I pursued this disc under the impression that it was the new Arcade Fire side project I had read about. After listening I was glad to hear them sticking to what makes their other band so great – a balanced blend of gushing emotion and the noisy abandon of joyous, collective play. Plus it seems they’ve stitched more than a few patches from the Modest Mouse quilt onto their fabric, adding a crisp little edge of psychosis and a few bigger guitars, so yeaa! Call it Arcade Mouse.
Turns out I had my hip Canadian bands all mixed up. Wolf Parade may share the occasional hometown venue and borscht recipe with their pals in the Arcade Fire, but no personnel (I was thinking of Bell Orchestre - oops). It also turns out that the Modest Mouse connection I was hearing is real since this parade is brought to you courtesy of the band’s indie-noise champion Isaac Brock who recorded some of the album (a-ha!). I like to think of it as breaking even.
Tandem band leaders / vocalists Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug are a good if interchangeable compliment to one another and their songs mingle well throughout the album. The singing style splices Bowie’s high crooning wail less the less his sex appeal with mentor Brock minus much of the bile. However at their broiling and barely intelligible peaks the closest immediate reference might be the high-pitched, antiphonal waivering chants of Native American choral singing. And it works. Seriously. The playing is a little more loosely hinged than the obvious touchstones already mentioned, but they make up for fewer dynamic shifts and a more narrow dramatic range with consistently controlled cacophony and lyrical hints of wide-eyed weirdness. Definitely recommended for fans of the Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc. Like these artists Wolf Parade came to shake and move listeners both literally and figuratively, just don't expect to be completely swept away.
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