 | Wolf Parade |
Through their first two albums Wolf Parade, in my mind, ascended to the top levels of indie-dom with incredible songs and great live shows that showed they were truly a talent to follow and to watch. Those first two albums were as good as any first two albums could be, and while At Mount Zoomer got mightily looked down on, I thought it was an inspired and really incredibly memorable release. The songs got more bombastic, more epic and it was kind of an unbridled escapade for the band and I thought they pulled it off very well. That brings us to the band’s third album, Expo 86, which once again combines off beat song elements with some great straight ahead hooks and rock and roll to bring us another great album from these guys, and they have put out a trifecta of albums to start their career that is tough to beat (aside from the obvious, fellow Canadian Suburbans). This album is a step for the band in a more focused and closer to the middle direction in terms of songs and production. It isn’t as unchecked and as off beat as their prior two albums, and it makes this album not quite as memorable for me, but that is really a minor criticism as the band has delivered one of the year’s best once again.
The band is clearly defined by the two-headed songwriting machine of Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner. All Wolf Parade songs basically fall into having been a creation of one or the other, and they are two distinctive styles for sure. Boeckner creates the more raucous, hard rock/post punk kinds of songs while Krug usually creates more driving, new wave influenced kinds of songs. Generally in the prior albums there is a clear distinction between the styles and that continues here, though a little less so. There seems to be a little less distinction between the styles here and they do seem to have a more straightforward rock and roll kind of ethos on this record, with fewer left turns and off beat tangents. Part of what made Wolf Parade so great to me was that they would endeavor on bizarre tangents that seemed out of place at the time, but eventually they undoubtedly brought it back around and by the end of the song they had made it all make sense, and the bizarre tangent was morphed into this great hook or great bridge of the song you never saw coming but loved once they did. I think that is missing a little bit here, and the songs are more structured and straightforward. Again though, a minor complaint as the band are supreme at putting together these great simmering rock songs.
There are definitely some absolutely classic tracks here that we will be spinning for some time to come I’m sure. “Cave-O-Sapien” is just an awesome, driving closer to the album, and a lot of the albums opening tracks are superb from the driving Krug-ian “Cloud Shadow On The Mountain” to “Palm Road” and “Little Golden Age”. “Yulia” is a very solid track towards the end of the album from Boeckner. These songs are once again completely memorable and expertly executed by the band, and they have shown once again they are one of the best bands out there today.
The band continues to show why they are so well regarded and really this band has not made hardly any missteps through the entire first 3 albums, and they continue their strong track record here with more great hooks and a clear mastery of their material. They seem a little more veteran and a little less jumpy on this record, which has its pros and cons. The band is more confident but less unpredictable. All in all though, the band has created another gem that deserves to be right up there in the talks at the end of the year for which albums were the best of 2010. They have an energy and zest for hitting on just some great songs that is undeniable. These guys have a knack for putting together interesting sounding yet driven and strong rock songs that is tough for anyone else to match, and they have once again shown that to everyone here.
