The Inside Pulse
My promo copy of Wolfmother did not contain the above graphic. I had no preconceived notions as to what Wolfmother would sound like. As far as I knew, it was another in a long line of mid 00s wolf-monickered indie bands. I was wrong.
From note one onward, Wolfmother rocks and does not stop rocking until you, too, are rocked. This isn’t grunge-rock; this isn’t punk rock. This isn’t garage rock. This is Black Sabbath / Led Zeppelin Rock with a capital “R”. It’s also Retro with a capital “R”, from the artwork down to the song’s subject matter (“Tales from the Forest of Gnomes”, anyone?). But Wolfmother, while extremely unapologetic about their sound, distances themselves from the irony of The Darkness. “Woman” could be straight out of the Zep canon, and many of the other tracks would feel right at home on a Sabbath album.
Positives:
This is a fun album. Going in, you know that this isn’t anything deep, and for that Wolfmother is deeply rewarding. Singles such as “Dimension” and “Woman” connect on a classic-rock level. Irony is in check, which is another plus.
Negatives:
There may be a little TOO much Wolfmother on their debut. At 12 songs, you get the point about midway through, and since the formula is stuck to rather religiously, by the end of the last track you may not be ready for an instant replay.
Crossbreed:
Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes and Black Sabbath.
Reason to Buy:
Fans of White Stripes retro rock would probably enjoy the most, since most hard-core Zep and Sabbath fans would probably be revolted at the mimicry, however reveringly performed.
