Labels: Odd Box
Review by: MH
The Wolfhounds are a band I’ve been aware of for some time but never consciously listened to previously. I think their previous album may have fallen through the cracks in the Collective Zine digital review list last year too but this is their sixth album and you can trace their early days all the way back to C86 – they actually formed over 30 years ago in 1984.
It’s quite hard to describe this record and this is something of a varied listen as they dip into different styles throughout. While the songs have occasionally poppy hooks, they can also be quite awkward – the opening track here is over 3 minutes of acapella and the last song almost hits the 8-minute mark. There are interesting, spikey lyrics at times like on the angular post punk of “Now I’m A Killer” and “The Stupid Poor”, and modern life is a common theme throughout. They can also be quite driven when they want to be like on that closing track which makes for a great finish to the album. That slightly weirder side started to make more sense when I realised the singer used to be in Moonshake in the 90s – there’s a band who remind me of watching bands in Camden pubs in my teenage years. In fact, there are quite a few links back to the 90s here – Terry Edwards from Gallon Drunk plays saxophone on a few of the songs too.
I can’t promise I’ll wade my way through their entire back catalogue but having heard this record I feel like I kind of want to – there’s sure to be a few gems along the way.