Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer

The downside of releasing an excellent debut is

that nobody lets you forget it. But Wolf Parade manages to move forward just

fine on its sophomore effort At Mount Zoomer. Scaling back the frenetic

pace and combustible forcefulness of 2005's Apologies To The Queen Mary, Wolf Parade no longer

sounds like a band pushing itself excitedly to the breaking point. The relaxed

approach on At Mount Zoomer allows the sure-handedness of Dan Boeckner and

Spencer Krug's songwriting to come through more clearly on solidly melodic

tracks like "Language City." But it also makes the record feel less urgent and

distinctive than its predecessor. Setting aside the exhilarating "Kissing The

Beehive," the album's standout 10-minute closer, At Mount Zoomer sounds like any number of

indie bands specializing in quirky mid-tempo pop-rock songs. "Fine Young

Cannibals" and "Call It A Ritual" sound more than a little like Spoon, and

while there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, it does suggest Wolf Parade

still hasn't quite figured out who it is yet. But while At Mount Zoomer is occasionally faceless,

at least it's a good faceless. There isn't a bad song here, just few great ones.