It only took this band three years to go from being the center of hype to being overlooked and underrated. That isn't surprising given the pace of indie music this decade. It only takes a few years for a band to go from the garage to "the saviors of rock" status to burnouts: if you don't believe me, look at the careers of the Shins, the Strokes, Interpol, Wilco, the White Stripes... I could go on.
In 2005, Wolf Parade's first album rode a wave of hype created by the Arcade Fire's Funeral (Wolf Parade actually opened shows for them that year). With that in mind, they seemed like a one-trick pony that didn't have another direction to go. Their second album, At Mount Zoomer, proves me wrong and might have been the most overlooked album of this summer.
This album relies on keyboards and synths more than anything by their peers: Wolf Parade aren't even trying to be a rock band. Their songs still have great choruses, but you have to wait for them to build to it. "Bang your Drum" has a wonderful, hummable chorus, but they opt to us it only once and bury it in the last half of the track. Twists like this are the reason it took me two months to love this album, but I'm there now.
"California Dreamer" is the highlight - a hypnotic, haunting epic that builds into extended keyboard solos. "Fine Young Cannibals" is a slow burner with an R&B rhythm that sounds stolen from a Spoon album. "Soldier's Grin" is a waltz-tempo prog rocker that makes lyrics like "this place here is no friend of mine" sound fun and danceable. Everything they try on this album works, even the extended solos on the eleven-minute "Kissing The Beehive".
Get this album and spend some time with it. Due to albums by Bon Iver, Shearwater, and the Walkmen, this seems to be the year of indie epic masterpieces that need time to grow on you. Add this one to the list.
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