by Dale Nixon
From the outset, it is clear that Wolf & Cub are coming from a different plane. Not simply the Aussie outback (the power trio in fact hails from the urban locale of Adelaide) but perhaps more accurately the astral outback.
From the 60's kitch-inspired wrap around digipack to the swirling murk of the band's 4AD debut release Vessels, it can all be a bit disorienting at first, with phase shifts and actual use of (gasp) “stereophonic sound”. Producer Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Super Furry Animals, Belle & Sebastian and Mountain Goats) knows his way around a mixing board, and endeavors to make a dinosaur footprint that pushes the spacial tolerances and rebound capacity of the speakers. And make no mistake, this is an album meant to be processed by the human ear at maximum room volume; headphones would only unduly contain the glacial spacial atmosphere.
The points of departure for Wolf & Cub are the pre-moonwalk earth circa when space was still a mystery and not full of hi-res digital cameras and space shuttle takeout wrappers. There is a lot of early Pink Floyd, Hawkwind as well as more obscure acts like Budgie and Blue Cheer in the groove. But the aural extravagance is not purely retro as the Spacemen 3, Jesus & Mary Chain, Spiritualized and pre-sellout Jane's Addiction also figure prominently in the baby batter. Vox man/guitarist/organist Joel Byrne has the early Perry Farrell lilt down to a science (without the former's coke-addled nasal inflections) combined with a liberal dose of the singer from the criminally and commercially under-appreciated UK act the Music. A tour with fellow rockers Dead Meadow could push the limits of modern heavy indie rock psych, along with the 9-volt battery lifespan of numerous effects pedals.
When the band stretches out to instrumentals, the quality remains high. Conundrum is a five minute tour de force phasing and delay effects that stands as the band's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. It's fairly easy to imagine the song being stretched to 15 or 20 minutes in a live setting, provided strobe and high-booted go-go girls are added to the mix. It is Syd's Floyd colliding with Sunn O))) – drone without the dreary.
It is also probably the album that their canis lupus brethren Wolfmother should have made. Thick on atmosphere and thicker in layered heft, bereft of distractions.
If the original Dr.Who had beamed down a hologram of pre-acid damaged Syd Barrett into the recording studio, it could not possibly sound more authentic and enthralling.
Because wherever he floats in the aether these days, Syd would be proud of Wolf & Cub.
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