Wolf People – Fain
Jagjaguwar
April 30, 2013

What It Sounds Like:  These English boys play 60s-inspired psychedelia and throwback bluesy folk rock.  If Justin Vernon would have retreated into his winter cabin and decided to play some rock and roll instead of slow burners caked in mellow distortion, you just might have something that resembles this.  Its Woodstock music for the current day and age, hands down!

Midway through the second song (All Returns) on the second release from Wolf People, the vocals drop out almost completely, and all we’re left with is some wonderful off-the-cuff instrumentation.  How else to explain it other than….60s-inspired psychedelia?  Go dust off some of your pop’s old records that he used to get high to – that’s along the lines of what you have here.  This record is composed of swirling electric guitars in a haze of smoke, with melodies and lyrical tales that take you on a journey through endless summer fields, starlit nights, and the simple push-and-pull of belonging, along with the realization that you are nothing more or less than a part of a much larger picture that you will never be able to wrap your head around.

You’re one tiny person.

On one tiny planet.

In one tiny solar system.

Have you ever even heard of Hubble Ultra-Deep Field?  Or XDF?

Wrap your head around that stuff.

Alright look, more than trying to explain to you the marching-to-battle sounds of Hesperus, or the almost Native American inspired Thief, we need to take a step back and look at this record as a whole.  This type of music isn’t meant to be looked at individually, with singles or hooks.  Its meant to be taken as an experience – as a whole.  You could essentially look at this record as one huge song, simply broken up into different acts (eight of them).  I wish they would have left less dead space in between the songs.  The only purpose it serves is to separate the ideas on a compact disc or an iTunes library so you know which song (or act, in my book) you are currently listening to.  Here, it’s hardly relevant, and that’s a compliment.  Cohesion doesn’t mean mindless repetition.

Pick this up for a journey into the deep, isolated wilderness of another planet.

7/10

If you had to listen to two tracks:  Empty Vessels / Answer