Wesley Wolfe records his music at home alone in Carrboro, a fact that’s surprising given the quality and quantity of his output but not given the content of the work itself. At least on paper and on tape, Wolfe’s an anxious, arguably agoraphobic sort who finds troubleand the music to muster past itat every turn. Thematically, Wolfe’s side of this 7″ split with Chicago’s Jared Grabb parallels this year’s excellent Storage LP, with issues of impermanence, frustration and faithlessness grinding against his resolve. But when he sounds them out above a clicking acoustic guitar and sheets of distorted electric that suggest mid-career Built to Spill, Wolfe seems stronger than his words suggest, climbing up against his worries. What’s more, on Storage, Wolfe very much played the part of lone singer-songwriter, tunefully singing his frustrations against bare-bones accompaniment. Here, though, he arranges, fancying a band of one that washes between slinks and swells. These four minutes are both ellipsis and exclamation, then, demanding that we want more and proclaiming that Wolfe leads one of the state’s best new bands, even if it’s just him, alone at home.
