Wolf Parade - Expo '86

When we last caught up with Wolf Parade about two years ago (http://flyinghouses.blogspot.com/2008/06/wolf-parade-at-mount-zoomer.html), we were in Los Angeles, we were calling Spencer Krug's voice "twittering" and we were talking about how he read minds and we were talking about personal problems plaguing the publication of a zine that will now never be resurrected.

Things have changed. We are many miles east, "twittering" is a weird word, and the zine will never see the light of day--but Krug still reads minds. And the new Wolf Parade album, Expo '86, is just fine.

Since then, Handsome Furs put out a new critically-acclaimed album, and Sunset Rubdown put out Dragonslayer, which should have been reviewed here but wasn't. It also should have been named an "honorable mention" on the best albums of 2009 list, along with the Pissed Jeans record, but I am not so thorough sometimes. Dragonslayer was not as good as Random Spirit Lover, in my opinion--but not anybody else's. As far as rock critics opinions go, the leaders of Wolf Parade are at the top of their game.

And this album is receiving middling reviews, somewhat similar to the one I am writing. They say it's good, better than At Mount Zoomer, but not as good as Apologies to Queen Mary. At Mount Zoomer had a few good songs and some decent moments, but makes for a relatively difficult listen. Expo '86 isn't the easiest listen in the world, but there is more to love about it, and it's fair to say that Wolf Parade are "back on track."

The first track "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" is Krug's, and before anything else on the album you hear him sing "I was asleep on a hammock." It's a very rushed opening, also bearing a certain resemblance the "The Mending of the Gown," the opening track on Random Spirit Lover, but instead of the weird keyboard part that also seems to open At Mount Zoomer, there is Krug's restlessness. And his restlessness is more contained, but still quite satisfying on this opening track.

"Palm Road" is a Dan Boeckner song, and it is almost comical how much it sounds like an Arcade Fire song. Granted, the drummer in Wolf Parade also played (plays?) in Arcade Fire, and even though I said "The Grey Estates" sounded like "Antichrist Television Blues," this time the similarity is totally unmistakable. It has been called a "Springsteen-esque" song, as Arcade Fire songs often are, but this is a "cover-like homage" to a peer like I have never heard before.

That said it's a good song, but I am too partial to Krug, and the next track "What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had to Go this Way)" is one of his and one of the best here. Of particular note is when he sings, "I've got a friend who's a genius/Nobody listens to him/I've got some friends who got famous/la la la la la la." Mind-reading lyrical genius and good music to set it against make for an album highlight.

Boeckner's next song, however, takes him into a higher class, and while I am very partial to Krug, Boeckner's songs on this album are my favorite that I have heard from him. Particularly this 4th track, "Little Golden Age" which talks about getting stoned in parking lots and watching the stars:

"So we hung around and we hung around
and we hung around for days
In the parking lot stoned, star shone out of phase
And the rain came down, cassettes wore out. Oh no!
Then you left town feeling pretty down
With your headphones on and your coat and
your dirty graduation gown you were
In the bedroom singing radio songs
Sing them loud
Sing them all night, Emily
You need something to help you along
Freeze, freeze, freeze Little Golden Age"

There was a review in the Chicago Tribune of this album and they basically said, "Yeah, it's good, (I think they gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 4) but they don't have much to say." The critic (I don't think it was Greg Kot, I rarely disagree with him) claimed the lyrics were weak on this album, and yeah, sometimes Wolf Parade lyrics can be vague (Boeckner) or like young-adult-fantasy-fiction (Krug), but they're never redundant or cliched. They're often mysterious, and seem to be meaningless, which is the critic's issue, but they're not, and he's stupid (unless it was Greg Kot).

The 5th track, "In the Direction of the Moon" is Krug again, with some of his zaniest lyrics ever ("I'm a disaster!"..."I take my meals with weirdos") that save it from being a boring song. It sounds like it will be an epic song, but it's not really. Krug's lyrics are actually very touching, addressed to a lover that is the "most gracious thing I know," "fantastic," and "so composed."
I guess the song is about a relationship that is barely holding together because the narrator is so messed up and the lover is much more together with their life. But there is self-consciousness, and one cannot believe the narrator would make such trouble, hence the touching aspect.

