Wolf Alice: The Beginnings of an Indie Great?
Over a decade after the release of Bloc Party’s iconic indie debut, Silent Alarm the genre seemed to be clinging onto the music industry like a dried up, wet fart.
In recent years bands like The Vaccines and Viva Brother churned out songs that were largely devoid of anything inspiring. The odd catchy chorus yes, but often delivering a lyrical ineptitude on par with Status Quo. But never fear fellow indie kids, it’s not quite time to pack our super stretch skinny jeans away in the attic yet. Wolf Alice have been quietly concocting some nostalgic 90s shoe gaze in North London, complete with chugging guitars, trembling solos and big, big choruses.
The band is currently sitting pretty at the top of the UK Album Chart, with their debut LP My Love is Cool, which draws you in from the very first track. Turn to Dust, opens the record with the glistening vocal reverbs of front-woman Ellie Rowsell supported by shimmering guitar harmonies and slide.
It’s not long before the chug kicks in with debut single Bros, offering trickling guitar interplays and gloriously fuzzy choruses to cleanse the ears of any indie dross that may have been clogging up your Tympanic membrane.
Your Loves Whore continues in a similar vein before a brief acoustic opening on You’re a Germ; plodding through some stripped back power chords overlaid with delicate boy/girl harmonies that break into some serious indie punk vibes, bringing back fond memories of Idlewild and Suede.
Nevertheless, it’s on the softer tracks that Wolf Alice truly shine. In and amongst the crashing Indie anthems, there’s a selection of intelligent refrains that offer a summery reprieve from the punkish chaos.
This album seems like its been written for the live arena, the perfect balance of indie (almost Britpop) anthems and the odd subtle track to give the mosh pit a moment to sway before booting into bedlam once more.
With every Indie band, you always wonder how much Radiohead have influenced their song writing and Freazy certainly seems like the clearest example on this album.
There’s no doubt that their influences are eclectic but there’s definitely some ambience borrowed from The Bends in Freazy, mixing clean electric guitar, a steady beat and warping effects to create an experience reminiscent of Subterranean Homesick Alien.
Swallowtail is also a particular highlight, with triple toned acoustics, quivering lead guitar and more of Wolf Alice’s serene boy/girl harmonies in the chorus.
Whether this album will put them alongside previous indie greats remains to be seen but it’s certainly a solid, captivating debut that restores pride to a genre of music that seemed to be on an embarrassing decline.
Thankfully, there is life in the mid-00s swine after all and we no longer have to cling on to the days when we thought Franz Ferdinand were great, like a sad, old rocker who can’t admit that music has moved on since the 70s.
You can catch Wolf Alice twice in Kingston Upon Thames on July 2nd. Check out Banquet Records for more details.
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