it's 1986...do you know where YOUR children are?
It's been too long. There's been too much music in between. Same old, same old. So let's get right to it. I love Wolf Parade's new album Expo 86. Like, so much. If I'm ever bored or tired of my other music, I throw it on. If I need something to play while I'm in the shower, I play the middle of the album. If someone asks me what my favorite album of this year is (there are maybe three people who might ask me that, and none of them have...but if they did!), I'd probably put Expo 86 in my top 3 right now.
Before I break this thing down track-by-track, as I usually do for albums I really love, let me take a minute to discuss the state of music reviews currently. Now, I'm a big fan of Pitchfork. However, I don't always feel like reading their reviews. There's a few reasons for that:
1.) They're long: yeah, they're a few paragraphs, maybe two or three for something not-that-interesting, but still, it's a lot of words. I love reading. If you read this at all, you probably like reading. I love writing. I'm a total hypocrite by calling them out for overly-long reviews. But we'll get to why they're unbearably long in a minute. For now, just ask yourself: why do I need to read eight hulking paragraphs about Arcade Fire's Suburbs? Wait, you mean I don't? That I could probably get through a song or two in the time it takes to read it? Weird.
2.) They have little to do with the music: even when they talk about the music, what are they actually saying about it? Are they just comparing it to something that's already out there? Are they talking about the music climate that currently exists around that genre/band/scene? Are they musing about something totally unrelated? Or are they telling you what songs sound good, what songs sound bad, what's alright, what they could've done better, and maybe, what kinds of things they're hearing in each song? Maybe it's just me, but I'm more apt to wanna read something that has lots of quotation marks in it. You know why? Because lots of quotation marks mean they're naming lots of songs...on the album. And if I'm not able to listen to the album, or if I wanna read a review about it, I wanna know what you think of the songs that make up the album. It's as easy as that. Try to cut down on all the extraneous BS. To use that Arcade Fire review as an example, the second-shortest paragraph contains the most quotation marks. Which means the paragraph containing the most song mentions is the second shortest of eight. That doesn't seem right to me.
3.) They don't correlate with the rating: it's often I'll read a review of an album rated 7.8, and it'll be largely glowing, with maybe one flaw mentioned. Why didn't it get something higher? Did the reviewer get to rate the album them self? Is the rating a consensus among the staff? Some clarity would be nice; even those video game and car magazines will tell you "the total score is not a cumulative score of how well the game/car did in individual areas - it is simply a total score we have assigned it". Those scores make sense to me, because at least they explained how they arrived to them. Pitchfork seems to lack that.
4.) They're too short: okay, this one flies in the face of the first point, so this is a critique of other review sites. I read a blog this week that would rate something out of 5, then write about two short paragraphs concerning the album. If you have the time to write as many reviews at once as this blog did, why not make the effort and give something good and in-depth? I can understand something so short for singles, but this is obviously much more than that. If you're gonna do yourself a disservice by limiting your rating scale to a five-point one, at least counter that with deeper writing. Those are just my thoughts.
5.) Maybe I'm just being a sourpuss and Pitchfork's not that bad and I'm just so busy in my life right now that I don't have time to read and appreciate their reviews like I used to.
Anyways, now that that's off my chest, let's get to the review:
"Cloud Shadow On The Mountain" | This song is the most Sunset Rubdown-y of the bunch I'd say. Spencer Krug's waw-waw voice is all over the map, and if I were doing the sequencing, I'd think they'd have better options to kick the album off with. Many of Krug's mentions of mythic creatures and sceneries abound, but like the better Sunset Rubdown tracks, the instrumentation keeps the whole thing chugging along and interesting. The guitars rip through the drum beats and punctuate the spaces in between Krug's grandiose statements ("you gotta jump, jump over the islands/like a gazelle"). There's enough screeching weirdness in the background to fill any voids, and the whole thing gives you about 10 seconds of respite in all. I can't stress the Sunset Rubdown connections enough though. Wolf Parade will always be Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug coming together, but it's the differences between their side projects and the sounds they bring with them from those that set them apart - and at the same time, keep Wolf Parade albums interesting. We'll explore that more later on anyways.
"Palm Road" | The guitars instantly resonate happier on this track, and as expected, Boeckner's more laid-back voice leads the charge. I've gotta admit though: these two openers don't really do it for me. They've got the some of the right elements there, but not the catchy anthemics of Wolf Parade's greater songs, especially the ones off Apologies To The Queen Mary (I like to pretend that the follow-up to that - and pre-cursor to this new album - At Mount Zoomer, never happened). Anyways, "Palm Road" doesn't really hit hard, and comes off more as a warm-up for Boeckner's usual bombastic-ness than anything else. Like he's holding something in reserve for the other songs.
"What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)" | Before Dan can get there though, Spencer brings what I think is his best performance to the album. The beat is an awesome back-and-forth rocker -- if anyone has seen Death Cab's Ben Gibbard perform, this beat is the equivalent of his on-the-spot, hip-rocking, odd-thing-going-on thing...alright, if you've seen him, then you know what I mean, if not, I'm no help here. Anyways, back to the song: it's got a few distinct sections, and Krug, as he seems to do in most of his tunes, lets his voice rise above all the other sounds, and the songs where he does that benefit from it. He has great tone, for as much as he vibrates it up and down, and you'll never mistake him for anyone else given his unique delivery. The guitars are at work again here, delivering wordless jabs to keep you on your toes, and there's this whole sense of them, along with the drums, constantly "driving" this album. It's a great sound that Wolf Parade have always had a grasp of, but never executed as well throughout - I think - as on Expo 86.
"Little Golden Age" | The previous song really starts what you could call the "meat" of this album; that great string of tunes that defines the collection and keeps your attention when it's essential an album does so. So on "Little Golden Age" (I think Katy Perry-song when I first hear it start up, not gonna lie), Dan builds upon his earlier offering, serving up an earnest stomper complete with some of the catchier guitar lines filling in the bars between his cryptic lyrics. Here's where I think Expo 86 excels by the way: even when it's trying to sound sad, it's still moving and it's still percussive and it's still awesome. Songs are constructed in a way that elicits emotion from you as a listener. When the notes drop, that usually a signal for sadness. Now, when you can take those drops and keep them exciting and - ultimately - not depressing, you've done something great with music. "Little Golden Age" has a lament to it, but that's lost in the instrumentation and "uh-oh"s and great guitar. This would also be a good place to point out that so far, the drumming has been very consistent on the album, if not spectacular. Wolf Parade is certainly a guitar-driven group.
"In The Direction Of The Moon" | I had a real thing for this song for a while. I still do. But I'm talking a thing where I'd come home and have to turn this on, just to hear it. It's Krug again, but this time, what really does it for me is the stellar keyboard stabs. And this is where I hesitate to talk about keyboards and guitars and all; we all know you can do a ton of stuff with electric guitars. Those guitar mentions I've made above then? For all I know, they could be keyboards. I'm still not that great at picking out individual sounds, other than for this all-too-easy and -encompassing idea of "catchiness". Anyways, there's wicked keyboard running through this song like a glowing line of contrasted stitching; it's not enough to totally draw your attention away from what it's holding together, but just by being there, it's making whatever it is that much better. The other hero of this song is the guy helping on the "I'll put my rockets away" vocals; they're another reason I'm so drawn to this tune. There's a slight lull for a minute plus on "Moon", and that's probably all that brings it down, but once it recovers from that, it's this onslaught of keyboard, marching drum, droning guitar, and Krug finally hiding his voice behind some of that, letting it do its thing. Even the "rockets" guy gets his chance to shine, no longer singing in unison with Krug. The ending is a bit different from the rest, building up then finishing kinda flat, but it takes nothing away from the rest of the song.
"Ghost Pressure" | The lead single from the album, and the one I've heard the band make reference to as their most danceable - even going so far as to say the working title for it was "Beyonce". It's certainly the most radio-ready, with Dan toning things down a bit and letting the song play out like a ride down a set of rapids, if I had to find the best descriptor for it. It starts off fine, picks up momentum, then it just sails through. The keyboards do a great job again here, to change things up between the choruses, and then add an electrified organ sound to the choruses themselves. All in all, this is probably the most straightforward track on the album: it's meant to get you moving, it's driven largely by the instruments and a few repeated lines, it's at this constant 8 out of 10 sound level, and then jacks it up to 10 out of 10 when it needs it. Wolf Parade could make a whole album of these; they wouldn't be expanding into new territory, but they wouldn't really be letting people down either.
