London quartet Wolf People have recently been signed by Jagjaguwar, the very-cool Indiana record label’s first-ever UK band. Seemingly like every music act these days, they harken back to a yesteryear style. In the case of Wolf People, that’s the most retro rock sound imaginable - think howlin’ and growlin’ chords, harmonicas, grandiose lyrics, hearty, slightly bluesy vocals and a slightly psychedelic mentality. There are some great twists, too: a perky flute on Tiny Circles; a tootling middle section on Mercy II; and some Andean panpipe-style magic in the gloriously truncated Cotton Strands.
At times they also remind of early Libertines stuff: grubby, chaotic and proggy, not least on October Fires, available below. On occasion there are blues structures or folky moments, like a less exotic Tinariwen (who Wolf People have supported of late, along with Dinosaur Jr). But on the whole there’s something much more vintage and elegant here, music fuelled by unbridled love for a past scene.
That said, all the songs released so far aren’t even the real deal. According to Jagjaguwar, their debut LP, Tidings, out on 23 Febraury is not even a proper album, per se. In fact it’s a collection of recordings made by lead-man Jack Sharp between 2005 and 2007, and mostly before the band as it exists now was formed. Later products may well be less rich in tape hiss and scratchy recording sound - which is something of a shame if you ask me, as that lo-fi quality neatly suits their traditional yearnings. Let’s hope not.
Real album or not, Wolf People are still launching Tidings, and twice over at that. They play The Lexington on Tuesday 16 February, and then Brixton’s The Windmill a week later on Tuesday 23 February. Something tells me they’ll be a real blast live.
MySpace (Buy records via links there)
MP3: Wolf People – October Fires