For many people, the words “Iron & Wine” and “full band” do not compute. After all, doesn’t Iron & Wine work because of the stripped minimalism of Sam Beam’s hushed acoustic folk? Less is more, right?
iron and wine
Record #212: Iron & Wine – Woman King EP (2005)
After two full lengths and an EP comprised largely of solo acoustic guitar and voice with the occasional harmony overdub, Sam Beam must have finally realized that he can get a little louder in the studio than he can in his attic.
Record #211: Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)
It’s almost unbelievable that in the early 2000s, in the wake of a huge rock revival that glorified DIY guitar rock (the White Stripes), sneering punk vocalists (the Vines, Hot Hot Heat), cooler-than-cool swagger (the Strokes, the Hives), attitude-is-everything post punk (Interpol, the Killers), and ironic hair metal (the Darkness, Jet), one unassuming man with an acoustic guitar could whisper-sing his way to notoriety.