Chris DeLine

Wolfmother, the three piece from Sydney, Australia, will either hit you as a complete knock-off of late psychedelic hard rock, or a band that takes the essence of that time period and continues it wholeheartedly. My preference lies in the latter as the band completely embodies the classic metal sound without neglecting to complete the package as they express an attitude as cross as a frog in a sac. Initially putting out a 4 track EP in order to help book gigs, the band soon found huge success and released a follow-up EP, Dimensions, which hit it big time in the band’s native Australia. The band was able to then move up in the wide world of music as they performed at such renowned festivals as Big Day Out and recently SXSW. Already a huge success internationally, the Wolfmother LP boasted 6 tracks on 2005’s Triple J Hottest 100 list in Sydney. No big deal, but they’re the only band every to do so since the list started in the ’80s.

And in my opinion, the album completely lives up to its international hype. “White Unicorn” throbs and pops like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. “Pyramid” is an instant follow up with the other side of things, a progressive wave of guitar, along the lines of Zeppelin III. Despite my comparisons, please don’t pigeonhole the band as that of being complete rip-offs of a sound unique to those who first made it popular. Let me put it like this, the album starts out with the tracks that force you to see who the band’s influences are, but by the fourth or fifth track, you begin to only hear Wolfmother.

A friend of mine and I have a game we play at parties. We like to see how many freshmen (or first year students as we are supposed to call them now, in this P.C. America) have heard of the following bands: 1. Collective Soul and 2. Live. Why these bands? Despite what others may believe, these two bands helped shift modern rock in a new way in the mid-90s; though I think it goes without saying that their last few records have been sub-par (any Sabbath past Ozzy?). The vast majority of people we ask have no idea who these bands are however, but I assume they’re all too familiar with your Fallout Boys and your Nickelbacks. Not to compare Collective Soul and Live with Sabbath and Zeppelin by any means, but for the sake of argument, just go with it… To those who are familiar with the Zeppelins, the Sabbaths and The Whos, Wolfmother will be a band reminiscent of a sound that you are oh so familiar with. And if for those who represent the other side of things, Wolfmother will be a completely new, amazing experience. Either way, you will be rocked!

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]