Wolf Parade
http://wolfparade.cjb.net

styles: indie rock, Canadian indie, lo-fi
others: Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Frog Eyes

Apologies to the Queen Mary
Sub Pop, 2005
rating: 4/5
reviewer: tamec


Wolf Parade is a pretty exciting band. Initially brought to attention by Modest Mouse's Issac Brock, Wolf Parade's widespread adulation has continued primarily through word-of-mouth, without much non-surfacy press attention until this summer's final teaser. But perhaps it's a boon to Apologies to the Queen Mary, the band's full-length debut, that the band's prior output didn't receive the attention it deserved. Of AttQM's 12 cuts, all but 3 have been available either on one of the band's first 3 EPs or, in the case of "Shine a Light" and "I'll Believe in Anything," as live in-studio (at CBC Radio 3) downloads. The band has only been together since 2003, however, and to ask them to amass more quality material than has landed on their records thus far is a bit too much to ask, even of Wolf Parade.

But rather than bitch about the lack of new songs, why not talk about how good they are? Like the Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade aren't doing anything particularly new -- the shrieky vocals, dirty guitars, and oscillating synthesizers won't shock anyone who's been listening to Modest Mouse and the like since the mid-90s. Wolf Parade's songs are mostly built around surprisingly catchy, surprisingly simple ideas -- be it the military stomp of album opener "You Are a Runner...," the elegant, sleepy riff of "Dinner Bells," or the sing-song melody of "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts." Apologies to the Queen Mary takes the best songs off each Wolf Parade release to date, cleans them up (that first EP was pretty fucking lo-fi), and, quite frankly, makes a realistic bid for The O.C. The unfortunate thing for the aloof among us, though, is that Wolf Parade do what they do better than anyone in recent memory. And they have a marginally better name than The Arcade Fire. Marginally.

Anyway, this is a real good record, and you'll probably have to listen to it whether you want to or not.

1. You are a Runner, and I am my Father's Son
2. Modern World
3. Grounds for Divorce
4. We Built Another World
5. Fancy Claps
6. Same Ghost Every Night
7. Shine a Light
8. Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
9. I'll Believe in Anything
10. It's a Curse
11. Dinner Bells
12. This Heart's On Fire

Wolf Parade EP (EP #3)
Sub Pop, 2005
rating: 4/5
reviewer: tamec


It appears that I have the honor of being the first TMT writer to review a Wolf Parade record, yet another Canadian band -- from Montreal, no less -- to generation boatloads of buzz over the border and across the sea from their homeland. This EP is the third appetizer provided by the band to lead up to their Sub Pop full-length debut due out in September, and anyone who's heard these teasers (which, really, probably add up to the majority of the LP anyway) is likely chomping at the bit by now. The band's first four-song disc was their most lo-fi and was highlighted by the slow-burning "Dinner Bells," six and a half minutes of a very simple but remarkably compelling guitar figure and Spencer Krug's ever-ragged, emotive vocals. The band followed up their first EP with an even stronger six-song effort, which covers the broadest range of their sound to date, including the shout-a-long "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" and another beautiful, plaintive dirge, "The National People's Scare."

On their third EP, Wolf Parade takes another baby step away from the muddy sonic fields of their debut and get just a touch more accessible. Each of Wolf Parade's four songs are among their catchiest -- "Shine a Light" and "Lousy Pictures" are Wolf Parade's meat and potatoes. The songs are loud, urgent, original, and (at least this time) lyrically comprehensible. "You are a Runner, And I Am My Father's Son" is even harder-hitting and represents the band at their most Modest Mousey. The lyrics are vintage Brock surrealism: "I'll draw three figures on your heart / One of them'll be me as a boy / One of them'll be me / One of them'll be me watching you run / Into the high noon sun / Farther than guns will go." "Disco Sheets" is a synth-driven workout that sounds like new Modest Mouse recorded by old Modest Mouse, if you can grok that shit.

Love it or hate it, Wolf Parade is going to be big. More accessible than Frog Eyes, more harder-rocking than The Arcade Fire, and dirtier than the oft-mentioned (I'm really sorry) Modest Mouse is nowadays, the only thing left in question about this band is how much of their first album we have yet to hear. The way they're batting now, though, is enough to satisfy just about anyone.

1. Shine a Light
2. You are a Runner, and I am my Father's Son
3. Disco Sheets
4. Lousy Pictures