Home > Music > CD Review > Wolf Parade, 'At Mount Zoomer'

Wolf Parade, 'At Mount Zoomer'

Montreal art-rockers put down their side projects and release an adventurous set of jams

By Matt Rodbard

Metromix
June 16, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Backstory: Montreal’s Wolf Parade formed in 2003 after the band’s chief songwriter (number one) Spencer Krug was offered an opening spot for an Arcade Fire tour. Problem was, there was no band to open with. Enter chief songwriter (number two) Dan Boeckner, who teamed with Krug to throw together a group on a one-month deadline. Several EPs and a breakthrough debut later, the band is a bellwether in the more-prosperous-by-the-month Montreal scene.    

Why you should care: Though the band’s debut was released almost three years ago, Krug and Boeckner have been busy with their side projects, Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs respectively. And though both bands have followings, it’s obvious that the pair kept the most adventurous tracks for “At Mount Zoomer,” which is named after the recording studio of its origin.

Verdict: With a driving drum march and swirling synths, opener “Soldier’s Grin” could be the ideal soundtrack for fighting Ganon in one of those Zelda forests—there are elements of computers, fantasy and violence in this weird (and standout) opener. With the sunny keys strokes and thumping bass parts, “Language City” starts as a very proficient “Oh, Inverted World” outtake before really taking shape halfway through with an honest-to-goodness dance section. (Please play this song live, guys.) “California Dream” is a total keyboard jam and mildly bloated at six minutes. “Kissing the Beehive” is 11 minutes and really a jam, an exciting one with some stellar guitar work at the end. Plus a lot of howling.

X-Factor: Boeckner once described Handsome Furs, a duo made up of himself and wife Alexei Perry, as “basically Wolf Parade without the guy that everybody likes and no real instruments.”

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