Album Review: At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade

rating 9.0
summary Dark, Challenging, Appealing and Repulsive, Wolf Parade stand upon the mountain of their own side projects and declare themselves the Kings of Indy Rock.

*this 2 person review is by Ethan E. and Sage T.*

EE: Incase you don't read titles, we're reviewing hotly anticipated album At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade. Did I really have to say that?

ST: You know what they say, Mog is in the details......hehhehheh

EE: Did you really just do that?

ST: er...sorry. So talking to you earlier about this, I think you and I fit nicely into the theory I put forth in my last Wolf Parade post.

EE: Which theory?

ST: That there are only two kinds of Wolf Parade fans...

EE: This better not lead to some sort of cutesy catch-all conventional wisdom thing. I have a low tolerance for pith today.

ST: Don't worry, you're safe. From what I've seen, the people who were waiting for this album are either a) like you - loved the first album just the way it was and didn't care much for the side projects...waiting for a REAL Wolf Parade release before getting back on the bandwagon OR b) are like me, have followed the multiple trajectories as the band fragmented like a comet shuddering into the atmophere, interested in what sort of beast would be formed when those fragments came back together.

EE: That's probably true. Also true: whichever camp you fall under, one thing is the same....we were all getting pretty tired. I for one was getting tired of waiting as endless Handsome Furs, or Swan Lake, or Sunset Rubdown albums rolled down the pipeline. And I can imagine it getting pretty tiring trying to keep track of all those side projects.

ST: Well....I've enjoyed all those "side-projects", but you're right, it took some serious indie-investment to keep pace. Infact i'm honestly not sure anymore what's side-project and what is "legit". Well...I wasn't sure until now. At Mount Zoomer has pretty much made it clear: Wolf Parade is the real deal.

EE: That's true. The wait is over...and....well, Wolf Parade have grown up. Not all the way...but they've definately entered the philosophical, moody college student phase, and added a healthy does of Prog to boot.

ST: I don't know if it's growing up, or even fundamentally changing...listen to Apologies and you'll find that lyrically they're pretty dark - "god doesn't always have the best god-damn plans does he"... I think Mt. Zoomer is them having the self-confidence to fully explore who they truly are under all the pop sensibilities. I mean, seeing how quickly Spencer and Dan jumped into their own side-bands and began exploring sonic territory far deeper or denser than anything Wolf Parade had done, it's obvious they had these "new" sounds in them all along.

EE: The more I listen to this album, the more I think you're right. At first I was taken back and sort of worried actually...It sounded like ALL the catchiness was gone, all the hooks traded in for lyrics and sounds so thick I had to pick up the CD with both hands. My first listen filled me with anger and disappointment - I had paid for Wolf Parade, not Frog Eyes dammit! But, of course, a few days later I couldn't help but give it another chance...and then another...

ST: I will say that "accessibility" is a thing of the past for ol' Wolf Parade. Spencer especially has learned that he can be as obtuse as he wants and people will still flock. Luckily though, after plunging deeper and deeper into his own dark psyche, he's pulled back toward planet earth. Zoomer falls about halfway between Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown's last album. Which, again, is a considerable distance from Apologies to Queen Mary, so if you haven't been keeping pace....

EE: ...it's jarring to say the least. Indie kids, and I'm one of em, can be a notoriously lazy lot. We have so much music coming at us, and so many options, that if something doesn't immediately gel, we move on. All I can say is Wolf Parade is damn lucky they built up so much cred with Apologies.

ST: So after all that initial effort to crack Zoomer's shell...did you finally reach the delicious nougat center?

EE: I'll admit, I was worried I wasn't going to. But finally, it all just started to work for me. I started reading and listening to the lyrics, started picking out the two influences of Krug and Boeckner, started seeing that this album might almost, almost be stronger than the first.

ST: And that's because the first is the template used for this one. What amazes me about mount Zoomer is how it solves the "doomed second album" problem most bands face. Do we just redo what worked on the first? That never succeeds cause the new songs only feel half as catchy, cool, or unique as the first time around. Do you go off in a completely new direction? That rarely works either..that's not a sequel, that's a George Lucas prequel. So Wolf Parade have decided to mix both...they took Queen Mary, stripped away all the sound and left the structure, then rebuilt, burning and building over and over until what they were left with was fundamentally different and fundamentally the same..

EE: Wolf Parade have built a paradox!

ST: And while the fabric of the universe isn't at stake, the fabric of what you consider to be good music might be.

EE: You're right though...all the elements that I loved about Apologies are there..."Language City" is practially the bizarro flip of "Modern World", California Dreamer the bouncy partner to "This Hearts On Fire", "Bang Your Drum" the slow pretty lullaby building out of strings what "Dinner Bells" built from woodwinds. And the songs that stand alone, like the 12 minute "Kissing the Beehive", the only co-written Spencer and Dan track on the whole album, would never have been possible in 2005 when the band was trying to find it's place among the Modest Mouse's and Arcade Fire's of the world. It's complicated and swirling and dark and poetic and just freaking EPIC if you let it be...which is really the best way I can sum up the whole album.

ST: Well, i'm glad you gave it the chance it deserved. I think you'll find that doors keep opening the more you listen. Right now I'm digging the sudden Prince jamming on the end of Fine Young Cannibals...it's become one of a dozen favorite moments on this album.

EE: So I guess with this album, you'll either love, or you'll hate it. And if you hate it, keep listening anyway....you'll come around.