In concert last week at (Le) Poisson Rouge, Wolf Alice played this song early in their set, and, as theatrical white smoke drifted behind them and purple lights flashed, it was as if clouds were opening and parting. The album ends with a “hidden” track, “The Wonderwhy.” It moves through the many phases that Wolf Alice is capable of inhabiting: chanting guitar cords, anthemic vocal effects, and rapping, as well as pure, attractive melodies. “Fluffy” climbs back up guitar mountain, and while the band can get lost in the heights, there’s quite a view. “Swallowtail” is the drummer’s turn to take the microphone, though it might be better if he didn’t. “Giant Peach” has a spy-thriller feel, with Rowsell’s echoey voice taking on the depth of Joan Jett’s. “Freazy” is like a dash through the back door of a hidden dance club. “Silk” is a stretched-out ballad powered by haunting synths. “Lisbon” is a galloping run through the back alleys of desire (“Swallow the fear / My stone cold fox / My arms are here”). “You ain’t going to Heaven / ‘Cos I’m dragging you down to Hell / Where’s Mum and Dad so you can tell them?” Rowsell shouts.Īfter that, the band is down the rabbit hole like an Internet search gone awry. It’s an ear-splitting and entirely healthy expression of rage. “You’re a Germ,” has Rowsell whispering and then yelping, while the guitars continue to establish their supremacy. The song is not about the famous painting, but rather about Lisa Simpson. “Moaning Lisa Smile,” which follows “Your Loves Whore” and has not been revised since its appearance a few years ago, continues the grinding guitar assault, and points to the band’s sense of humor. “When we grow older, we’ll still be friends / We’ll still be lovers, and won’t fear the end.” The song is about a youthful promise not to change after becoming lovers, and it can almost be read as a comment on the relationship between the band and its audience. The band demonstrates an unnerving tic on the song, too-coming to a complete halt for a beat at various unexpected points, leaving a listener in a terrifying place, alone with her thoughts. Rowsell’s voice builds over quarrelling guitars, and all is redeemed. On the following track, “Your Loves Whore,” Rowsell and company set things straight, with a cascading wall of sound that crushes everything that came before it. Only Rowsell’s lyrics, “Keep your beady eyes on me / to make sure I don’t turn to dust,” suggest that some brutal thing is coming. The sound suggests fog rolling over a green field. During the first song, “Turn to Dust,” she coos over a sparse backing of light drumming and gauzy guitar work. On “My Love is Cool,” Rowsell opens with her gentler side. She can whisper like a child and howl like a rabid animal. That would be a good way to describe Rowsell’s vocal style. The story, a variation on “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Through the Looking-Glass,” is about a feral girl who is raised by wolves. The band takes its name from “Wolf-Alice,” a late-seventies short story by Angela Carter. The pair had been playing folk music together for a couple of years when they decided to bring in a rhythm section, Amey and the bassist Theo Ellis. The band’s ascension was fuelled by a key decision, two years ago, by its founders, the singer Ellie Rowsell and the guitarist Joff Oddie. Since its start, Wolf Alice has gone from serenading empty clubs in London to gracing the legendary John Peel Stage of the Glastonbury Festival. Joel Amey, who is its drummer, has been in bands since he was in his early teens, and all the bandmates played music before getting together. Wolf Alice succeeds with a shifting approach because the group is far from shiftless. Just in the same way that a harmless Web search for a restaurant address can result in time spent brushing up on the history and development of, say, badminton (ask yourself, just how did you end up on this page?), “My Love is Cool” is a dizzying descent into the unpredictable nature of today’s music. Their début album, “My Love is Cool,” which comes out today, matches our Internet moment. The more recent “Moaning Lisa Smile” is all thundering shoegaze guitar. “White Leather,” from a year later, finds them lounging in the late-night atmospheric sounds of the xx. An early track, “Leaving You,” from 2012, starts with warm harmonies that are pure folk before twangy guitars rain a southern-rock storm on the country picnic. They play around with genres, sometimes within a single song. The English four-piece band Wolf Alice, during its brief existence, hasn’t felt the need to stick to any one sound. PHOTOGRAPH BY BURAK CINGI / REDFERNS VIA GETTY Ellie Rowsell, the band’s lead singer, can whisper like a child and howl like a rabid animal.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |