Let’s continue our article series about “bird” and “animal” band names and individuals in rock and roll history, again focusing our attention to ‘indie’ bands; specifically with the name wolf.
Sea Wolf is a Los Angles-based band led by singer/songwriter Alex Brown Church. He attended the prestigious NYU film school and then started playing with a group called Irving. However as one of three songwriters in Irving, Church soon found himself with of songs that didn't fit the band's dreamy '60s-inspired psych-pop, so he began performing as Sea Wolf with a rotating ensemble of backing musicians, playing locally in Los Angeles and recording demos in Seattle.
Church always had a boyhood fascination with wolves. So it stands to reason that the band he is associated with is called Sea Wolf, which is named after 1904 Jack London novel The Sea Wolf. Church's list of influences is like looking at a who's who among 'wolf' band names including: Wolf Eyes, Wolf Parade, We Are Wolves, AIDS Wolf, Wolfie, Wolf Colonel, Patrick Wolf, WolfMother, Howlin' Wolf, Superwolf, White Wolf, Seasons of the Wolf, Wolf & Cub, Peanut Butter Wolf, Peter Wolf and even more wolf inspirations that we could imagine.
After signing with the indie label Dangerbird Records in 2007, Sea Wolf released their debut EP, “Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low,” in the spring of 2007, with a full-length album following. To tour behind the record, Church assembled a stable lineup with himself on vocals and guitar, Aaron Robinson on guitar, Lisa Fendelander on keyboards, Theodore Liscinski on bass, Aniela Perry on cello and Byron Reynolds on drums.
In anticipation of Sea Wolf’s forthcoming sophomore album, ‘White Water, White Bloom,” the band is releasing a free download online. Fans can download the track, ‘Stanislau‘, online now at www.dangerbirdrecords.com/whitewaterwhitebloom. The song will be a bonus track on the vinyl version of the new album, due out September 22 via Dangerbird Records.
The Montreal-Canada indie rock outfit Wolf Parade formed in 2003 when former Frog Eyes member Spencer Krug was offered a gig by Grenadine Records' Alex Megelas. With only a 3-week deadline to form a band, Krug contacted a fellow Canadian guitarist Dan Boeckner and the duo began writing songs in Krug's apartment. Initially using a drum machine for their rhythm section, they later invited Arlen Thompson to the lineup as the drummer; and the band's first show saw them opening for Arcade Fire. During the tour, Wolf Parade recorded and released their self-titled debut EP (referred to as the “4 Song EP”).
In September 2003, Hadji Bakara was invited to join the band, contributing his stellar synthesizer work and sound manipulation skills to the lineup. By the summer of 2004 the band released its second independent, self-titled EP, commonly referred to as the "6 Song EP."
Wolf Parade eventually gained the attention of songwriter Isaac Brock (of Modest Mouse fame) who was also an A&R rep for Sub Pop Records. Brock helped the band secure a deal with Sub Pop and helped the band refine and define their indie-prog-rock sound. The band worked feverishly on a new LP and after some remixing, the band returned to Montreal to finish recording. The album was scheduled for a May release, but then pushed back, however Sub Pop released its first widely-distributed EP, “Wolf Parade,” in July 2005.
One of the fall's most anticipated releases, the band's debut album "Apologies to the Queen Mary" (the album is named after an incident in which the band was removed from the ocean liner Queen Mary for breaking down the door of a ballroom and staging a violent séance) was released in September 2005, to critical acclaim and admiration. A Rolling Stone review (as were most of the reviews for this LP) is very positive, some reviewers calling it the album of the decade so far:
"I'll Believe in Anything," the best cut on Wolf Parade's excellently shambling debut, may be the indie-rock song of the year. Overflowing with desperate, Brit-inflected yelping, a heartstring-tugging chorus and a clamorous racket that could have come from a drunken bagpipe troupe, "Anything" shows off Wolf Parade's twin strengths: the mock-orchestral grandeur of their Montreal buddies the Arcade Fire and the weirdo pop sensibility of their producer, Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock."
After considering the title “Kissing the Beehive” for their follow-up (ultimately dismissed for fear of copyright infringement due to a Jonathan Carroll book by the same name), Wolf Parade issued their sophomore effort "At Mount Zoomer," in June 2008.
