(t5!) Heroes Of The Zeroes Albums: #27: Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary (2005)

The myth behind Wolf Parade is documented pretty well. They call Montreal home; whch is to indie rock in the middle of the decade as Seattle is to Grunge early in the nineties. They popped their performance cherry opening for Arcade Fire. They self-released two inconspicuous EPs to get their name out further. They toured with Arcade Fire and equally indie Modest Mouse. Their sound enticed Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock during the tour, pimped them to the Yankees of indie rock labels, Sub Pop, and released their immaculate debut, Apologies To The Queen Mary. Then, BOOM, just like that, something like a phenomenon. They’re not the first one to have some sort of buzz before their debut album even goes up in record stores; it’s pretty fashionable, in fact, in the zeroes to have this kind of hype. But not every indie rock band surpasses the noise made by blogs and discussion forum. To be able to do it like Apologies To The Queen Mary has done, you’d have to pretty phenomenal.

Whatever it is that the Queen Mary did to the Montreal quartet, we should be very thankful that she inspired a wonderful supply of sentimental songs bewailing about unreciprocated love. It mixes the overly theatrical orchestral pop of their tourmates Arcade Fire with the droll campfire songs of their other tourmates Modest Mouse. Panicky drummer Arlen Thompson is the much-needed foundation to these distorted instruments, giving a crucial skeleton to the faint acoustic guitars and midway keyboards. The intoxicated electric piano stabs, glistening highly reverbed guitar parts, and Spencer Krug’s frustrations with the insatiable reavenousness of apparitions in “Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts” are shaped by decisive cymbal crashes and shanty rhythm. The cacophonous synths and unshaven guitar in “I Believe In Anything” are dignified by marching snares and never-ending drum fills.

I’m never a fan of affected vocals in rock—I refuse to listen to a Tom Waits or a Captain Beefheart album because of their dissonant singing—and Wolf Parade’s one-two alternating punch of Krug and Dan Boeckner on the mic was hard to digest on first listen. But something clicked after various listens, the growls and howls felt at home with all the cacophony manufactured by the instruments. Krug’s manic soprano (if you can call it that) in “Fancy Claps” sounds compatible with the walking dead Bach arpeggio, whirlwind distorted guitar, and hysterical drumbeat. In “Same Ghost Every Night”, Boeckner sounds traumatized by societies’ inclination to remain idle, and his trauma is fittingly joined by a gasping waltz and dejected keyboard waltz. The best tracks in Apologies To The Queen Mary are when it’s fueled by emotion, which is appropriately expressed by the duo. You can almost touch Krug’s misery as he grieves the absence of dinner bells in “Dinner Bells” Boeckner could barely remain in tune due to the excitement caused by his heart being on fire in “This Heart On Fire”.

After Apologies was released, the members of Wolf Parade began to pop up on other bands. Spencer Krug went on to front Sunset Rubdown and Swan Lake and Dan Boeckner sang for Handsome Furs and Atlas Strategic. They also released a follow-up At Mount Zoomer three years later. Sadly though, none of its offshoots touched the quality of Apologies. It’s proof of their debut’s greatness: if one of Wolf Parade’s members is associated somehow, it’s already worth checking out to see if the hype is justified.