Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer

One of the particularly satisfying elements of the first Wolf Parade album- Apologies to Queen Mary was its individuality, its particular view of the world. Songs like Dinner Bells and the excellent Grounds for Divorce were quirky and often fun. They were far from meaningless but treated their subjects and themselves with a lack of reverence. More over there was a sense of hunger and drive to the music, an uneasiness.

Perhaps it is symptomatic of my own deep seated neophilia, but this, Wolf Parade’s second album just is not that exciting. The vocals are often shrouded, layered and without the violence and beauty of the first record. The songs themselves are not particularly interesting, without the easy licks and riff’s. There are the odd moments of brilliance, but my main problem with this record is that it could have been made by anyone. The Killers. The National. Its all a bit boring. Edgeless. Spherical.