Neo-Classicism--The New Classic Rock: Woodrow Lin's Love Screams War

Dude, it’s like some guys went down to that basement dorm room which had been condemned under a new fire code. The guys meant to just break in, explore, maybe find a place to have parties, but they found the door ajar. Inside is a long-haired guy wailing on an electric guitar. Instantly, the college guys recognize what they think is some Classic Rock song they should know. They look at each other knowingly, as if to say, “Oh, yeah, he’s playing that one song.”

But when the player hits the song’s bridge, the guys realize this is nothing they’ve ever heard. The neo-classicism threw them off, but this long-haired guy in the dorm basement had only been incorporating those blues rock riffs into a funk collection of indie College rock. Having no slick production, it’s open, accessible, free, wild, and live.

The guys call for help, “We need a drummer! Get us a bass! This guy is incredible, but he needs some support.”

A drummer and kits, a bass player and bass, some recording equipment, and other support crew appear, and Woodrow Lin’s Love Screams War is made ambulatory by electronic recording processes, freeing the long-haired Lin from his neo-classic College Rock basement.

At least that’s how I imagine it went down.

Love Screams War opens with “You Hide,” a dirty funk that rolls on waves of bass lines supplied by Alvero xxx, buoying the rhythm, bouncing it with jazzy soul. That’s what grabbed me, but while bass was from outside help, the genius of this neo-classic rock funk is Lin’s chops and riffs, such as on “I Like the Way You Walk.”

Thanks to Woodrow Lin for the review CD.