The LP grew from jams in a Montreal church owned by Arcade Fire and building prog-rock brainteasers out of waves of viscous keyboard drones and ambling guitar sting, Wolf Parade mirror their landlords’ knack for grand music adventures, all the while capturing their unique sound in an orderly chaotic way.
According to AllMusic:
“At Mount Zoomer proves Wolf Parade to be much more than the one-trick pony of their peers. And it's no surprise — both of the band's primary songwriters have established themselves as two of the most exciting and consistent songwriters in indie rock, coming off of great records in their own right: Spencer Krug's Random Spirit Lover with Sunset Rubdown (not to mention the Swan Lake record), and Dan Boeckner's Plague Park with his Handsome Furs project. But even after three years away from the Parade, they come to Mount Zoomer with a fresh reel of tape, and are back with a more mature and confident approach….. All in all, At Mount Zoomer is a remarkable achievement, and another soon-to-be classic from Wolf Parade.”
The band is planning to get together to record new music for their third album in October of 2009. And if the first two efforts are any indication of the endless talent the group possesses, this should be an album worth waiting for.
AIDS Wolf is a Canadian noise rock band who, quoting Captain Beefheart, describes their sound as that of "a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag." They have earned a loyal fan base playing with the Unicorns, Wolf Parade, and others in the Montreal indie scene.
Their unique band name, "AIDS Wolf," comes from an urban legend wherein wolves carry AIDS and pass it to house pets that then pass it on to people:
"We didn’t come up with AIDS Wolf as a concept. The idea has been floating around in the public psyche for a while. In urban legend, wolves transmit AIDS instead of rabies; in depressing college towns, street gangs spray-paint ‘AIDS Wolf’ on the side of buildings" according to singer Special Deluxe. "It fits, because we're a little bit no–wave and a little bit hardcore, like each of those bands. It's also a message that we as humans must take care for our animal siblings as their health is a barometer of our own survival."
After touring their native Canada, AIDS Wolf kicked off their first European tour in early 2006 as their debut album, "The Lovvers LP," was being released. Next, they challenged members of Athletic Automaton to a "versus" record and the result, "Clash of the Life-Force Warriors," landed the band on Skin Graft label in early 2007. The band has had a series of splits and singles; a 2008 LP called "Cities of Glass," a self-release and continues to work on numerous collaborations with a number of record labels and bands.
We will continue looking at ‘indie’ wolf bands in our next article of this continuing series.
Sea Wolf Tidbits:
Sea Wolf contributed the song “Song of the Magpie” to the audio book for Augusten Burroughs’ book “A Wolf at the Table.” Burroughs had asked Church to read the book and respond with an original song.
Sea Wolf gained popularity when their song "You're a Wolf" was featured in a General Motors ad for the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Another of the band's songs, "Sea Monuments" was also featured in a Radio Shack holiday ad campaign in 2007.
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Wolf Parade Tidbits:
The band's debut album Apologies to the Queen Mary earned a 2006 Polaris Music Prize nomination.
Spencer Krug is also the lead singer of the indie rock band Sunset Rubdown. Other bands Krug has belonged to include Frog Eyes, Fifths of Seven, and Swan Lake.
Dan Boeckner is also a member of the indie rock duo Handsome Furs which he formed with his wife Alexei Perry. Before joining Wolf Parade, Boeckner played in Atlas Strategic.
Dante DeCaro is currently fronting a project called Johnny and the Moon. Prior to Wolf Parade, DeCaro played in Hot Hot Heat.
Arlen Thompson played drums on the Arcade Fire song "Wake Up". He also helped produce both Handsome Furs albums.
Hadji Bakara is a member of the dance DJ crew Megasoid, along with Sixtoo and Subtitle (Giovanni Marks).
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AIDS Wolf Tidbits:
Current band members: Myles Broscoe, Yannick Desranleau (Hiroshima Thunder)
Chloe Lum (Special Deluxe), Alexander Moskos
Members Chloe Lum and Yannick Desranleau also run the printing/design studio Seripop (aka Serigraphie Populaire), which has been designing gig posters for Montreal's indie scene since 2001.
Record labels the band has worked with include: Lovepump United, Skin Graft Records, Blood of the Drash, Pasalymany Tapes, Kitty Play Records.
Buy AIDS Wolf Music
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