Shining a New Light on Wolf Parade

I've been wanting to do a post about Adam Franklin and the band Swervedriver that he fronted in the '90s (they've just reconvened for some touring after an almost 10-year break), but it's almost beyond me. Swervedriver had a greater influence on my own music than any other artist. There was something about the tone, both sonically and compositionally, that seemed to mirror my own sensibilities most closely: Despite a large, heavy sound, with souped-up mixes and a beautiful, distorted blur, there was a detached cool to it that I appreciated. It was like an overreaction and a regretful calm in one. It made me think of Kerouac and Hunter Thompson as much as Dinosaur Jr. or Sonic Youth. It was the most romantic, noisiest thing I could find to listen to and also the most sophisticated. When the band slipped into a coma, and Franklin started putting stuff out alone, first as Toshack Highway, and then under his own name, there was never a slack moment. The scope might have narrowed a bit, but that tone was still there.

There's so much high-quality material to write about, material that I want to do some justice to, that I've let myself get overwhelmed with my own expectations. And so instead I've written nothing at all.

I will try to do something about that soon with a post about Swervedriver and Adam's other projects (besides releasing Bolts of Melody earlier this year, he just started a collaboration with Interpol's Sam Fogarino called Magnetic Morning). But since he just released the "Shine a Light" single, a Wolf Parade cover, and Wolf Parade themselves have an astounding new record out, this seems like the appropriate thing to share.

I love Franklin's take on "Shine a Light," so much so that it encouraged me to give Wolf Parade a second chance. I had them pegged as another kind of band, more fashion than passion. But At Mount Zoomer has all of the energy of groups like Animal Collective and Deerhoof who are trying to tear their way out of the wet sack of convention through sheer energy alone, but with a tighter focus and better production value than those groups. I'm still discovering Wolf Parade and this record and really shouldn't try to say any more than that, except that I'm in that beautiful, unfolding stage of half-understanding with them that is one of the best things about coming to new music.

Adam Franklin "Shine A Light" (Wolf Parade cover) [From Shine A Light single]

Adam Franklin "Birdsong (Moonshiner Version)" [From Bolts of Melody]

Adam Franklin "Sundown" [From Bolts of Melody]

Wolf Parade "Soldier's Grin" [From At Mount Zoomer]

Wolf Parade "Fine Young Cannibals" [From At Mount Zoomer]