Haste's "Annabelle" Is a Singer-Songwriter's Hazy Coming of Age

Haste, Annabelle (Track & Field)

[HAZE POP] Haste is the tone-manipulation testing ground of local songwriter Jasmine Wood, a nimble singer whose guitar-pedal infatuation began in her early teens and whose debut, Annabelle, serves as a songwriter's hazy coming of age. Having spent an adolescence experimenting with sound, Wood eventually settled on the comfortable cush of fuzz made prevalent by seminal '90s acts like Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500. The apathetic complacency of the era seems to have carried over in shruggy song titles like "It's OK" and "Whatever," but the simplistic, distorted arpeggios and moderate tempos are easy to latch onto. The heavy, lulling load of melody Wood scatters are especially sparse on the title track, "Star Man" and "December." They sway slowly through a fog of slow strums but remain fluid thanks to drummer Kaleb Shields. Shields and bassist Thomas Hoganson cut a clear path through the ephemeral haze of effects, offering a sturdy foundation for the copious doses of delay and distortion. Wood's ambient, sometime loopy lead guitar and youthful croon are, like Hope Sandoval and Naomi Yang, appealing enough to hold interest throughout. And those content just to hang will find much to love. CRIS LANKENAU.

SEE IT: Haste plays Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., with Sinless and Azul Toga, on Sunday, Dec. 4. $6 advance, $7 day of show. 21+.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.