WOLF & CUB – SCIENCE AND SOCERY

Ah, the difficult “second” album. Wolf & Cub burst out of Adelaide in 2007 with their debut Vessels, a distinct blend of stoner and prog rock with swirls of psychedelia thrown in for good measure. Tagged the “most likely to”, this follow-up has plenty of ears cocked in anticipation, and Science and Sorcery delivers… mostly. Opening with Seven Sevens – all roomy drums and brittle guitar, followed by a bass-line that stamps itself firmly in your psyche – it’s a promising beginning. Any inklings that Primal Scream have become a touchstone for the boys are promptly confirmed as What Are They Running, Master and Hearts have much of the Screamadelica- XTRMNTR -era stamped all over them. The influence of producer Chris Colonna (aka Bumblebeez) is strong here. There is s fair deal of cut and paste deconstruction and reconstruction, and while for the most part this produces interesting results in the Andrew Weatherall mode, it loses momentum on occasions – Restless Sons – and distracts the listener with unnecessary electronic bleeps and blops too often. But when they return to their roots with the guitars front and centre on tracks like One To The Other and the huge The Loosest Goose, then Wolf & Cub show the other new-kids-on-the-prog rock block (hello Wolfmother) how it should be done.

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