all other twang acts simply sound like failure in comparison."

credits

released February 14, 2006

Greg Anderson: drums
Jesse Barnes: vocals & bass
Rachel Cox: vocals & guitar
Claudia Mogel: vocals & fiddle
Pat Sullivan: vocals, guitar, organ, piano & dulcimer
Fred Wallace: guitar, lap steel & banjo

Words and chords by Pat Sullivan except "Eyes, Lock & Steel" by Rachel Cox, "Color the Shade" by Steve Tesh & Rachel Cox, and Cod'ine by Buffy Sainte-Marie

All songs arranged by Oakley Hall. All songs BMI

Leah Blesoof plays the rhythm guitar on "Adalina"

Tracks 2, 4 and 8 recorded by Barry London at the Sunset Grill
Other recorded by Nicolas Vernhes at The Rare Book Room.

All tracks mixed and mastered by Nicholas Verhnes.

Artwork by Reed Anderson and Adriene Colburn.
Layout by David Janik

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Oakley Hall Brooklyn, New York

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