"Pobody's Nerfect" | For me, this is where the album starts to slow down a bit. This song in particular is probably the most Mount Zoomer of the bunch, so while I don't not like it, I wish it was, you know...something else? It's technically sound, like I've heard At Mount Zoomer described before, but it doesn't do much for me other than when Dan picks the song up by its britches and shakes it with his "and you don't know how to stop it at all" lines. Oh, and he also says "we built this city on cocaine lasers", which might be my favorite line from anything all year. The song doesn't really hit its stride til about halfway through, where the big guitars come out and do their 80's-rock thing all up and down the strings. These guys can shred no matter the style, and they do a good job of showcasing it here on a tune that would otherwise be kinda boring if not for those guitars and a raucous finish.
"Two Men In New Tuxedos" | ...and here's the point where I wished Wolf Parade's songs were named with a little more Handsome Furs influence and a little less of Sunset Rubdown's. It is Krug's song though, so I guess his side project's naming rights win out. This tune just kinda does its thing, but functions like one of the more forgettable Sunset Rubdown tracks, and it's these times when you can clearly see the side projects' influences that I think Wolf Parade suffers from: Spencer should leave the grand theatrics to that group, and bring his foot-stomping, fist-pumping best to the Wolf Parade side. There's too much stop-and-start, too many up-and-downs, for this song to really grow on me, and not enough in the way of guitars/keyboards/drums to draw me back in. Probably the biggest miss on the album for me. But good for you Spencer. Get it out.
"Oh You, Old Thing" | I had a hankering to hear this one the other week; I dunno why, and it probably can't be considered one of the more stellar tracks on here, but I think that speaks to an album that's well put-together and demanding of multiple listens. You seem to discover something new and enticing every time through. In this particular tune, there's an interesting keyboard pattern starting it off, and Krug gets his turn on vocals again, though this time he's toned it down a bit. There's so much going on around him, and although I may have mentioned above that he really shines through when he lets his voice rise above everything else, there's other times when he can dial it back to a level appropriate for the song, and simply mesh with it like he's just another instrument. "Oh You, Old Thing" is odd, in that, even though it's a good song, it doesn't leap at you like most other great Wolf Parade songs ("Shine A Light", "Grounds For Divorce", among others); it just kinda vibes along, something which the songs on Expo 86 seem to do well it seems. Wolf Parade has really found themselves -- or at least, found themselves again, going back to the roots they so successfully showcased previously on Apologies To The Queen Mary.
"Yulia" | Wow, did Boeckner really restrain himself enough to only gives us one Handsome Furs-inspired track on this new Wolf Parade album? I mean, Spencer seemingly took as many liberties as he could bringing Sunset Rubdown into the picture, but Dan? What moderation. The triumphant guitars and galloping beat are there, and the snippy lines punctuate the "sense" (because I don't know if it's nostalgia, sadness, longing...what it is) the lyrics and their delivery are trying to bring to the surface. More than any of the other songs, this is the most pleasant listen on the album by far. Again, there's so much going on that it's hard to place exactly what works the best here and makes the song the standout it is. Is it the cymbals, oddly lacking on the other tunes? Boeckner's earnest vocals? The tom-tom? In the end, yeah, it's probably the percussion in one form or another. But rest assured: when you need to take the time to figure out which one of the many great things go towards making the song itself great, I think you're doing something right.
"Cave-O-Sapien" | The longest track on here, and the closer. It's pretty upbeat, this time propelled by the fast-forward of the drumming. Yes, I just made up that phrase. Krug is like Sonic The Hedgehog here, nimbly running his way up and down the walls of the obstacle course that is the music in front of him. That music though: Wolf Parade consistently do a great job of making melodies out of instrumental lines, delivering just as much feeling and distinction through those as they do via the lead duo's voices. There's tension in the guitars here, though totally that video-game kind if we're talking Sonic; it's fake tension, just manufactured to get things going. You know you're never in any danger of the song falling apart around you, same as you're never worried you yourself are going to be injured while playing a video game. Spencer's cries of "I got you/til you're gone" are the real hook here, followed closely (and literally) by the odd-sounding electro stabs of the keyboard. There's almost a joking sense to this whole song, from the title to the words to the sounds. These guys are having fun, and you can tell.
Thankfully, by manufacturing a return to their former glory - albeit, short on songs emulating Apologies For The Queen Mary's rocking anthems that a generation of indie kids embraced as their own - and balancing the triumvirate of Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs in relatively equal parts, Dan, Spencer and the boys have restored that exciting feeling to their albums with Expo 86. So maybe more of the same old, same old isn't always that bad.
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