The Stranger / Seattle WA / July, 2005
WOLF PARADE
Wolf Parade EP
(Sub Pop)
***
Wolf Eyes, Guitarwolf, We Are Wolves, Superwolf, F--- Wolf, Wolf Kings, AIDS Wolf, Weed Wolf, Howlin' Wolf-enough with the wolf names, already. Dang, next thing you know, Paris Hilton will be sporting a designer metallic diaper, laptopping and lapdancing in front of an all-heiress electro-noise band named Heroin Wolf. Forget your swallows, deer, and Lion Kings-running with wolves is so very in, in, in. So what's all the howling about? Chalk it up to the inherent Everlasting Gobstopper cool of the animal in general and the predatory nature of life in the '00s.
Montreal lupine pack Wolf Parade aren't quite as blood-thirsty or fearsome as many of the other Wolf groups-perhaps their Modest Mouse mentor (and coproducer on this self-titled EP), Isaac Brock, partially tamed them when he brought them in from the cold and put them on tour. Wolf Parade is full of the feisty, jagged pop that should satisfy the hankerings of Interpol, We Ragazzi, and Radio 4 fans, with some of that sincere, symphonic force of fellow Canadian artys and onetime tourmates Arcade Fire. It's meaty and dense with ex-Frog Eyes beastie Spencer King's buzzing keyboard textures, guitarist Dan Boeckner and drummer Arlen Thompson's pointy rhythmic edges, and Boeckner and Krug's nervous, nervy vocals. Wolf it down-seconds are coming up soon, in late September when their full-length trots forth. KIMBERLY CHUN
Wolf Parade perform Thurs July 14 at the War Room, 9 pm, $5.