Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer (Sub Pop, 2008)

In the three years since Wolf Parade released their debut album, the excellent Apologies To The Queen Mary, the members of the band have splintered into numerous side-projects, which, given their quality, almost threatened to over-shadow the achievements of the original group. In fact, with the success of singer/keyboardist, Spencer Krug's Sunset Rubdown, and singer/guitarist, Dan Boeckner's Handome Furs, some began to think that perhaps Wolf Parade had become the side-project.
Such concerns were put to rest, however, when the band retreated in 2007 to the Arcade Fire's studio-within-a-church, to record their second album, At Mount Zoomer (named for the sound studio owned by Wolf Parader, Arlen Thompson).
On their new album Wolf Parade continue the sonically adventurous journey they began on Apologies To The Queen Mary, with nine tracks that twist-and-shake between the upbeat keyboard driven pop of Soldiers Grin to the more pensive Call It A Ritual and the psychedelic freak-out of California Dreamer.
As with their first album, the lyrical content of At Mount Zoomer is delivered with a heavy dose of the cryptic. If you are looking for a straight up boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl/boy-has-a-heavy-heart song; you are unlikely to find it on this album.
While a good deal of modern music is bland to the point of despair, Wolf Parade paint their music (and their album artwork) with a wash of vibrant and exciting colors. Here at In(High)Fidelity, Wolf Parade hold a special place in our heart - you should buy their album.

Key Tracks: Soldiers Grin, California Dreamer, Fine Young Cannibals, Kissing The Beehive.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/wolfparade