Wolfmother sound like they're playing the desert on a blistering hot day, surrounded by a latent fug of cigarette smoke and a group of aged hippies. Oh, and the lack of water's causing them to hallucinate. Fitting then, that opening track Dimension is about being desert-bound, entering a strange place, and seeing a purple haze.
Jimi Hendrix is just one musical reference point for these cheeky Australian plagiarists. They've borrowed Black Sabbath's downtuned bluesy scales, added Kyuss' stoner vibes and experimented with The White Stripes' simple drumming patterns. The result is deep and mind-expanding. Mid-album track Colossal is as immense as its title implies, beginning with towering bass licks and shuddering reverb and progressing into a hard, hypnotic rhythm.
With all the rock and blues sounds fusing together and mutating into deformed shapes, Wolfmother sounds just like the Devil's music should. And the words sound like they're straight from a demon's mouth. Singer Andrew Stockdale bequeaths brilliant psychedelic folk tales about a girl with a white unicorn, a joker and a thief, and lost innocence. Just when you think things couldn't get any weirder, panpipes make an appearance on rumbling mystical trip Witchcraft.
They're already media darlings thanks to their appearance at Texas industry showcase South by Southwest. Now bonus track Love Train is set to soundtrack the next iTunes and iPod advert, aiding their rapid ascent into cool. Like The Darkness, they've resurrected classic rock. But this time it's about the journey rather than the spectacle.
--Eleanor Goodman
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