Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary

Please disregard the text of this review. My views on music have changed in recent months.

Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary is so fundamentally perfect, it's ridiculous. I've objectively examined every song on this record, and have found no fault. They all keep your interest. They adhere to musical theory. Every song is unique. Every song is sing-a-long-able. But Apologies to the Queen Mary lacks in one semi-crucial area:

Novelty.

Someone once said, "Wolf Parade is Modest Mouse. But there's nothing wrong with that." I concur. Excluding sundry eccentricities, the sounds are parallel. The lead vocals. The rhythm. The melody. The harmony. Apologies was even produced by Modest Mouse's own Isaac Brock. But the cohesiveness, the earnestness makes Wolf Parade's Apologies exponentially better than any Modest Mouse record. Yet the precision is so, well, precise that the record lacks real replay value. And every time it's replayed, we're appalled by its mystical precision again.

Alas, I can't blame them for mimicry. If you're oblivious to Modest Mouse's sound, it's bittersweet indie-pop with vocals sounding like a cross between a pubescent rat and an estranged opera singer. Wolf Parade augments the mouse-effect by amalgamating------Spencer Krug sounds EXACTLY like Brock, Dan Boeckner almost recalls Spoon's coarse Britt Daniel.

This record is chockfull of contrived goodness (I never thought I'd say that. Never). It's so contrived that I knew the entire resplendent opener, You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son, within a second of play. It kicks off with vanguarding drums, which the guitars proceed to accompany. Boeckner descants with a lofty contrivance, I got a number on me/I got a number/Won't make it through the high noon sun. Not ear-tacular lyrics; but not bad. It's a Curse holds the same rambunctiousness, the lyrics difficult to descry (Just the other night/Body twisted in a pattern/You know they stare at the light/They are too dead but the body don't mind); the attitude lucid (though softer).

But if you want something truly volatile, We Built Another World, a fierce number (which is also the record's best track), is where to go. The sound isn't corrugated but still offends--------the lyrics have the same intention (At the party we're chained at the wrists/Outside there's girls saying/It's not gonna be just only a kiss/.../I had a bad bad time tonight).

Occasionally the record ensconces into immaculate poignancy. Modern World is its darkest feature, Krug mourning, I'm not in love with the modern world/.../It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees. The guitars contribute inerrancy, plucking a sad song while cherubim cry in the background. Same Ghost Every Night is the record's first ballad, setting out on an epic quest to move your heart and succeeding-----the meticulously escalating bridge is ethereal-----even hearing it right now, for the umpteenth time, I'm blown away (and I know Zinsser told me not to say "umpteenth," but he can lick my intestines). It's a haven of excellence.

If you're looking for cordiality, I'll Believe In Anything is essential. The optimism uplifts from the start------Give me your eyes/I need sunshine/Your blood/Your bones/Your voice/And your ghost. Major chords and joyous rambling; it's all fine to me. Really, who can beat I'd take you where nobody knows you/And nobody gives a damn... *sighs like a girl in love*. Grounds for Divorce sounds alacritous, but the lyrics recall Pedro the Lion's Keep Swinging (You said you hate the sound/Of the busses on the ground/You said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town). Bittersweet, ya see?

In that aspect, Wolf Parade can be likened to the New Pornographers, only NP is always felicitous. Wolf Parade holds a darker side-----that's obviously compulsory, given the Mouse influence.

And you know what I just realized? Modest Mouse...is called Modest Mouse...and their lead vocalist...sounds like a mouse...

Despite the ripping off, the variety and honesty save Wolf Parade. Check this record out.

Old Rating: A-
New Rating: C

P.S.: I'm aware of this review's contradictions. That's the feeling Wolf Parade induces. You'd know if you listened.

P.P.S.: Previously, I'd confused Boeckner and Krug's voices, until knowncutter pointed out the error. Tell me if you find anything else wrong.