Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Released Sept. 27, 2005
on Sub Pop
Listen to this album lying in bed alone, staring at the ceiling. Or soon you may hear some of its songs blaring out the speakers as you stumble alongside the hipsters during your local club’s indie dance night.
Wolf Parade’s debut full length thrives in both environments. The album’s closing song captures this duality: “Sometimes we rock and roll. Sometimes we stay at home, and it’s just fine.”
Most of the songs build around keyboard-driven fuzzy melodies, driving percussion and repetitive sing-along choruses. The four members of Wolf Parade may break no new musical ground, but they do it so well. And maybe that’s enough.
Frontmen Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug share vocal duties, taking turns in the spotlight. Emotive deliveries and ambiguous lyrics abound. As the songs twist, build and howl, you’re left with their images of bus rides and lonely towns, ghosts and bodies.
Almost no review fails to mention that Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock introduced the band to Sub Pop Records and produced much of this album. Or that the group also lists the Arcade Fire among its friends and comes out of Montreal’s blossoming music scene.
In an interview with cokemachineglow.com, Krug addresses the hype:
I’d like to think we’re good enough to hold peoples’ (sic) attention long enough so they’ll actually listen to the album and come to a show and think about our band outside of [these] terms… I mean, all these different variables add to something, but they have absolutely nothing to do with “the band.”Wherever you are when you hear this album, set aside your expectations and take it for what it is, regardless of the band’s indie credentials.