Wolf Parade - Expo 86

The Strokes, Interpol, Arcade Fire… the list of bands doomed to spending their remaining days searching for the elusive magic which fired them to greatness on a classic debut is a long one indeed. It might be stretching things to put Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary in that exalted company, but it wasn’t that far off. A blistering, epically inclined record - released just as interest in all things Montreal was at a peak - Apologies quickly established Wolf Parade as a thrilling, intense and somewhat wayward act, led by not one but two great songwriters whose pleasingly different styles meshed together terrifically on record.

The band’s three-years in the making follow-up At Mount Zoomer was solid, but slightly underwhelming. As far as Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs are concerned, this writer could take or leave Spencer Krug and Dan Broeckner’s individual projects, which tended to come across like collections of Arcade Fire b-sides. Which brings us to Expo 86. It’s another yelpy, twitchy set of slightly raggedy pop songs. Indeed, all the Wolf Parade trademarks are in place – spiky guitars, crashing cymbals, plenty of propulsive momentum and occasionally batty lyrics. Krug’s voice sounds more like Bob Dylan than ever before on opener ‘Cloud Shadow on the Mountain’ (“I’ll never be born as a scorpion,” he sings, just in case anyone thought there was a chance that he might be). He sounds just as scarily similar on the enjoyably bouncy ‘Two Men in New Tuxedos’. Krug and Broeckner clearly haven’t forgotten how to write memorable hooks – ‘Ghost Pressure’ in particular is a surefire winner, thanks mainly to the record’s most enjoyable chorus.

But there are problems afoot. Bafflingly, they’ve failed to notice that ‘Palm Road’ is a dead ringer for Arcade Fire’s ‘Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)’. If you were constantly stuck in the shadow of a band from your own home town, surely it would make more sense to try to differentiate yourself as much as possible! Ultimately, Expo 86 is hampered by Wolf Parade’s inability to surprise. They don’t lack for good tunes, but they haven’t added much to their arsenal in the five years that have passed since their debut. The only exception comes right at the end, as ‘Cave-O-Sapien’ flirts deliciously with 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll. But for the most part this is more of the same.  Neither as consistently strong, nor intense as Apologies, nor a move in a new direction, Expo 86 simply feels like a band retreading on past glories.