GIG REVIEW: Wolfmother
- Posted on February 8, 2007 4:59 PM
- 0 comments
Hammersmith Apollo - Feb 6th 2007
By Matt Killeen
Prog. Progressive rock. That's what Wolfmother are all about apparently. The New Prog in fact. Well, I've got all the early Genesis albums, the ones with Peter Gabriel dressed as a flower. I'm not scared.
Like most labels it's just hogwash. There's no long keyboard solos for a start, no concept tracks and no songs over six minutes. That's a fail right there. What they are is metal, in the plain old Black Sabbath sense. They have concept art record covers, they sing about trains as metaphor, they pronounce woman as wor-maaan. They're Led Zeppelin without the acoustic bits. This does not mean that they're not going to be fun live but to be honest nothing I've heard so far has really tugged at my crotch. The bongos make me think they might just be Reef without the tunes. Worst still they might be The Stereophonics and then I'll have to call the police.
The business of metal is harder than it looks, which is one of the many and varied reasons that the kids invented punk. The post-modern melting pot has given all and sundry the excuse to be rough around the edges citing the Stones or the Pistols when in fact they're just not doing their thing properly. You need to become as gods, perform wanton sex acts on your instruments. You need to have seen Spinal Tap and then forgotten all about it. The decision to play this stuff in the traditional manner with no trappings of the 21st century, no samples, no rap, no synths is brave. I respect and admire it. So here I am, Hammersmith whatever it is this week, ready to have my world Rocked. Capital R. I'm also loaded so this should be easy.
I'm surrounded by fourteen year olds, and Aussies. So many Aussies. Aussies like Rock and fourteen year olds feel persecuted and alienated. It's a good start and I wait for the Rock to begin.
It's appropriately loud and vigorous. There's keyboard abuse, school of rock style arm movements, crowd baiting - Wolfmother do all the right stuff but there are no tunes - no real sing along, hook related, pop song moments that turn a good act into a great one. There's also an interesting influence apparent that I hadn't noticed before. It would have been difficult to work out how Lynnard Skynnard would have fitted in but it does and it provides some badly needed dynamics.
I can see what everybody sees. I watch from the balcony as the stalls below me bounce like a beating heart and young girls in tight white vests gyrate like the cage girls at the Whiskey-a-go-go circa 1969. It, is happening. However it is not happening for me.
A Gwen Stefani look-a-like next to me summed up the problem in a West Australian drawl. "It's alright if you've never heard Black Sabbath before, or Led Zeppelin..." There's the rub. A failure to appreciate your rock history seems to be a prerequisite. Surely the band must see this? When they launch into Communication Breakdown people act like they're seeing the Wizard of Oz rather than the little old man behind the curtain. Wolfmother become a Led Zep cover band. They're a good Led Zep cover band but that's no epitaph.
What did you think of the gig? Do you agree? Tell us in the comments section.
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