Wolf Parade – Apologies to The Queen Mary (2005)

I got acquainted with Wolf Parade already after this debut album of theirs, but I only ended up actually buying this on a CD here in London a couple of years ago when I saw it used with quite a low price. Back in 2005 I used to borrow quite a lot of CDs from my local libraries in Helsinki. The libraries in Helsinki have great selections of CDs and it was a good way to get familiarised to to new music before Spotify. At the time I was quite convinced that pretty much all the Sub Pop label albums were worth listening to and that's why I picked this album up from the library. I was right. This album sounded great and I ended up listening to a couple of songs from this album quite a lot on my mp3. I did not, however, find this album in stores at the time so I just ended up buying the following album, At Mount Zoomer, when it came out.



The two frontmen of this band have both moved on to do great other projects in music as well. Spencer Krug performs nowadays with a name Moonface and he has collaborated on two albums with Helsinki-based Siinai making beautiful post-rock kind of music. Dan Boeckner on the other hand formed Handsome Furs with his (nowadays ex) wife. I've listened to both of these bands quite a lot and I really like them, but I still think Wolf Parade was the best project of both of these people. Wolf Parade is quite straightforward indie rock with typical laconic sounding vocals and electric guitars. The organ sounds on the other hand sound quite unique and therefore Wolf Parade definitely has their own sound that is very recognisable.

This album has mostly quite short songs and the album, despite of its 12 songs, is quite short. The first song You Are a Runner and I am My Father's Son sounds a lot like other indie bands of the era, such as Modest Mouse. The second song Modern World shows a lot better what this band is capable of. The raspy vocals work brilliantly and the blinking pianos give the eerie song some strange depth. Shine a Light sounds a lot like Handsome Furs sounded some years later. The album ending song This Heart's on Fire is probably the best song on the album. The guitars and organs create a monotonous, yet interesting loop of sounds that makes it sound very unique and at the same time, the song is very catchy and good for dancing.

Like usually is the case, bands do not make that impressive music videos for their first album. Wolf Parade is no exception and their early music videos look quite rough around the edges. Shine a Light music video is basically just a video of a man with multiple heads walking about town. The heads have been intentionally created with very badly done special effects. The video kind of fits this music though, because the song sounds like it was just recorded at someone's garage. This kind of amateur sound and vision is, no doubt, intentional and I think it's part of the appeal for this band.

I do not think this album is Wolf Parade's best one, but it's certainly the most authentic one. Even though it's been published by Sub Pop, it sounds like the band would sound like if you just went to see it live. I like that.

Listen to the album on Spotify.