Flock of Dimes Album Reviews

Jenn Wassner is talented and prolific. She’s a member of Wye Oak and Bon Iver, and she’s collaborated with Titus Andronicus and Dirty Projectors. She also releases solo music as Flock of Dimes.

Flock of Dimes’ three albums are all excellent, featuring Wassner’s pristine voice over pretty yet unsettling arrangements, with electronics and off-kilter rhythms.

Honestly, it’s weird and vulnerable and uncomfortable to share such personal works with the world at large. So hearing things like this is deeply sustaining to me.

I write for myself, but I share because I believe art can heal, and help us better understand ourselves and each other, and bring joy and catharsis and power and meaning into our lives.
Jenn Wassner, Reddit

If You See Me, Say Yes

Head of Roses

The Life You Save

10 Best Flock of Dimes Songs

Flock of Dimes Album Reviews

If You See Me, Say Yes

2016, 8/10
On Wassner’s first solo album, she delves into synths, creating classy backdrops for her pristine voice and her processed guitar. The album was recorded as Wassner relocated from her native Baltimore to North Carolina.

As part of the album release notes, her friend wrote that “you said that making this record on your own after having spent so much time making music in close collaboration was harder than you expected, but also liberating.”

Cunningly, it starts with a tantalising snippet of the final track, a beautifully minimal keyboard riff. ‘Semaphore’ is a terrific lead single, with a terrific verse melody, pretty harmonies, and a tension release in the chorus. She invites Joni Mitchell comparisons with poised, melodic songs like ‘Flight’, like a 21st-century update on Hejira.

Wassner consistently makes terrific music as Flock of Dimes.

Head of Roses

2021, 9/10
Jenn Wassner is known as a member of Wye Oak and Bon Iver, but she also releases her own music under the moniker Flock of Dimes. Baltimore’s Wassner covers a lot of ground on her second record as Flock of Dimes. While the primary mode of expression is Americana-tinged tracks like ”Walking’ and ‘Lightning’, she dabbles in rock and electronica as well.

Like a lot of current records, Head of Roses was inspired by the pandemic – Wassner experienced the end of a long-term relationship, and the ensuing lockdown gave her a lot of time to reflect. Most of the songs on Head of Roses were written between March and June 2020 as the world grappled with Coronavirus.

There’s an impressively strong triple punch to open Head of Roses. Wassner’s vocals are only accompanied by woozy synths on ‘2 Heads’, and it serves as a prelude to the epic rocker ‘Price of Blue’. The spiralling melody and moody guitars of ‘Price of Blue’ have shades of Neil Young with Crazy Horse or Built to Spill. The skittery electronica of ‘Two’ is tuneful and catchy despite the unusual 7/8 time signature.

The rest of the record tends toward gentle Americana, but it’s still lovely and tuneful. The pretty ‘No Question’ goes into sophisti-pop territory, while Wassner’s layered vocals sound beautiful over the electronica of ‘One More Hour’.

Wassner is adept at balancing multiple genres on Head of Roses.

The Life You Save

2025, 8.5/10
Her last record was wide-ranging, but The Life You Save is autumnal and intimate.

It can be a tough record to get through, with a relentlessly subtle palette. The record’s intimate enough that the synth stabs on ‘Defeat’ are among the most vibrant moments. The closer ‘I Think I’m God’ is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell’s Hejira, with the clear, emotive vocals backed by acoustic guitar and fretless bass. The best tune, ‘Afraid’, opens the disc, a pretty, searching melody.

This record is about codependency. And obviously, codependency and addiction are two sides of a coin. So when I was making this record, I thought I was making a record about other people’s addictions. And in the process, I came to understand in learning about myself and being able to shift my perspective that I was actually making a record about my own codependency. And part of the struggle is learning to see the ways in which your behavior, that you believe to be helpful, might actually be harming people.
.Jenn Wasner, Under the Radar

Jenn Wasner is supremely talented, and The Life You Save is an excellent record.