"Ghost Pressure" is Boeckner and probably one of the more unremarkable things on the album. Not an unpleasant song, just unremarkable.

"Pobody's Nerfect," however, is Boeckner again, and his second best song after "Little Golden Age" here. It would be a good candidate for radio airplay, and is perhaps the most accessible song on the album (well, after "Palm Road" maybe).

"Two Men in New Tuxedos" is Krug, so it's good, but also vaguely unremarkable. It also has the line "I can see into the future!" --so it is the point at which Krug finally opens up about his extrasensory talents.

"Oh You, Old Thing" is like a repeat of the previous track, in being an unremarkable Krug song, still containing brilliant lyrics: "As much as I have always loved your dancing/I hate the sounds that come from crowds/that just don't get/my moves."

"Yulia" is another pleasant surprise from Boeckner which always makes me think about the band Mercury Landing and how they used to be called Yulia and I wonder what the fuck that word means and I wonder if it is just some variant of Julia.

Then you get to "Cave-o-Sapien." Now, Wolf Parade have always had good closing tracks, but this is the best they have ever done. It is yet another Krug song, so the bookends of the album are his, and they're two of the highlights of it all. OK, to be fair, it's really hard to be a better song than "This Heart's on Fire"--but that was a Boeckner song. "Kissing the Beehive" had a couple of beautiful moments, but on the whole, like the album it closes, it's a bit to slog through. But "Cave-o-Sapien" is economical, epic, and declarative.

This is also an interesting album because it is named for a fair that happened in Montreal in 1986, where apparently all three main members of Wolf Parade were in attendance as children. The sleeve for the CD is cool, and the CD itself mimics the appearance of compact discs from the mid-to-late 80's, which is so cool. I don't know how that concept fits in with the general trajectory of the songs here, but I don't think Wolf Parade have been interested in "concept albums." Their albums have been collections of songs without a general theme, unless you could say each songwriter brings his own themes to each of his songs, which is kind of true, I think. They're both distinct, and their songwriting strengths helped to make Apologies to Queen Mary such a shot out of the blue. Their other albums continue to eclipse their "supergroup," but nobody will notice them anyways.

The At Mount Zoomer review ends with a ranking of all the albums each member has done, and I will not attempt that--only ask the question, is Expo '86 better than Dragonslayer? And I say yes. But still not as good as Random Spirit Lover and still not as good as Apologies to Queen Mary. Probably the 3rd best album by any individual in the collective--but I still haven't heard that new Handsome Furs one either. It's possible this will make the top 10 of 2010 but it is more likely I will only mention it honorably.

Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

Wolf Parade's sophomore effort At Mount Zoomer (formerly Kissing the Beehive) surprisingly marked itself out as one of the most highly-anticipated albums to be released in 2008. Their 2005 debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary, has not really lost any of its charm. Of course, some complicated things have happened since then. It appeared as if the twin songwriting forces of Dan Boecker and Spencer Krug were more interested in solo directions, or weirder collaborations. Boeckner played in the two-person band the Handsome Furs with his wife and released the somewhat boring but above-average Plague Park. Krug worked feverishly, it seems. Shut Up I am Dreaming, Krug's second band Sunset Rubdown's debut was released within a year of his first band's debut, in early 2006, Krug's third band (in which, to be fair, he plays a slightly smaller role) Swan Lake put out their debut shortly thereafter, in late-2006.

In 2007, Sunset Rubdown put out their second album, Random Spirit Lover, an album I will persist in loving and claiming is better than the Wolf Parade debut. I am surprised that nobody seems to know who Sunset Rubdown is despite this. Wolf Parade still remains the band in the limelight. But Krug is arguably, now, at his peak when working for his own band. Boeckner, may be (but I hope not) having a similar thing going on with Handsome Furs. All of this information taken together, At Mount Zoomer is a bit of a disappointment, but it is no slouch of an album either.

