New Wolf Parade Tracks: the Verdict!

To those who have not heard, Wolf Parade have released two tracks from their upcoming album, Expo 86. The tracks are Ghost Pressure and What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had To Go This Way). I got them from pitchfork, but at this stage take a look at any MP3 blog out there and you should find them. However, I recommend checking out the P4k article as it also includes the album tracklisting (printed below) and a nice little interview with Spencer Krug.

Link: http://pitchfork.com/news/38417-listen-two-new-wolf-parade-songs/

Anyway - on to the verdict!

It should be noted that my only experience of Wolf Parade comes from the fantastic Apologies to the Queen Mary so I wasn't sure what to expect as such - man was I pleased with what I heard.

What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had To Go This Way) is a great track. It runs in at 5 minutes 42 seconds, and in that time has some fantastic guitar work and a real 1980s feel I think. (Not in a cheesy synths manner, thank god!) The beginning of What Did... has a rather bluesy Black Keys sound. The guitar is simply fantastic, with a subdued drum beat behind it. Really good stuff. When the vocals come in, the entire thing changes. They are quite strong and are accompanied by a synth sound (not too strong) that gave me the 80s feel. Tears for Fears almost? We get a chorus repeating the line "It always had to go this way", the whole thing suggesting a failure in terms of relationship. Back in comes the guitar - less bluesy this time, but just as good. The track repeats like this again and is a really great sound.

Ghost Pressure, meanwhile, is a little bit shorter - 5 minutes and 16 seconds. The opening bars are reminiscent (though I'm sure not intentionally!) of Editors' Papillon. The same synth/guitar blend is present in this track and is equally effective. About a minute and forty seconds in, the track changes a little and the keyboard comes to the fore as the vocals break, before our singer is ushered back in. With two minutes left to run, the vocal and guitar begins to repeat - building towards a big finish. The keys are back for the end, as are the duel vocals of Krung and Boeckner. Another really good song.

I am hopeful for this album now I must say!!

The tracklisting is below, as promised. Expo 86 will be released at the end of June on SubPop. The 29th in the US, so expect it any time around then over here.

EXPO 86:

01 Cloud Shadow on the Mountain
02 Palm Road
03 What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)
04 Little Golden Age
05 In the Direction of the Moon
06 Ghost Pressure
07 Pobody's Nerfect
08 Two Men in New Tuxedos
09 Oh You, Old Thing
10 Yulia
11 Cave-o-Sapien