The reason for me returning from the dead on my last post was to tell you about the latest band i’ve been obsessed with, but i couldnt do it without getting sidetracked by Clap Your Hands Insert Pun Here, The National, and Feist. anyway, a few months ago i got a hold of the upcoming debut from a montreal band called Wolf Parade. I had heard about them because they were touring with Arcade Fire and the Wolf Parade drummer played drums on “Wake Up” on the Arcade Fire album, so I thought I’d see what they sound like.

from the beginning of the first song “You Are a Runner and I am my Father’s Son” i was immediately hooked. that song blew me away, the amazing drumbeat, the way the keyboards played along to it, the singers strange emphatic voice, the feel-good harmonies, i was sold. and for some strange reason i was the only one who was sold on it. i kept trying to convince my friends how good this album is, but i always got the same stupid comments about how the first song is “misleading” and how the other songs are only “alright”. ive said it before and i’ll say it again, i need new friends.

so i listened to this album nonstop for about a month or two, it was my definitive summer album. then i find out that it was produced by Mr. Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse. just when you think it cant get any better, you find out that one of your musical heroes produced your new favorite record?! by god I am in love with the modern world! check how the lead singer fondly recalls how Brock got the band signed to Sub Pop:

“I remember getting loaded at a hotel with [Brock], hanging over the balcony and seeing how far we could lean out before we dropped,” he recalls. “He said he wanted us to sign with Sub Pop, so we ended up in negotiations with the people at the label.”

its just that simple and wonderful, folks. i need to start hanging over balconies while loaded more often. i can’t even imagine what kind of debauchery went on during the recording of this album with the band and Brock. anyway, if i havent already said, this album is the greatest album in the history of music and beyond! apparently now that the album has officially come out last week and that the P-bomb has dropped, these guys are on their way.

get the album, its called Apologies to Queen Mary. Where did the album title come from? good question:

The title of the Wolf Parade’s album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, refers to the band’s destructive stay on the passenger liner in Long Beach, California, during last year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival. The band attempted to summon the spirit of Winston Churchill: “We ended up kicking in a door and coming upon the Winston Churchill Honorary Ballroom,” says effects whiz Hadji Bakara. “I ended up taking the legs off this antique table and inscribing a Ouiji board with a buck knife, but Winston didn’t manifest himself. The hotel manager said, ‘We’ve had Led Zeppelin, Guns n’ Roses, the Sex Pistols all party on this boat, but we’ve never had to kick anyone off. And now I am kicking you off.”

like i said, these guys are pure rock and roll. check the song “Its a Curse” and if your hips dont start shaking your most likely dead, square, and/or republican. the bands got 2 singers, one of them sounds a little like Kurt Cobain the other sounds like hes from another planet. in fact all these guys sound like theyre from another planet: planet rock! i should have written this post a long time ago when i first fell in love with this album, but as you all know, i’ve been in prison for the last 4 months. So until theres another great album for me to sing about, this heart will continue to be on fire. Ciao!