Wolf Alice - My Love is Cool

 

"My Love is Cool" is the debut album by London indie rockers Wolf Alice.  Wolf Alice formed in 2010, while this album came out in 2015.  They are a band I have always been aware of and back in 2018 I did see them when they supported the Foo Fighters.  Here is an extract of the live review I did for that gig talking about their performance: "They do seem like a hype band amongst the alternative music press. Personally, I didn't think the sound setup was that good for them which didn't do them any favours. They were ok but I can't see myself investigating their stuff any further. ".    And I didn't investigate them any further. Well, that's up until a month ago when I heard their single from their up-and-coming 3rd album "Blue weekend" and the track "Smile".  This pulled me in and before long I ordered their first 2 albums.  And for the last month I have been listening to Wolf Alice more than any other band.

The first song I want to talk about off "My Love is Cool" is 3rd track off the album "Your Loves Whore".  This song is 4 minutes and 57 seconds long. But it feels like there is a million and one different ideas crammed into the one song.  And somehow, they have crafted it in a way that not only does it make sense but it is an absolute masterpiece of indie rock gold.  They have played about with the song structure the way the likes of Biffy Clyro do but in their own way.  Those effective pauses through the versus and towards the end of the song Ellies vocals which feel like they are more carefree are some of my favourite moments from the track.  Another is just how pronounced the bass is.  Often the bass is there just to glue the song together and you don't really notice it.  But here Wolf Alice use it and it often can be seen in the foreground of the song which gives them another outlet.

While "Your Loves Whore" is my favourite song off the album, this is an album that I am enjoying immensely.  And seeing that the album has been certified gold in the UK and reached number 2 in the charts in the UK it is clear other folk do agree.  It is quite a diverse album too. "Giant Peach" for example is one of the heavier tracks on the album and has more of a punky, carefree kind of feel to it.  While "Swallowed Tail" has drummer, Joel Amey take up lead vocals, giving Ellie a rest.  This track is a slower downbeat track which has a false ending before kicking in with a splendid outro to the track.  The likes of "Silk" and "Bros" are great singles.  "Fluffy" and "Freazy" feel like sister tracks.  

In all, I got it wrong with Wolf Alice, this is not a hype band. This is the real band.  They have a great vocalist in Ellie Rowsell.  Their songs can be complicated when you investigate them but on the surface, they are outstandingly brilliant. I now can't wait for their 3rd album "Blue Weekend" to come out and looking forward to getting my teeth sunk into 2nd album "Visions of a life" a bit more too.