Wolfborne – In the beginning

“In the beginning…” is the debut album from Canadian band Wolfeborne.  It apparently started as an “ambitious project to create a record that would redefine rock music for the current generation”.  At that point I stopped reading their bio – there’s only so much pretentious bullshit a man can take.  The band are currently touring the UK with Soil, American head charge and (hed) p.e, and I’ve heard good reports about them.

Happily despite the grandiose claims int he bio, the album is pretty good (I had low expectations based on the bio).

Brief comments on a few tracks….

The album kicks off with “Livin’ the life”, and there’s no gentle buildup – it’s straight in at full speed for a strong rock song, but then the chorus kicks in and rather than a typical rock vocal it’s more a talking style.

“The fall” is a soft slow song with solo vocals during the verses and then in the chorus you get backing vocals adding extra depth and the lead vocals step up a notch.  It’s a combination that works well on the first half of the song with the soft guitar work, but half way through things change – the guitars kick up a notch making it much more of a rock sound.

“Funky town” is a real curveball – initially the rock sound that you’re used to is gone and instead you have a synth driven track for a real funk sound.  The guitars do make an appearance after a while and the track alternates between guitar driven rock and synth driven funk.  It’s an unusual mix and one that I can’t decide if I like or not – either way though, it’s good to hear band’s trying something out of the ordinary.

Overall the album reminds me of a heavier grunge inspired version of Nickelback – There is plenty of variety which does deserve credit, but at it’s core this is fairly radio-friendly rock music, despite the efforts to come up with something new and groundbreaking.

Track listing:

1. Livin’ the life
2. Out in the streets
3. Sex sells
4. Jellyfish
5. The fall
6. Funky town
7. Let it rain
8. Stars are eyes
9. Stranger
10. Let it rain – unplugged