FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: yesno on July 13, 2008, 12:04:47 PM
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I was reading about these guys on Momus' website. The combination of hippy posturing and noise rock has the potential to be either awesome or awful. Anyone know the music? Anything similar?
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I've never heard them, but if their music is as stupid as their name, I'll take a pass.
I did find this interesting article that addresses the bevy of wolf-related monikers:
Raised By Wolves
By Alexandria Symonds
There’s a YouTube video series called “The Last of the Hipsters.” It isn’t all that funny, but it does feature at least one pertinent answer to the question, “Do you think any girls survived the apocalypse?”
The response? “Well, I still only date girls who listen to Wolf Eyes seriously and Wolf Parade ironically.”
It seems like a throwaway line, but think about it: both Wolf Eyes and Wolf Parade feature Sub Pop certification—the first step to discerning indie-kid approval—and favorable Pitchfork coverage. But Wolf Eyes is a noise-rock threesome that boasts legendary credentials: Andrew W.K. is a former member and they’ve toured with Sonic Youth. Wolf Parade started as a side project formed to support an Arcade Fire tour—in other words, way too mainstream for the shrewd hipster to pay serious attention.
It does beg the question, though: what’s with the influx of lupine-themed bands and artists recording today? Parade and Eyes are certainly in varied—if not necessarily always good—company. Look at the Oh My Rockness gig listing on any given week and you’re bound to find some combination of the ten or so groups on the scene who draw inspiration from the noble animal.
The odd thing is how many different—and specific—demographics these bands cater to. For Japanese punk lovers, there’s Guitar Wolf. For the folksy-chillout-singalong crowd, there’s Jason Anderson, better known as Wolf Colonel. Fans of high-drama, baroque-pop divas can look no further than Patrick Wolf (née Patrick Apps—the reference is deliberate, not a genealogical coincidence). If you like your music a little hard to listen to, there’s dissonant experimental group AIDS Wolf. Not to mention Peanut Butter Wolf, Sea Wolf, Peter and the Wolf, the more mainstream Wolfmother, and We Are Wolves. For the Francophile, there’s the arty, Broken Social Scene-meets-Sufjan Stevens seven-member group, Le Loup, who made waves at this year’s CMJ Festival.
The wolf occupies a unique place in indie taxonomy—no other noun provides such a clear snapshot of the nebulous character of the indie scene. These bands fill small, specific sub-subgenres—it’s dismissive to call a band like We Are Wolves simply “indie rock” without highlighting their post-punk inclinations. Sure, there are the ursine and cervine counterparts—Panda Bear and Grizzly Bear; Deertick, Deerhunter, Deerhoof. But the examples are fewer and farther between, and taken together they don’t represent the same complete landscape. And, of course, if you break out your vinyl, you can listen to the retro-kitsch (so popular with the Sub-Pop set) of Steppenwolf.
So what is it, exactly, about the wolf aesthetic that today’s musician finds so fascinating? In most cases, it seems like the answer is lack of a better option. Wolf Parade’s official bio tells the story of the band’s nomenclature as follows:
“Great,” they said. “Now we need a name.”
“How about Wolf Parade?”
“No, that’s stupid.”
“Okay, well, what about Wolf Parade?”
“Who are you? I’m drunk.”
“Wait, I’ve got it ...Wolf Parade!”
“Perfecto Mondo!”
AIDS Wolf’s Serigraphie Populaire—Seripop to fans—explained in an October 2005 interview with Discorder that their name served as an homage to An Albatross and Sick Lipstick, as well as “a message that we as humans must take care for our animal siblings as their health is a barometer of our own survival.” You think she’s being sarcastic until she goes on to advise fans to pick up careers in organic farming instead of becoming designers.
Le Loup, on the other hand, may be part of a new generation of “wolf” bands: those that pile an extra level of self-awareness on top of the already dubious affinity for the animal. In an interview with the DCist blog, the band acknowledged that its name was rejected by a former project in which Le Loup co-founder Sam Simkoff was involved. “It was probably a joke—something along the lines of, ‘Look how many bands right now use the word “wolf” in their name—how can we capitalize upon that? Now how can we make it sound even more pretentiously indie? Say it in French!’”
For Alex Brown Church, alias Sea Wolf, the association is a more earnest one. He told TA Live that “as an imaginative, only child that lived in the country and played in the woods alone a lot, I identified with the wolf. I always had a strong love of animals, and I think I felt like I connected with them more than a lot of the people around me at the time. I think the thing I always liked about them was how intelligent and beautiful they are, and also felt like I related to how misunderstood they were.” A real sea wolf is, of course, a kind of catfish—but don’t tell Church that.
Maybe that’s the irony of the wolf situation: the animal is rife with clashing symbolism that seems designed for the Chunklet-reading, free trade coffee-toting Lower East Sider. The wolf considers itself a loner—yet it travels in a pack for protection. There’s a certain element of danger left over from fairy tales—but evil never wins out. It makes a lot of sense, then, that Alex Brown Church relates to the wolf as a fellow misunderstood spirit ... just like everybody else does.
