Brooklyn – The biggest cliché in band names during the 2000s was ‘wolf.’ For a while, it seemed like if a band didn’t have an extraneous consonant, they had some reference to wolves doing something wolves don’t normally do: Wolf Parade, Wolfmother, Sea Wolf, and about a bajillion others. Eventually, a moratorium was called and new clichés emerged (such as unpronounceable shapes). But now the wolf is back, with London’s Wolf Alice representing for the lupines. Wolf Alice looks further into the past for inspiration than 2005, however, with a 90s sound inspired equally by folk, grunge, and power pop.
Wolf Alice is at the beginning of their moment. They just announced that their debut album, My Love Is Cool, will be released on June 22from Dirty Hit Records, along with releasing a bruising new single called “Giant Peach” that’s the best song they’ve put out to date. The British music press is on their side. The four piece performed at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar the other night to a packed crowd running the full gamut of hipsterdom, from Goth teens to aging record store clerk types.
Wolf Alice is, at this point in their career, better on record than live. Some of their best songs are quiet and textural, which are tough for any band to pull off in a live setting, let alone at midnight on a Saturday at the Bazaar, where the band competes for drunks’ attention with arcade games and delicious snacks (shout out to Bolivian Llama Party and their mushroom salteñas). Wolf Alice’s music is alternately muscular and wispy, but they’re not yet able to nail either of those qualities live.
This is not to say that Wolf Alice live isn’t an enjoyable experience. Lead singer/guitarist Ellie Rowsell is having so much fun that it’s hard not to get caught up. She smiles even while she’s screaming. She uses two microphones, one with heavy reverb and another with delay, which makes her sound like she’s singing from inside of a funhouse. The band’s songs tend to end up in a different place than you’d predict. Sometimes they’ll start as Blur-like Britpop and end with a Rage Against the Machine-style breakdown. It doesn’t feel stitched together, either. The songs organically move between moods and genres. The unpredictability never feels like its being done for its own sake.
Wolves never went away. They just went underground for a while. They’re starting to return to the Grand Canyon, where they haven’t been seen since the 1940s (RIP Echo). Kanye West has an eerie new track called “Wolves.” And Kevin Garnett has returned to the Timberwolves, where he belongs. After a decade, Wolf Alice is making it safe for wolves to return to indie rock.
Wolf Alice ’s debut LP My Love Is Cool is out June 22 on Dirty Hit. Their EPs are available on Soundcloud. Wolf Alice is touring the U.S. and U.K. through the spring, and then has a number of European festival dates.
Liam Mathews
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