This album starts off with “Lazarus Online”, and one thing I do have to say right off the bat, I absolutely love the production on this one. I love just how clear everything comes off. But man, Wolf Parade really chose a serious and very current tune to start their reunion album off with. Which I give them credit for, to be honest, it really wakes you up, and it ends up coming off really smooth. I love the more downtrodden tone to everything even though it remains certainly upbeat and just as intense as some of the bands early work. It’s a really stark, sort of bleak and seriously stunning intro. I love it honestly, it shows a great deal of emotion and is really nothing like Wolf Parade has touched. “Lazarus Online” is one hell of an intro, and the last 30 seconds is hypnotizing as anything, it’s very well done. Then we have “You’re Dreaming” which is much more of what I was expecting to hear from the intro. This is the sound that Wolf Parade have somehow continuously named for years. I love the driving beat to this one, the eccentric and wild keyboards, and the wild performances. I’ll give them credit, this is already for me a whole lot more memorable than their last EP and album, and they really sound more unified than ever. I love just how upbeat and fun “You’re Dreaming” is. And I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t 100% sold on this one the first few times I heard it. But it's really grown on me, especially when you realize this is how Wolf Parade sounds after being gone for so many years. And while I’m glad the band started off on a more serious note, this is the wild and more bombastic sound I wanted to hear. Then we have “Valley Boy” which is a straight up Indie banger. The same very passionate performances are here, and I continue to absolutely love Spencer Krug’s performance here. It’s wild and jerky like his early performances that attracted me to Wolf Parade in the first place. I also am seriously into just how catchy and strangely hypnotic this one is with its strong groove. Now, while “Valley Boy isn’t as exciting as other tracks here, it’s just a really strong performance by each member of the band. The instrumentals are skillful, and I just love the feeling of getting so swept up in this track. Plus, the group vocals that seem to just get bigger and bigger as this track rolls on are a brilliant touch. “Incantation” on the other hand is a little slower, with much more pounding drums, a sound that Wolf Parade have truly made their own the last few years. There are some cool grooves and solid instrumentals. And I even really love the lyrical performance here, as there’s just a serious sense of longing and lust in this one that I feel like Wolf Parade actually pulls off well. And while personally, I feel like I enjoy their more upbeat tracks a little more, this is still just as much of an intense and wildly charismatic performance. “Incantation” is a strong track, one that classic Wolf Parade fans are immediately going to take to. Not to mention, I just love how chaotic some of the backing instrumentals are on this one.
Wolf Parade do start getting a little sloppy with “Files on the Sun”. This one really doesn’t hit me as hard at all. I still absolutely love the performance of Dan Boeckner here. But I just feel like while they’ve made slower tunes work really nicely on this album so far, this one is just bland and emotionless. The instrumentals which are usually powerful and wild, even in their slower moments aren’t nearly as entertaining here. Not to mention, this one’s writing doesn’t hit me at all. I actually think some of the keyboards and other instrumentals in the final minute or so are nice. But this one overall is a major down point on the album for me. Instantly though, “Baby Blue” is much more like it. I love the heavily synthetic intro and the over the top and cinematic vocal performance. This isn’t exactly what I expected to hear from Wolf Parade, I expected to hear a whole lot more upbeat and driving performances. But they’re just so damn charismatic and have such great character in their performances that they end up making up for that. I love the continuous whimsical organs, and the determined instrumentals on “Baby Blue” as well. Plus, the sheer intensity of Wolf Parade’s performances remains fantastic. Now, I don’t really feel like this one needed to be 6 minutes long, because eventually, it gets a little repetitive. But still, this is another solid tune. “Weaponized” continues to impress me with these instrumentals that are just so striking. Instantly, this one is so infectious and interesting. I love the jerking vocal performances here, with the intense pianos and crashing instrumentals. “Weaponized” by far is the longest track here, but it’s a serious joy to listen to. This is the epitome of intense performances from Wolf Parade. They have such a way of making these seriously infectious grooves out of seemingly simple instrumentals. But it all works so well. Then we have these lyrics, which are easily just as solid and intriguing. “Weaponized” in a weird way feels so alive, constantly changing and getting bigger with each moment. Even the more somber breakdown about halfway through comes off genuinely heartbreaking and sentimental. As this one pounds on, in come some more progressive elements, which even that seems to go over well for Wolf Parade. It’s weird, trust me I know. But for a 7-minute track landing halfway through an album, it works. Then we get “Who Are Ya” which is just about the most straightforward Wolf Parade track here. There’s almost a sort of 80’s Art Rock vibe in Spencer Krug’s very charismatic performance. I love the upbeat vibe and the soaring performances here too. Now, if you’re new to Wolf Parade, this album may not be the easiest to listen to, because it took me a while to really get into Wolf Parade’s music. But I do really love just how eclectic and wild their performances are constantly coming off. “Who Are You” is certainly one of the more bizarre tracks here, but it works really nicely for the band. So far, I really wasn’t expecting so much from this comeback album. But it’s been pretty damn solid so far.
Wolf Parade do seem to falter a little bit sadly with the finale of the album. “Am I an Alien Here” is another heavily synthetic track. But man, the slower vibe on this one really isn’t grabbing me at all. But even more so, I’m not into Spencer Krug’s performance here at all, or really any of the member's performances. The synths are cool and all. But outside of that, this seems like a lot of rehashed material from earlier on in the album. The vocals are dragging along like they’re physically being dragged out of Spencer. Overall, this track just isn’t the kind of tune I can enjoy from Wolf Parade. On the other hand, “Artificial Life” in every way is exactly what I want to hear from Wolf Parade. I love the more upbeat and determined playing here, and the more animated performance by Dan Boeckner is a joy. These much more intense and wild performances are just what makes Wolf Parade stand out for me from other Indie bands. It’s moments like “Artificial Life” that remind us that those few short years they were disbanded are worth it. The instrumentals are vibrant, the performances are animated, and everything about this one just works so nicely for Wolf Parade. But then Wolf Parade wraps up this album with “King of Piss and Paper”, and I really don’t get it at all. They could have so easily given us something so much more compelling. I like Spencer Krug’s performance and all, and some of the very whimsical synths are great as well. But everything else about this track is drawn out and exhausting. All of these instrumentals are so bland, and lyrically I’m just under the impression that this one was tossed together very quickly
Rating: 7.8/10
Give A Listen To: "Lazarus Online", "Valley Boy", "Weaponized", "Artificial Life"
Genre: Indie Rock
Overall Thoughts: So let me start off by saying, I enjoyed the majority of this album a whole lot more than I thought I would. Wolf Parade here sound like they're truly rejuvenated after taking a few years off. The performances here are just as hard-hitting and charismatic as they were many years ago. There are a few moments here and there where the band sounds a little more worn out than I'd like. But overall, this is a really solid comeback album from some true Indie legends.
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