Live: Wolf Parade

No exhaustive review tonight, but I gotta say Wolf Parade is damn good - not great yet, but they probably will be and this just seems like one of those band you don't want to miss on the upswing.

I was a little surprised they packed close to 1,000 people into the Rialto, but At Mount Zoomer is a strong record to be taking out on tour. They're energetic, excellent musicians, and just fascinating to watch as they create on stage all the subtleties that give their tunes such a dense and sound.



Earlier this year with his new record, Mike Doughty talked of a concept he refers to as "Dude Theory," which is basically the idea that when you listen to the album, it comes across as the work of four guys playing music - it's easy to hear the different instruments apart from one another, there aren't a lot of overdubs or sonic layering and overall the songs are just really easy to connect to.

Wolf Parade occupies the advance end of that notion - for the first time I could really dig out all those different sounds and let the music sink in a good deal more as I watched them on stage. With the two keyboardists usually playing two keyboards apiece and two guitars as often as guitar and bass, there's just so much there. And it's a rich and often startling sound - full of musical jumps and vocal yelps and the songs crash and careen around before bending back to the hooks.

From the opening "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son," the crowd seemed barely but perceptibly more responsive to the material from 2005's Apologies to the Queen Mary, but then again At Mount Zoomer is barely a month old (officially) and I saw plenty of people walking from the merch table with copies on CD and vinyl.

For me, the highlights were simply the highlights from the albums: "Language City" and "Soldiers Grin" from the new one and "I'll Believe In Anything" and "This Heart's On Fire" from Queen Mary. The closing "Kissing The Beehive" was an appropriately rocked out and extended jam version, and the two-song encore was just an absolute surge of energy.

I doubt Wolf Parade is a band that's hit their peak - if so, then there are two high quality records - if not, I'll take a thrill in saying "I saw them back when..."

DOWNLOAD:
Wolf Parade - Language City
Wolf Parade - You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son

New Wolf Parade single

SubPop has posted a second Wolf Parade song for download in advance of the Montreal band's forthcoming new record, At Mount Zoomer.

For my money, "Language City" is easily as good as anything on their debut record, Apologies to the Queen Mary. The new album is out June 17, and just over a month later, the band hits the Rialto Theatre in Tucson. (And who knows what some blokes from the frozen north are gonna think of the blistering desert summer. Hopefully we'll have the rains by then.)

"Language City" sounds like a slight departure from the Modest Mouseyness of their Isaac Brock produced debut. It's a zippy song, built around a straightforward piano groove and some shimmering guitar. It's the perfect type of song for a single - catchy enough to burrow into your head and complex enough to reward many, many listens.

Along with the new Portishead, Old 97's Billy Bragg records, At Mount Zoomer one of the ones I'm looking forward to most this year. And catching a band on tour riding a freshly released disc definitely makes for a promising show.

DOWNLOAD:
Wolf Parade - Language City
Wolf Parade - Call It A Ritual

Also, Captain's Dead has a whole live show.