Howl from Down Under
daibhidh | Chicago, IL USA | 02/18/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I just saw these guys play in Chicago, and they are amazing live. Pure power, pure heavy 70s, great performance chops. Andrew Stockdale's voice weds Jack White's to Robert Plant's to Ozzy's, creating a distinctive sound that rises about the thermonuclear thunder of their music. Chris Ross does double-duty on bass and keyboards (the keyboards are organ-like, making me think of Deep Purple).
Some people will rip on them for brazenly wearing their influences on their shirtsleeves, but they're wrong to do so; it's a labor of love, not opportunistic, unimaginative imitation. They take their influences and blend and reforge them into something that thoroughly rocks (I hear chunks of Sabbath riffola, Zeppelin mysticism and ballsy bravado, the Who's stagecraft, Cream's intricate power, and Deep Purple's relentless drive -- and all with a sense of foot-stomping fun that makes me think of Slade, like a cherry on top).
I have the enhanced EP, which includes videos for "Dimension" and "Mind's Eye". The music-only part is a little over 15 minutes.
"Dimension" starts things out nicely: a pure, bluesy rocker that invokes Blue Cheer with a great big Sabbathy downtuned guitar howl to masterful effect. "Mind's Eye" is a classic retro ballad that would have been comfortable in 1973, channeling Zep and hands holding lighters aloft before the song gallops up to speed about midway through and settles into a killer riff. "Love Train" funks things up considerably, and is playful, with some masterful playing on it, where Stockdale and Myles Heskett (drums) play back and forth, while Ross kicks ass with his bass. "The Earth's Rotation Around the Sun" feels Kyussian to me, especially when it kicks into a stuttering groove that makes you feel the heat of the Sun.
I give it 4 stars instead of 5 only because I would have liked another track or two on it. I wanted MORE! This EP makes good driving music, and the low end sound will play well on a good stereo.
Support this band; see them live. If you think that Rock is dead, check them out -- Wolfmother knows what they're doing. Rock is dead, long live Rock!"
The new Dimension
E. A Solinas | MD USA | 04/24/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Aussie band Wolfmother are on the rise right now, with their retro hard-rock blend that is equal parts Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. And their "Dimension" EP is a good warmup for the soon-to-be-released-domestically debut, with two extra songs and a pair of live videos.
It opens with an earsplitting yell, and if you're not expecting it, it's sure to make you sit up and listen. It's followed by a crunchy, murky mass of hard rock with an otherworldly edge. After getting lost in the desert, "I had to write something down/And I found myself alone, and then I let go of everything/Into another DI-MEN-SION!" Andrew Stockdale hollers.
It's followed by "Mind's Eye," a steady, panoramic rock number with moments of quiet, as if the band has just barely managed to rein in their music. After that, we get a couple of songs not on their forthcoming album: the fuzzy, bouncy bass-rocker "Love Train," and the spacey, proggy "The Earth's Rotation Around the Sun." Well, with a name like that, it either has to be spacey and proggy, or by the Flaming Lips.
As an added bonus, the EP contains two live performance videos. One is a shakycam of the guys performing "Dimension," which flickers between stark black-and-white and a murky color. Then there is the performance of "Mind's Eye" at the Devil's Punchbowl. As the guys perform, we see clips of them driving up and exploring the desert.
Let's get this over with -- yes, Wolfmother has a lot of bands influencing them, including Sabbath, Zeppelin, and a few other older hard-rock bands. But Wolfmother has the ballsy attitude to carry it off. They don't just have influences, they proudly wear them on their shirts.
Andrew Stockdale's vocals seem more in key with the music in this EP, as compared to Wolfmother's self-titled EP. His shivery, rip-roar vocals rise above even the loudest riffs. And the riffs do get loud -- they're dirty, crunchy, and wonderfully powerful. The last song just sort of meanders and peters out, and it doesn't work very well. But those other three songs -- and the videos -- are enough to get your pulse racing.
Wolfmother show even more of their promise in the "Dimension" EP, and hints at more great things in their forthcoming debut. Rough and raw."
Learning from the masters as opposed to stealing from them..
D. Galante | watchcity, Ma | 01/31/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I havn't been this excited about a new band in a while!!! This E.P. features two tracks from the forthcoming album (which was released in their homeland of Australia last year-I can't wait til May so I bought the import!) and 2 non-album tracks. "Mind's Eye" is one of the best songs I have ever heard-a brilliant mix of vintage Sabbath and Deep Purple, with production that gives it the warm vintage 70's feel, nice and fuzzy. Vocals remind me of Jack White mixed with Cedric Bixler, this guy just totally goes for it. Cool packaging and enhanced videos for album tracks Dimension and Mind's Eye to boot, all fans of the rock should not miss this one. I could comfortably state that this band would fit nicely on a record shelf with the likes of Sabbath, The Doors, Queens of the Stone Age and of course, more than a little Uriah Heep. This band has made the old sound new again...stunning."
Track Listings (2) - Disc #1