"Expo 86" is the third studio album from Canadasian-rock marauders Wolf Parade. The new LP is defined by its cohesion between songwriters Dan Boeckner (guitar) and Spencer Krug (keys). On previous albums "At Mount Zoomer" and "Apologies to Queen Mary," the songs sounded very hollow, isolationist, as if Krug and Boekner were clashing and competing to be heard on every song, or if they weren't competing they sounded absent or bored on the tracks that weren't theirs. "Expo" is the first time that Wolf Parade has sounded like a BAND, which isn't necessarily good or bad.
It all starts with Krug's "Cloud Shadow On the Mountain" which sounds remarkably similar to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." I'll put them up at the bottom so you can compare them. You might not hear it at first, but they have the exact same drumbeat, tempo, and a very similar structure. Listening to the song, there comes a part where I'm waiting for that famous riff that is played at the end of Paranoid's verses (on "pa-ci-fy" and "sa-tis-fy, here they should land on "find your horns" and "scorpion" but, alas, they don't *sigh*). Anyways the song is great, very weird lyrics about scorpions and dreamcatchers. Looks like Krug's gotten into peyote recently (aka again and all the time lol).
Then comes Boeckner's "Palm Road," a fairly straightforward song about watching the apocalypse from an island. Cool stuff. These two tracks are pretty good examples of the Wolf Parade from Mount Zoomer and reminiscent of some the work off "Apologies." I agree with Pitchfork's review here that the examples of band cohesion start after "Palm Road." It's interesting that the first two songs talk about a dream of being reborn and the destruction of society. Perhaps these are conscious metaphors for Wolf Parade's inception of a new musical approach and the destruction of their old one on "Expo." The reason I say this is because the cohesion is so apparent from this point on that it seems weird to me that there would just be two isolationist tracks at the beginning that don't fit in with the rest at all. Maybe it's bullsh**. Whatever.
Anyways then it's Krug's "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)," which is driven by a pulsating Boeckner riff and classic affected Krug lyrics. Krug accentuates the mood with ethereal synths and the drums keep pounding. There's an annoying breakdown in the middle, which gets tedious. But it's a fine track and a great example of the two working together. Cool lyric: "I've got a sandcastle heart/ made out of fine, black sand./ Sometimes it turns into glass/ when shit gets hot."
Boeckner's "Little Golden Age" takes the inverse approach: driving synth, accentuated by a simple guitar riff and nuanced and personal lyrics from Boeckner about drinking and waiting for things to be perfect and then it never lasts. He sings "Freeze, freeze, freeze Little Golden Age." Time is fleeting. One of the best songs on the album.
Then it's Krug's "In the Direction of the Moon." It sounds cool, cohesion and everything blah blah blah. It's alright. Nothing great here.
Finally it's time for "Ghost Pressure," my favorite song on the album solely because it has the coolest synth part in the world. Boeckner howls "Little vision come shake me up, shake me up!" and finally at the end Krug chimes in and the two close it out together. They rarely sing together, so it's awesome to hear.
"Poboy's Nerfect," besides the really stupid title, is cool jam and has one of the simplest song structures I've heard from Wolf Parade. Coolest line on the album: "...built this city on cocaine lasers."
"Two Men in Tuxedos" SUCKS!
"Oh You, Old Thing," has two great synths (and a Spanish guitar for a millisecond). This is one of Krug's best on the album.
"Yulia" is the most anthemic and most epic song on the album while also being the second shortest. You can imagine it being a crowd favorite at gigs, with the easy chant-chorus of "Yulia, Yulia, Yulia" which often reminds me of Elvis Costello's "Allison."
And then there is the phenomenal Cavo-O-Sapien, where everyone just goes berzerk. It's very punk-rock with crazy spastic vocals from Krug and complex riffs from Boeckner, featuring some Boeckner chanting and then Krug sings the guitar melody and I'm like WHAT WAS THAT? and don't forget about the Cav-O-Sapien!!!! IT'S CRAZY and tons of fun.
"But I've got you/ until you're gone..."
Now when you're comparing Wolf Parade's "Cloud Shadow On the Mountain" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," listen to "Cloud Shadow" from 0:23-0:34 seconds and then immediately listen to "Paranoid" from 0:12-0:24 seconds. Same drumbeat, same structure. If you go back and listen to "Cloud Shadow" your mind will even fill in the "Paranoid" guitar riff at the ends of the verses. Pretty cool.
Cloud Shadow On the Mountain-Wolf Parade by TheBoyandColors
Black Sabbath - Paranoid by Stelios_K
Ghost Pressure-Wolf Parade by TheBoyandColors
Cave-O-Sapien-Wolf Parade by TheBoyandColors
Overall let's go with a 7.5 good vibes/10.