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I'm starting a band called Wolf Retard.
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I like the other explanation I read about their name-- that there used to be a story in their town about a wolf that had aids, that would bite local dogs and give them aids, and then the dogs would lick their owners and give them aids, too.
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I made a couple zines called Lazar Wolf, named after the character from Fiddler on the Roof.
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They're alright.
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Theyre ok. Theyve been around for awhile at least since that whole wolf band craze started.
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When I first saw this thread, I thought something bad had happened to Jan-Michael Vincent. :'( :'(
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Clever name (sort of). Crummy band.
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I'm starting a band called Wolf Retard.
I'm starting one called Deer Wolf Bird-Eyed Rainbow Friends.
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How about the weird trend in redundant, heat related band names:
The Fiery Furnaces
Hot Hot Heat
Flaming Fire
There might be one or two more I'm not remembering...
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How about the weird trend in redundant, heat related band names:
The Fiery Furnaces
Hot Hot Heat
Flaming Fire
There might be one or two more I'm not remembering...
Um,
Arcade Fire
Flaming Lips
Comets on Fire
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Hot Chip.
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I meant specifically the redundant titles, but Comets on Fire works
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So basically, the Fire Wolf Burners would be sure to be instant successes.
ps: Comets are cold. I didn't spend ages 6-12 learning about astronomy to not say that.
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So basically, the Fire Wolf Burners would be sure to be instant successes.
ps: Comets are cold. I didn't spend ages 6-12 learning about astronomy to not say that.
Can Deer Wolf Bird-Eyed Rainbow Friends open for Fire Wolf Burners, maybe be in their top friends on myspace or be included in their Pitchfork "top 10 favorite new records" survey? I mean, they have been playing the same basement shows for a few years now.
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So basically, the Fire Wolf Burners would be sure to be instant successes.
Can Deer Wolf Bird-Eyed Rainbow Friends open for Fire Wolf Burners, maybe be in their top friends on myspace or be included in their Pitchfork "top 10 favorite new records" survey? I mean, they have been playing the same basement shows for a few years now.
I sometimes get confused. Which band is the gigantic collective with a shifting membership, and which one is the lone art school genius?
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I like them.
I'd say you'd probably like them if you enjoy Arab on Radar and/or Lightning Bolt.
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Out of all the shamefully named noise groups, I enjoy Yip-Yip (http://www.myspace.com/yipyip).
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I did find this interesting article that addresses the bevy of wolf-related monikers:
It does beg the question, though: what’s with the influx of lupine-themed bands and artists recording today?
What's with the (mis)use of the phrase "begs the question" everywhere these days?
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The combination of hippy posturing and noise rock has the potential to be either awesome or awful.
I've got friends from here in Virginia (since moved to Brooklyn, naturally) that fit that bill somewhat - USAisamonster (http://www.myspace.com/usaisamonster) - though they add bits of Prog, too. I'm biased, but I think they're awesome.
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I don't think the seeming proliferation of "wolf" bands is anything to pay much mind to. Certainly nothing to make a big deal about. Wolves are having their moment in the limelight right now is all.
It's reminiscent of when American industrial bands were pre-occupied with pigs for some reason.
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Hot Hot Lucky Retard
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FUCKWOLF (http://www.pbase.com/pistolswing/fuckwolf)
I had a feeling there was a band with this name, and Google proved me correct. So far a couple of new-millenium hipster signifiers have already jumped out at me ... Drummer with creepy headwear ... check. Silly use of an unnecessary umlaut over the letter "ü" ... check.
And of course, they also have a myspace page, if you want to subject yourself to that. I'm streaming some of their tunes right now and ... alright, maybe I'll give them a chance. Definitely creepy, though.
P.S. What is going on??? I'm previewing my post ... Do you see the two sentences above where it says "totally tubular"? It's supposed to say a word that rhymes with "sleepy", but starts with the letters "cr" instead of "sl". But that particular word is getting automatically replaced with the two-word phrase. Does my computer have a virus? Did somebody sabotage this board in some weird way?
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... Okay, okay, I see now that this is far from the first time the "tubular" thing has happened on the board. And so I've revealed myself as unschooled in the esoteric lore of this particular site.
Totally Tubercular.
Still, I'm curious about when and how this thing started.
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Holy moly!
Yet another one from my neck of the woods, found it by accident ... they call themselves "S!ck Wolf"
myspace.com/sfsickwolf
I'm gonna call up Spike so we can form a folk/doo-wop band called Wolfy McWolf and the Wolversons. The wolfband world needs a wholesome alternative.
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Myspace also returns 4 pages of bands with the word "toejam" in the name.
You can't read much into it because it doesn't ultimately mean anything.