By Will 2 years ago, at the end of April Leave a comment on this post
One great aspect of London is hearing about bands which would otherwise pass you buy. On the tube last Friday, I grabbed a copy of the Guardian’s music section which had been stuffed unceremoniously down the side of the seat. I don’t read any one particular newspaper by default, and on first glance this was a damn good music supplement. Not stuffy, not traditionalist or “why aren’t you listening to this already, you twat” sentiments. It just had interviews and articles and let you make your mind up.
In it, it had an interview with the frontman from Wolfmother, an Australian band trying to ressurect the raw, unprocessed sound of rock. Some recent bands have tried to do this with disasterous and embarassing results. It sounded (pardon the pun) too good to be true, that a band from 2006 had the intention of recreating the sound of Black Sabbath…
I was on holiday and saw this Sabbath tribute band,” says the singer of Australia’s latest hard rock export, Wolfmother, his enormous, corkscrew mass of hair quivering in the inappropriately library-quiet atmosphere of a Sheffield curry house. “These guys were over 40, overweight and middle-aged. But as soon as they played Paranoid, they turned into rock stars.” The tiny venue, he recalls, “turned into an arena”.
In the autumn of his youth, Andrew Stockdale experienced an epiphany in the satanic form of Black Sabbath. Well, not Black Sabbath themselves, but a band who sounded like Black Sabbath. “I was on holiday and saw this Sabbath tribute band,” says the singer of Australia’s latest hard rock export, Wolfmother, his enormous, corkscrew mass of hair quivering in the inappropriately library-quiet atmosphere of a Sheffield curry house. “These guys were over 40, overweight and middle-aged. But as soon as they played Paranoid, they turned into rock stars.” The tiny venue, he recalls, “turned into an arena”.
A while later, Stockdale, then 24, was visiting his friend Chris Ross, now Wolfmother’s bassist. He had one request: “Have you got any Sabbath?” The Brummie legends’ greatest hits were slapped on the CD player, and when a track called Wizard came along, Stockdale’s calling was complete. “I said, ‘Man, if people played this style of music now it would just go off,’” he remembers.
So I bought the album and, on the first two listens, it’s damn fine. It’s not Black Sabbath although there’s a definate hint running through the album demonstrating their influence. Anyway, this has nothing to do with cricket - other than the frontman looks like Andrew Symonds. There, see? Cricket can infiltrate any conversation you wish.
So, go and buy it. What are you listening to at the moment?
Tags: andrew-symonds, black-sabbath, metal, music, wolfmother |
Will, almost all Australian bands try and recreate the “raw, unprocessed sound of rock”. If I was being unkind I’d say it’s because they aren’t good enough to do it any better. But someone has to do it.
Wolfmother aren’t bad though. For other aussie bands that are pretty cool, try “The Grates”, “Faker”, and “Decoder Ring”.
Good point, but do most Aussie/Brit bands actually state their intention to hark back to the good old days? Maybe they do, but it was refreshing to hear a band openly admit that they want to recreate what Sabbath did, instead of producing the commercialised bullshit which appears on our airwaves. I like them..they sound cool (so far).
And despite the Scottish influence, let’s not forget the Aussie legends AC/DC - probably, still, my favourite band of all time…
It is more of a cultural thing in Australia. Bands are proud of the pub tradition and don’t necessarily try and escape from it. It is pretty rare you hear an Australian band that tries to play songs better suited to the studio than a concert.
There is nothing wrong with that attitude, it is generally refreshing. Unless, that is, it is used as an excuse for poor production, or no talent. Wolfmother aren’t like that. They can play, and the the record is pretty well done.
We don’t really have a sound to call our own in Australia, in my youth The Triffids early Hunters and Collectors, Midnight Oil would have gone close, Nick Cave, The Dirty Three, The necks may also has some claim to at least reflecting Australian sensibilities.
More recently we have resorted to our roots; rogueish and under produced pub rock + the usual assortment of copyists. Wolfmother though would seem to promise more than that, they are dynamic, very musical and hopefuly will soon define their own sound.
If your a gig goer you should catch up with Wolfmother and also the Cat Empire when they come your way, they (The Cat Empire) are underwhelming on record but raise the roof live!! they play a fusion of Afro Cuban and Ska (both Australian genres!!!)
And Yes AC/DC were a magnificent rock band, and I do believe the hype about the Arctic Monkeys; ther’re only one album old but what an album. Comparing them; as some have to Oasis is like comparing Flintoff to Botham.
Listen to the Led Zep Legacy on the BBC Radio2 archives. Great stuff. There is also a good AC/DC cover band in Bonn which is always good for a laugh.
Confession: Friday night without my kids, had a 70s revival party featuring T.Rex, Queen, Free etc.
Being on the road most of the time I tend to listen to a lot of stuff; it’s easy to get bored with listening to the same sort of thing. On my memory card I’ve got Green Day and Adrian Legg (can’t get much more different than that).
In the car it is mainly, Al Di Meola, Foo Fighters, Coldplay and, talking about influences tribute bands etc, The Hamsters (think of it as Hendrix with Humbuckers). I’d say they’re just about the best gigging band I’ve seen. (Not that my opinion is worth much)
Has anyone heard of Seether, or Prime Circle? They’re SA bands, pretty good. Actually, the lead singer of Seether sounds scarily like Kurt Cobain.
Hmm…want some good Aussie bands ?
check out Clann Zu - www.clannzu.com - They have broken upo now but they put out 2 brilliant albums. Their singer is Irish so they have that blend of Irish folk and Radiohead type electronic rock.
Then there is ‘Architecture in Helsinki’…not quite rock but they write some gorgeous pop melodies with all sorts of instruments. And they are really fun live.
The Drones are a straight-up rock band…decent band with potential.
Architecture in Helsinki … they build up to a big finnish …
There’s currently some Live Wolfmother in the Triple J archives at http://triplej.net.au/live/alpha_archive_W.htm
With no doubt, Jet and Wolfmother are the best aussie bands right now but neither will beat out AC/DC I don’t think. Jet’s Get Born has sold about 4 million copies worldwide now. And Wolfmother’s is getting there.
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