Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug are pretty fucking awesome. Apologies to Queen Mary was one of my album love affairs, as was Shut Up I am Dreaming. So when I got of wind of a second Wolf Parade LP to be released Spring/Summer 2007 I was pretty excited. Then nothing came of it. Then still, nothing. Then a Sunset album (Random Spirit Lover, which was really solid) gave me some hope. One morning, At Mount Zoomer materialized in my inbox, and it was a done deal. What I'm getting at: there was a ton of anticipation and waiting involved in this release (which is officially 6/17). Sterogum gave it a more favorable review than I am about to, so if you want to hear some nice gushing, check this.
I always find it really hard to form an opinion when I am this excited about something because I have astronomical expectations. That being said, I am a little disappointed with the album. It lacks the crazy, rock-outness that defines Apologies. There are a lot more mellow rhythmically driven, vocal-free sections. I just keep waiting for the real build up and release found in my traditional concept of WP. It sounds like in an attempt at growth they lost sight of their original, true character which was quirky, fun and multi-layered. I just can't quite wrap my mind around the simplification that seems to have occurred here. Perhaps it is an attempt at being more digestible and universally listen-able basic indie rock. It also sounds like they did a ton of jamming, and used a lot of those jams as songs.
Of course I still really like the album, and have been listening to it pretty much on repeat. The intro of the album sounds more or less like I had expected, in a good way. They start with "Soldier's Gun" which sounds like pretty typical WP. I could do without the repetitive, lengthy guitar interludes. "Call it a Ritual" sort of has the same flavor as "Soldier's Gun", but a bit darker. I keep looking for these songs to be in Sonata form (enter dweeb talk). Basically, we have an intro, but the development isn't growing enough to make the recapitulation satisfying. Track 3, "Language City", is the first stand out track on the album. There are divisive layers: vocals in one place, synth in another and guitar in yet another place. They all come together around the half way marker of the song, and it is able to fully move into a development, and no recapitulation, which is fine, because it doesn't feel unfinished. "Bang your Drum" feels a little bit like filler (a horrible thing to say, I'm sorry). But it just doesn't feel like it adds much to the album for me. I particularly like "California Dreamer" for personal reasons mostly. It is also one of the somewhat darker, off feeling songs. It does have some of that really rocking feeling to it, but it also has a little bit of that jam sense that is pervasive in the album. What this 6 minute monster does have is a really solid recapitulation. That makes me happy, it makes the song sound complete. "Grey Estates" has been widely touted as the pop hit of the album. I agree, its pretty catchy and cute. I like it, I'm down with some solid indie pop. "Fine Young Cannibals" is possibly my least favorite track. Again, at over six minutes, it sort of doesn't go anywhere. "An Animal in Your Care" has one of the saddest lines in the album:
"Like some dead relative, you will remember me most by my funeral". Gee, thanks Spencer! In fact, the whole song is really sad. It tells a story of obsessive love and death (at least I think it does). Although the themes are pretty consistent with all other WP and Sunset songs, it is a bit more striking in this case. The final track, "Kissing the Beehive" is more than 10 minutes long, and it feels like the lyrics match the sounds exactly. They keep mentioning the word "drifiting" and that is how this song sounds. Like it drifts for the better part of the first 3 minutes, and then gets on course for them 7 or 8 minutes. The song is declaration of disappointment, perhaps in a lover? The metaphor of kissing the beehive is a good one. It definitely speaks to all of those times one enters into a relationship, with a foreseeable, horrible end.
This is an album worth checking out, and I would bet, it will make for a great live show. There are a lot of aspects that will resonate live, that a recording can't quite represent. I am looking forward to their tour this summer, I think this will doubtlessly be a show that has a lot more to offer than the album. P.s I hate the album art.
At Mount Zoomer is out 6/17 on Sub Pop.
<3 The Elephant
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2 comments:
This is a carbon copy of almost every single negative review of this album: "it's not traditional WP". It's been 3 years what do you expect? And with repeated listens the songs get as catchy and rewarding as anything from their previous work.
And it hasn't simplified - you're just not listening closely enough. Try listening with good headphones and you should then really appreciate the multi-layeredness. This is a fantastic second album, though I agree with you that it will be even better live.
Well you have to remember that they had said that they wanted an entirely different sound from Apologies, and because of that they scrapped several songs early on because they sounded too much like old album (pretty much spit up blood when i heard they threw em out :])
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