Wolf People - Steeple

Remember the great folk-rock era of the late-1960s – that time when whimsical storytelling found an unlikely partner in the electric guitar? Well, Wolf People certainly do. The Londoners’ first album proper grasps onto this rock lineage so tightly that comparisons will easily and obviously be drawn between them and the likes of Led Zeppelin and Fairport Convention. And the good news is that, for the most part, Steeple does a pretty good job of following the band’s esteemed heroes’ lead.

Indeed, on this evidence, the Jagjaguwar-signed quartet are seemingly at their best when sticking closest to their roots: highlights like ‘Dorney Beach’ and ‘Painted Cross’ demonstrate the band’s tightness and verve, before the more folk-tinged ‘Banks of Sweet Dundee part 1’ and ‘…part 2’ provide a beautifully-crafted finale. It’s little surprise to learn that – in the classic rock tradition – Wolf People decamped to a 17th-century country house to record the follow-up to February’s odds’n’sods Tidings LP. The sound on Steeple is meticulous as a result, a remarkable production feat befitting of those gone before them. 

However, the band come seriously unstuck when they decide to skip forward a couple of decades and veer towards the small shelf of their record collection marked ‘nineties’. Tracks like ‘Castle Keep’ – with its repetitive drumbeat and plodding electric chord-changes – really let the album down. Vocalist Jack Sharp unwisely opts to talk his way through the track too, and his lyrics… well, they’re more Ocean Colour Scene than Led Zeppelin. And yes, of course this is not a good thing.

Disappointing moments aside, Wolf People do undoubtedly display a more than adequate degree of skill and talent on Steeple. It should give them a springboard to better things, though it might also offer listeners a route to explore the very broad – and frequently brilliant – genre the band are so obviously in thrall to. In which case, they’d better come up with something even better next time out…