Wolfmother- Wolfmother

Yes. I will admit it, I am a hypocrite. Every week I give you guys recommendations, but a couple of months ago, a friend recommended ME Wolfmother, and I kept putting it off. But this last weekend I decided to give this band a listen and... wow. I loved it! Alot! There are so many brilliant things about this band... And some shit ones.


Most of Wolfmother's impact and power comes from their singer, Andrew Stockdale. He has an incredibly unique voice. As opposed to all the generic Nickle Back/ Daughtry sound-a-likes out there these days. I hear Stockdale mostly being compared to Jack White and I while can definitely pick up on the resemblance. For example the iconic distorted scream that Jack White does, often with the help of a Harmonica Mick. But they are so different.


Jack White and Stockdale both have that high voice, but when White hits the much higher octaves, he struggles. Listen, for example, to the live version of Blue Orchid on the DVD, Under Great White Northern Lights. He can't hit those notes. But I do believe that in the studio version he was able to hit those notes without technological help. But Stockdale goes higher than White and stay there. And he does it more confidently with more power.
I think he shares alot of vocal traits with Iron Maiden's lead singer, Bruce Dickinson.


I think the most powerful part of this album is the first line of Track 1, Colossal.
"I saw the colossal landscape
Of which I never was a part"

The lyrics aren't one's to shake the music world to it's foundations, in fact Wolfmother's lyrics are very average. But what really wows me is his voice and the vocal melody. There's also an effect put over his voice which kinda muffles it. But the way he sings that part makes me think he was trying to overpower the effect. And I think he did a good job cuz that part is SO powerful.

This album really starts out so strong. Now I'm not saying it loses it's strength, cuz it doesn't. But about halfway through the album you get a little desensitised to it's impact. But I think that if you were to listen to a song, take a 5 minute break and listen to the next song. Each song would blow you away. You just get too used to it, kinda like AC/DC. As the guy who introduced me to Wolfmother said, "There is not ONE shit song on that album!" And he was right!

Now the instrumentals in this album are good, very good, but when I hear alot of their riffs I think, "I'm sure I've heard this somewhere before?" But there is one instrumental part I love SO MUCH! The cheesy-ass guitar riff in the intro to Track 3, White Unicorn. It is so, so, so cheesy! But I love it. On the topic of White Unicorn, about halfway through the song after the second chorus the singer goes,

"We could live together

We could live together

We could live together."

The last "Live together" is so, so brilliant! The Double tracking, the harmonies with the guitar... Wow I really can't tell you how much I love that part. His voice is amazing.

But then there's this stupid little slow section round the 3:20 mark. It sounds like... erm... An underwater Acid trip. That part annoys me. Alot. It is so generic.

Another thing that annoys me about this album is the drummer. He is really good, but so underwhelming. Not because his playing is boring, but because everything else Overwhelms the drumming. You really have to listen to notice the drumming.

What happened to the days when Rock bands used drums as an instrument and not just a time keeping utensil!? Did that die along with John Bonham? Even Hip-Hop and House appreciate drummers more. They use beats as part of the music and not just to fill a hole. Not even Green Day have that iconic drumming anymore.

I think the most noticable drumming on this album is the Kick, Floor Tom, Kick Kick, Snare part in the beginning of Track 5, Mind's Eye. I don't particularly like that song, it's not bad but it's my least favourite song on the album. It's like every rock band now-a-days has to have that token slow song and they all sound like that! Not Even Stockdale's vocals can redeem it's clichéd-ness, and those vocals are really good.

The Intro to Track 4, Pyramid, is a very debated topic in my head. I don't know if I hate it or love it. On one hand, it's impressive, but on the other... It's fucking annoying! Sound's like more of that underwater acid trip shit. Actually, come to think of it, I don' like it. It's impressive but it simply doesn't sound very good! But I'd love to know how the guitarist got that sustain. However playing guitar and singing exactly the same thing has never worked well. Ever.

Now everyone RAVES about the intro guitar piece to Track 5, The Joker and The Thief, But. Meh. It's good but it's very clumsy. But I really do love this song! It's possibly my favourite song on the album and it's once again made by Stockdale's EPIC vocals.

I think this is definitely one of the best albums I've come across recently. This band has scary resemblance to The Raconteurs. So much so that I Googled it just to make sure they weren't the same people + Jack White. If haven't heard The Raconteurs, go check out my review on them, The Raconteurs- Consolers of the Lonely and give them a listen. If you love the White Stripes, The Raconteurs and even Led Zep, you'll love Wolfmother.

Here's a link to Wolfmother- Wolfmother on Grooveshark.com

So please leave a comment telling me what you think of Plug in Your Head. What you think of Wolfmother and to give me a recommendation. (I have learnt my lesson and I will listen to whatever you throw at me.) Tell me what you want to see me review! You can also E-mail me at xtianzzyzx@gmail.com. Tweet me @Xtianzzyzx and comment on the Plug in Your Head Facebook group!

I'll be back next week with another Recommendation, so until then, Turn Up the Volume and Plug in Your Head!

Xtian Zzyzx