Considering all of the side projects of Wolf Parade Members Spencer Krug (Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown) and Dan Boeckner (Handsome Furs), it’s easy to forget that Wolf Parade is still together. Their latest release Expo 86 is a surprisingly coherent and palatable indie album. Easily their best work since their debut release Apologies to the Queen Mary, the album has a much fuller and more mature sound with the same charm that drew listeners to Wolf Parade in the first place.
While it won’t hit you like a ton of bricks in the same fashion as Apologies to the Queen Mary, Expo 86 offers a carefully fashioned and more unified album. Although I’ve always been a fan of the singing of Boeckner over Krug’s, many feel as though their previous releases were overpowered by Krug’s vocals. The previous Wolf Parade release Mount Zoomer mainly left Boeckner to task of injecting energy into album, while Krug’s songes were generally more cosmic. Expo 86 offers a more equal duty in speeding up and slowing down the album between the two vocalists.
Krug opens the album with the powerful “Cloud Shadow on the Mountain” which is booming and well harmonized track with a tinge of classic rock. It is Boeckner who then slows the tempo next with the track “Palm Road” which as accompanied by instrumentals driven by Arlen Thompson’s drums in Jesus & Mary Chain fashion. The songwriting of Boeckner is much more mature and elevated in Expo 86 and his ranging vocal tonality makes the album unpredictable.
The almost simplistic melody of “Pobody’s Nerfect” is elevated by Boeckner’s somber presentation, a style that is usually reserved for Krug. Not without his undeniable presence on the album, Krug slows it down and speeds it up in “Two Men in Tuxedos”, the dancy “Oh You, Old Thing” the closing anthem “Cave-O-Sapien”. Plenty of guitar and synth driven beats provide a melody that almost seems alive.
Expo 86 might not have the immediate “wow what IS this” impact on listeners, but it is their best album as a band. Each member offers a more musically sound performance and nobody is overshadowed by the others. A truly evolved and more evenly distributed album,Wolf Parade will once again show you that their place in the indie music circuit is well deserved.