Let's see, for starters there are only nine songs, and kind of a weird running order--"Soldier's Grin" (Boeckner), "Call it a Ritual" (Krug), "Language City" (Boeckner), "Bang Your Drum" (Krug), "California Dreamer" (Krug), "The Grey Estates" (Boeckner), "Fine Young Cannibals" (Bockener), "An Animal in Your Care" (Krug), and finally, "Kissing the Beehive," (Boeckner + Krug). The album might have been improved by better sequencing, but it also would be better if the songs were more exciting.

I used to prefer Boeckner's voice to Krug's because it seemed as if he was channeling the tones of Kurt Cobain. Krug's voice was compared to Bowie, and I used to think it was weird and twittering, and while that may be so, few other artists can utilize these eccentricities to greater effect. Needless to say, my proclivities have been reversed. And I should not shy away from admitting that I am now obsessed with Spencer Krug. When I first moved to L.A., Random Spirit Lover came out and gave me something to be happy about in a sea of doubt. I saw them live, and while it was a weird night for me personally, I still recall the show very fondly, some nine months later.

This album, At Mount Zoomer, opens up with a weird keyboard part vaguely reminiscent of the first track on Random Spirit Lover (even though it is not a Krug song). The lyrics are not printed, but the album kicks off on a memorable line--"In my head, there's a city at night," and continues with, "And what you know can only mean one thing." There is perhaps some mystery and ambiguity to Boeckner's songs that Krug's may lack.

Second track, "Call it a Ritual" is especially meaningful for me personally in the way most of Krug's songs are--this time, it would only be better explained if my current zine in production wasn't being delayed due to personal problems. Krug is somehow able to read my mind constantly. His lyrics always strike me as true and authentic, but also melodramatic at times, which endears me greatly.

"Language City" is another quality Boeckner song after "Soldier's Grin" and is probably even a slight improvement, with the line "All this working, just to tear it down," dominating the song.

The best 1-2 punch of the album comes next with Krug's "Bang on a Drum" and "California Dreamer." The first song is arguably the best song on the album, and so is the second song. The first one is the closest to being a Sunset Rubdown song as is on this album, and it is affecting in the same way. "California Dreamer" is probably the only real Wolf Parade song on this Wolf Parade album. Weird to say, but it opens with the big drums on display on their debut album, but appearing nowhere else on this sophomore one. And you want to talk about Krug mind reading! When Sunset Rubdown played at the El Rey Theatre, he asked, "What area is this?" And I didn't know it then but that is what is referred to as the Miracle Mile. It is heartening to think that I saw Krug in his most recent L.A. appearance, and here he is writing a song about the very idea of making a "journey to Los Angeles" and asking "Why did you go?" Of course Krug is not writing a song to me, but it does feel that way.

"The Grey Estates" sounds vaguely like the Arcade Fire song "Antichrist Television Blues" (I am probably the only person that will make that comparison, as well as the next one) and "Fine Young Cannibals" sounds vaguely like the Spoon song "Lines in a Suit." They are both okay.

"An Animal in Your Care" has Krug almost plagiarizing himself. The closing melody of the song seems plucked from "The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life," one of the more epic, driving songs on Random Spirit Lover. It is not quite as good a song, but it is still probably the third best song on the album.

"Kissing the Beehive" is not as awful a song as it has been called. When Krug enters in the second verse, almost interrupting Boeckner, it is awesome. And also the way he pronounces "Jonathan" is awesome. It is an epic, prog-like, somewhat dirge-y closing track that is like ten or eleven minutes long or something.

I still don't know what any of this album is really about because of the lyrical ambiguity. In summation, here is my ranking of Krug/Boeckner albums from top to bottom:

1) Random Spirit Lover
2) Apologies to the Queen Mary
3) Shut Up I am Dreaming
4) At Mount Zoomer
5) Beast Moans
6) Plague Park