The wisdom that Morby has gained from traveling the world, experiencing new cities, new cultures, and new ways of life is brazen, and it directly reflects his abilities as an artist. Much like Neil Young, Morby has the aptness to make consistently solid music, and gives himself plenty of growing room.
Though Woods continues to appease Rap Genius scholars with his juggling of mismatched cliches, decontextualized audio samples, and left-field pop culture references, Known Unknowns proves another 60 minutes of mono-enunciated Woodspeak meticulously crafted and entirely pertinent to more complex conversations on being a minority in America.
Combining the warmth of All People’s punk rock equivalent to a late night summer pickup basketball game and Tyler Scurlock’s soundtracks to the groggy early morning after, Ruin Value excels at brandishing the musicians’ mutual nostalgia to communicate their heartache through a reproduction of the early ‘90s shoegaze scene had it flourished in the basements of New Orleans.
