Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer: First Thoughts

I have now gotten through AMZ three full times, and I can tell you, I am very pleased with this record. Let's start with the production. Drummer Arlen Thompson, who produced and engineered AMZ, did an absolutely fantastic job. I'll admit, I had my doubts about Wolf Parade switching from Issac Brock as producer, but the switch was definitely worth it. Thompson gives the music room to breathe, allowing the little things, like relatively unknown fourth member Hadji Bakara's synth loops, to come through. It makes for a distinctly different experience than, say, listening to one of the first Wolf Parade EP's. These guys have come a long way. The production is very reminiscent of Spoon's more recent works, if you want a comparison point. I can't say enough about how great this album sounds, even through a poor quality rip.

The songs, well, there isn't a lackluster song in the bunch. The songs are split evenly among Spencer and Dan, like last time, except where the two share vocals on epic closer "Kissing the Beehive." The album gets off to a rocking start with "Soldier's Grin," a fine Dan song. It works really well as an opening song, with it's catchy guitar lick and well placed keyboard loops. Next we go to Spencer, with his "Call It A Ritual," the first new song that was released to the public. One of the best Spencer songs on the record. A little on the short side, but it has a very interesting rhythm and feel, which should be able to hold your attention for at least a couple listens. Now we go back to Dan, and we get "Language City," which quite frankly, is Dan's best song on the record, and maybe the best song that he has ever done. The lyrics are nothing new, stuff about running away from the city and leaving his old life behind, which is basically what every one of his songs are about. However, the whole band really comes together on this song; every member has a distinct part, even the aforementioned Hadji, giving this song a sense of purpose. And it just rocks, really. Song 4 is Spencer's "Bang Your Drum." This is easily the weakest song on this record. Not bad, it would certainly be a fine Sunset Rubdown tune, but I can't see how the song, built around a dark keyboard riff, fits in on a Wolf Parade album. Of course, after this song we get Spencer's best song on AMZ, California Dreamer. A tale of a girl who runs away from the narrator to pursue dreams of fame in Los Angeles, it not only has some of Spencer's best non-artsy lyrics to date, but it also just flat out rocks. You'll see that I have been saying that a lot, but I really mean it, this album packs a lot more punch than ATTQM did.

On to side two! The Grey Estates, a Dan song, immediately put a smile on my face when I heard the opening synths come in. It's really the most 80s thing Wolf Parade have ever done, in fact, it reminds me of 80s Bruce Springsteen. That might just be because it is another Dan song of urban paranoia and isolation, similar to what the Boss always writes about, but it also seems to have the same sort of sound. The keyboard riff in the outro is also really cool. Sounds like a bad Mario synth. I guess I would have to call it the weakest song Dan does here, however, based upon the strength of his other songs. Like the next song, Fine Young Cannibals. Oh my god does this song sound like a Spoon song! Take out Dan, put Britt in, and you would have Spoon. But don't let that trick you into thinking this song is derivative or anything. It sounds distinctly like Wolf Parade, but it is a lot tighter and more solid than usual. The lyrics are also amazing, and much different than most Spoon lyrics. We go back to Spencer for the 8th track, "An Animal In Your Care." This song is...well, it starts off rather weak. Compared to the live versions of this song, many fans are bound to be disappointed at how low-key it has become. Good thing the song picks up around the two minute mark. Here we get a great outro, with some great Spencer howling. Still, this has to be one of the weaker songs on the album. Finally we have reached the epic closer, "Kissing the Beehive." This song...words cannot describe how ridiculous this song is. It is a full ten and a half minutes of Dan and Spencer sharing vocals, or basically, as some might call it, pure ecstasy. "As if you didn't know it would sting; kissing the beehive" says Spencer as the music slows down, which is the key lyric in this song. An epic climax which builds to a terrific outro in 9/4 time. It seems to abruptly end, however, I can't say if this is intentional or if this is due to a poor quality rip.

Okay, so concluding thoughts. Well, I think for one, I can say that this is my favorite album of the year so far, hands down. I also need to make it very clear that, despite my love for Spencer, Dan is the real hero of this album. Everything he does on this record is gold, really, and I truly believe that he has here come into his own as a songwriter. Overall, this sounds a lot more like the work of a band than Apologies did. Some will complain of the relatively short length, but I disagree, I think it is the mark of a great band to be able to release a self contained work under 50 minutes. Plus it will fit well onto one LP. Seriously, after listening to this record, well, four times now, I'm contemplating saying it is better than Apologies. Which in my world is downright blasphemous.