Wolf Parade
Apologies To The Queen Mary
(Sub Pop)

Canada has always produced chance-taking bands and musicians. From the afore mentioned Neil Young to the collective known as Godspeed You Black Emperor. And Loverboy. No wait, that’s not right.

Fantastically odd vocal arrangements (by Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug), jaggedy guitar runs, electronic doo-dads, and drums that sound at times like giant cardboard boxes. If the titles of the songs don’t pull you in, (“You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son”; “Same Ghost Every Night”; “Fancy Claps”) then hopefully the weird, off kilter music might.

The piano accompaniment might remind you of their label mates Pleasure Forever, but instead of rocking the house Wolf Parade keep on an even keel. The low-fi production brings out the shadowy characters of the lyrics and new songs pick up right where the previous track leaves off. Without even realizing it, you’re four songs in.

Although the keyboards and much of the album’s deliberate pace gets a bit taxing by the end, what we have here a nice chunk of something new. Even if Wolf Parade isn’t trying to purposefully carve out new territory in a mostly stale indie rock world, they sure are doing a good job at it. - Andrew Lau