WOLVON are one of the most urgent and exciting things to come out of Holland in ages; if only for their upbeat “Kosmische” attitude and refusal to get caught up in the life-sapping balls of their surroundings.
WOLVON are one of the most urgent and exciting things to come out of Holland in ages; if only for their upbeat “Kosmische” attitude and refusal to get caught up in the life-sapping balls of their surroundings.
http://www.wolvon.bandcamp.com http://www.subroutine.nl
WOLVON return, sandblasting all and sundry with their rabble rousing stew of guitars and clattering beats. As ever, it’s a heady mix; offbeat speed-blues takes on Swell Maps’ bug-eyed racket (such as on BTHR, a track which sounds like it’s on Ritalin) collide with a rapier-like sketches of Blue Cheer’s Gonzo sludge (Saladin’s scimitar to Richard’s broadsword). One thing you can never accuse WOLVON of is sounding boring, however much you think you know what you’re going to get from them; somehow they manage to take the hoariest, most banal tricks in rock’s magicke book and, through dint of their backwoods enthusiasm, and a totally pagan commitment to the beauty of accidental noise, make them sound like the best, most essential thing ever. Rabbits popping out of psyched-out hats are found everywhere in these new tracks; Fair Game would be a simplistic, teenage mess if it was played in any other manner.
Sometimes WOLVON’s guitar attack can sound too messy, their subtler elements lost in this thick steaming porridge of noise and feedback; if WOLVON were back at school, they’d be the kids making inappropriate shapes with the plasticine on the nature table. Which is great an’ all, but at some point in their “career” (hoho) they’ll need to bring a sharper focus, or see if they can work up these sketches into something ridiculously over the top. Or chuck us yet another curveball. You see, they have a knack of playing over mistakes whilst looking to catch the moment, which, whilst creating a strong impression, also serves to dull our senses; the guitar on BTHR for example, sometimes sounds like it’s bolted away from its own rhythm section. But hey you know what? These are quibbles, and they do hint at far grander things on last track Smooth Skull. WOLVON are one of the most urgent and exciting things to come out of Holland in ages; if only for their upbeat “Kosmische” attitude and refusal to get caught up in the life-sapping balls of their surroundings. A track like Better Mammals is just magnificent, the sappiest, oochie-coochiest, stickiest girl-boy pop pushed backwards through a wind turbine Space cadets. Cosmic Jokers for C21. Tall poppies indeed.