The Parade That Is Expo 86
July 21st, 2010
I find it peculiar that Wolf Parade is continually referred to as a “super group”. Sure, each member has featured prominently in one or another successful band—Spencer Krug in Sunset Rubdown/Swan Lake/Frog Eyes, Dan Boeckner in Handsome Furs, or Dante DeCaro in Hot Hot Heat. (Drummer Arlen Thompsen worked with Arcade Fire early on, but he was never a full-fledged member.) Funny thing is, though, that Wolf Parade by my clock actually gained relevance, and high-profile success, before any of those bands. Just a peeve I hold as a pet, but I would recommend we all just refer to them as simply a “super” group: a battle-tested, mid-echelon outfit who’s now churned out a third consecutive stellar record. Not an easy feat in today’s turn ‘n burn revolving door spinning an endless array of bands into our attention.
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Some fans were disappointed with 2008′s At Mount Zoomer, finding it disjointed and difficult—I, of course, gave it a glowing review. In perhaps a conscious focus on cohesion, Wolf Parade has seemingly taken Zoomer‘s more accessible qualities and subtly distilled them for Expo 86 into a razor sharp blend of their capricious prog compositions, eccentric synth storms, and unhinged 80s rock. Krug’s fanciful keyboard allegories are beautifully fused with Boeckner’s blue collar bone-picking. DeCaro’s fuzzy baritone guitar adds a welcome breadth, and Thompsen’s frantic drumming never falls too far off the rails. Intentional or not, the product of this apparent maturation shows the makings of an immensely imaginative, confident and unyielding band.
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Boeckner, for his part, continues to unabashedly advertise his love for the heart and the iron it pumps, as the vascular organ is metaphorically mentioned in every song he gets credit for here. “Palm Road” is unfortunately a rare misstep (though it’s certainly palatable), but the exultant gloom of teen-anthem “Little Golden Age” makes it perhaps the album’s strongest track. It’s a song looking back in time, but instead of cherishing the nostalgia of lost times, he seems content with looking forward— “I don’t miss my little golden age” he admits. DeCaro’s baritone guitar fills the song out while sparring freely with Boeckner’s own Fender and Krug’s clipped church-bell synths. Boeckner is nothing if not a child of the 80s, and I love the slight nod to Jefferson Starship on hair-raiser “Pobody’s Nerfect”: “he built this city on cocaine lasers”. I get the feeling this song was written as an ode to Asia, where Boeckner and his wife have spent a considerable amount of time the past year touring as Handsome Furs. “Ghost Pressure” reminds me most of the band’s first album, probably because it’s awesome and has ‘ghost’ in the title.
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While I could find countless ways to applaud Dan Boeckner, I believe it’s Spencer Krug (pronounced kroog) who shines brightest on Expo 86. Not only are his dual keyboard skills something to marvel, but his weirdly whimsical way of crafting murky, madcap fantasies boggles me to no end. “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)” is, for sure, a lyrical zenith. Juxtaposed with Boeckner’s searing metal riffs, Krug unloads one bizarre vision after another: “I don’t think I should be sorry / for things I do in dreams”; “I sleep all night with the light on / and dream about the sun”; “I’ve got a sandcastle heart / made out of fine, black sand / Sometimes it turns into glass when shit gets hot”. And the wondrous kicker: “I wonder if all the beaches / in all your holiday towns / will turn to giant shining earrings / against the cheek of the sea / when, finally, this supernova goes down”. The album is kicked off, in fact, with the rollicking “Cloud Shadow on the Mountain”, a panicky take on dreams and rebirth where he assures “you will never be born as a scorpion”. Hallucinatory imagery is Krug’s forte and when he claims that “I take my meals with weirdos / and play with my rocket ships” one can’t help but believe him. That line comes from “In the Direction of the Moon”, a drowsy, wonderfully oddball love song.
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In the end, all this over-analysis really means is that Wolf Parade is having more fun than ever before. From the kids on the album’s cover, and the memories they all shared for the album’s 1986 B.C. namesake, to the relentless effervescence of the music, and the superb singularity achieved in the face of having two dominant songwriters. After leading the charge some years ago in band names containing ‘wolf’, fans can now officially focus on the ‘parade’ part of their name. Expo 86 is indeed their ticker-tape.
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What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had To Go This Way)
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Wolf Parade plays the Showbox Market Monday July 26th, with Japanese band Moools.
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