Wolfmother are a
stomping, growling heavy rock band that have been taking Australia by
storm with their resonant classic sound, and have been touring their
eponymous EP across the UK, through February and March.
Their album hit
number 3 in the Australian charts and won the Triple J Album of the
Year award, and had an unmatched six entries in the Triple J Top 100
hottest tracks for 2005. Their sound is reminiscent of the foundations
of the metal genre - screeching guitars and cyclical stoner riffs recalling
Led Zeppelin’s ferocity and energy, whilst the track ‘Woman’
can’t help but bring up the opening lines of Black Sabbath’s
‘Paranoid’. There’s even one song in which the vocals
seem to take on Jack White’s balladic twang, despite the fact
that in conversation the band members are unmistakably Australian.
Nevertheless, there’s no question that the band has found their
own sound in a landscape which is brimming with Zeppelin imitators,
whilst being thoroughly distinct from the vagueries of contemporary
stoner rock.
Wolfmother don’t hold any strong sentiments for the Sydney scene
that they emerged from, their influences leaning towards international
acts. Considering their eminent status as the heirs apparent of classic
heavy-rock the band are surprisingly down to earth, coming across as
three fairly normal guys; before Wolfmother, Myles Heskett worked in
graphics, Chris Ross in computers and Andrew Stockdale as a photographer.
Come the show, though, they are monumentally able to fill the stage,
the pace and sheer appeal of their music overcoming anything that image
alone could generate. Andrew Stockdale, the lead singer, topped by a
huge, Mars Volta style, afro, has a kind of eccentric charm that would
probably vindicate him from any kind of on-stage mischief that he might
care to commit, and meanwhile the bassist and keyboardist, Chris, sways
his entire body into the intense beat, whilst Myles goes wild at the
back of stage on the drums.
According to the band the name has no links to Steppenwolf (the book
or the band, that is - ‘Step-wolf, step-mother, Wolfmother?’
‘No.’), whilst Myles recommends that you shouldn’t
look too deeply into the cosmic artwork that covers the album (unless
you want to) other than representing the other-worldliness of the music.
He comments (when coerced) that ‘I’m not a particularly
political person, but I’d definitely recommend someone f**king
up George Bush.’ When asked which one, he replied ‘Well,
whoever’s around.’
At the start of recording the band had hoped to self produce, but on
advice took the decision to hire. Their wish list included Nigel Godrich,
Dave Sidey, and Ethan Jons, and they eventually hooked up with Dave
Sardy, who had worked with Oasis, Jet, the Dandy Warhols and Autolux.
He extensively re-tuned their sound - in their first meeting he gave
the impression that he was going to ‘kick their arses,’
and across the recording period the band worked together to rebuild
the album.
The band booked into the L.A. Cherokee studio for preproduction, where
Pink Floyd had recorded the Wall, and then went onto the Sound City
studios, where the first run of the album was finished within two weeks,
apart from some fine tuning.
The band spent nearly six years jamming and refining their sound before
getting around to playing professionally, and were then signed by the
Modular label at their fifth gig.
After getting signed, the band quit their jobs and hit a fast track
to success with a succession of gigs. The band saw itself as standing
out from the crowd in the local Sydney scene, which didn’t contain
much that had anything in common with them, and it was out of the frustration
at what was there that drove them to innovate. They went through a long
period of working up songs, until eventually aiming at a more stripped-back
sound (Myles’ amusingly comments that ‘we decided to stick
to only one or two instruments each,’ reflecting the genuinely
multi-talented nature of the band).
Whilst their sound contains echoes of the prog-rock genre, they very
consciously decided not to slip into any self indulgent habits, keeping
track lengths well under twenty minutes and emphasizing performance
over perfection, making each song taut, rather than letting it slip
into a series of overly technical solos.
Despite this it’s clear that the band originated its sound from
jamming, working up tracks from compelling riffs. Myles explains that
the band interviews individually to avoid the complications of talking
over one another, but is quick to explain that this doesn’t cross
over onto musical composition, which is clearly a concerted group production.
As for the formation of a devoted fan base following their rapid rise
of status, Myles refers to one female fan who seemed to attend every
gig on the Australian tour, and who would stand still, staring from
the same position at every show, and regularly showed up in the crowd
publicity photos. He hopes she’s a nice person.
Wolfmother are a fresh and exciting act beyond what hyperbole can surmise,
and that, for once, deserves the accolade of being called a talent.
They’ve come from great things back in Australia and there’s
little doubt that the world is waiting for the Wolf.
by Mike Simon
