Photo Credit: Jordan Hemingway
When Wolf Alice is good, they’re really good. Brilliant. The second track on Wolf Alice’s third studio album is one of the most well-written songs of the year, telling the tale of a young girl’s quest for a spot at the top in the City of Angels (“I’m socially anxious and a long way from home // I’ve only just learnt my margarita from mojito”) over wonderful shimmering chords and larger-than-life vocal harmonies. It’s a promising introduction to what is arguably the London group’s finest effort yet, albeit it is not without its faults.
Ever since Ellie Rowsell and Wolf Alice, consisting of Joff Oddie (guitar), Theo Ellis (bass), and Joel Amey (drums) debuted with their first LP My Love Is Cool back in 2015, they have been praised with favorable reviews. Drowned In Sound named the group’s follow-up Visions of a Life “Album of the Year” back in 2017, and since its release back in June, Blue Weekend’s has been met with an even warmer reception, peaking with a nomination for the Mercury Prize in September.
It’s certainly not hard to understand why. Ellie’s vocals are impressive throughout the album. The high, almost ghostly notes on “Lipstick on the Glass” send shivers down your spine and the song is a standout on the album. The staggering “How Can I Make It OK?”, is probably Wolf Alice’s most impressive song ever. “Someone like you should not be left unsold,” Ellie sings as she desperately cries out “I just want you to be happy” in the powerful, synth-textured choruses. When the music gets quieter, as on “No Hard Feelings” towards the end of the record, the crystal-clear lightness of Ellie’s voice becomes even more apparent.
But despite its moments of sheer brilliance, there’s a meandering feeling to parts of Blue Weekend that fails to communicate with me – moments where I feel that the music loses its originality and direction. “Smile” is a good, grunge-meets-shoegaze song which, according to Spotify’s streaming stats seems to be people’s choice cut from Blue Weekend. Unfortunately, it sounds a little too much like the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 Siamese Dream-opener “Cherub Rock” to save me from getting that treacherous “hey-I’ve-heard-this-somewhere-before” feeling. And as pretty as “Safe from Heartbreak (if you never fall in love)” might be, an entirely acoustic folk song feels somewhat misplaced between two loud giants such as “Smile” and “How Can I Make It OK?”
Even if the constantly revolving shift in tempo and mood makes Blue Weekend a somewhat overwhelming record to embrace as a whole, it works excellent as a tour de force-overview on contemporary alternative rock music. It doesn’t matter where you stop by to take a listen. Shoegaze, grunge rock, folk, synth-pop, punk rock; Wolf Alice masters everything with mesmerizing grace and a confident attitude, which is always supported by Markus Dravs’ tight production. Therefore, in the end, it makes it easy to forgive the copied Pumpkins-riffs and misplaced tempo-changes.
When Wolf Alice is good, they’re really good. Brilliant. The second track on Wolf Alice’s third studio album is one of the most well-written songs of the year, telling the tale of a young girl’s quest for a spot at the top in the City of Angels (“I’m socially anxious and a long way from home // I’ve only just learnt my margarita from mojito”) over wonderful shimmering chords and larger-than-life vocal harmonies. It’s a promising introduction to what is arguably the London group’s finest effort yet, albeit it is not without its faults.
Ever since Ellie Rowsell and Wolf Alice, consisting of Joff Oddie (guitar), Theo Ellis (bass), and Joel Amey (drums) debuted with their first LP My Love Is Cool back in 2015, they have been praised with favorable reviews. Drowned In Sound named the group’s follow-up Visions of a Life “Album of the Year” back in 2017, and since its release back in June, Blue Weekend’s has been met with an even warmer reception, peaking with a nomination for the Mercury Prize in September.
It’s certainly not hard to understand why. Ellie’s vocals are impressive throughout the album. The high, almost ghostly notes on “Lipstick on the Glass” send shivers down your spine and the song is a standout on the album. The staggering “How Can I Make It OK?”, is probably Wolf Alice’s most impressive song ever. “Someone like you should not be left unsold,” Ellie sings as she desperately cries out “I just want you to be happy” in the powerful, synth-textured choruses. When the music gets quieter, as on “No Hard Feelings” towards the end of the record, the crystal-clear lightness of Ellie’s voice becomes even more apparent.
But despite its moments of sheer brilliance, there’s a meandering feeling to parts of Blue Weekend that fails to communicate with me – moments where I feel that the music loses its originality and direction. “Smile” is a good, grunge-meets-shoegaze song which, according to Spotify’s streaming stats seems to be people’s choice cut from Blue Weekend. Unfortunately, it sounds a little too much like the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 Siamese Dream-opener “Cherub Rock” to save me from getting that treacherous “hey-I’ve-heard-this-somewhere-before” feeling. And as pretty as “Safe from Heartbreak (if you never fall in love)” might be, an entirely acoustic folk song feels somewhat misplaced between two loud giants such as “Smile” and “How Can I Make It OK?”
Even if the constantly revolving shift in tempo and mood makes Blue Weekend a somewhat overwhelming record to embrace as a whole, it works excellent as a tour de force-overview on contemporary alternative rock music. It doesn’t matter where you stop by to take a listen. Shoegaze, grunge rock, folk, synth-pop, punk rock; Wolf Alice masters everything with mesmerizing grace and a confident attitude, which is always supported by Markus Dravs’ tight production. Therefore, in the end, it makes it easy to forgive the copied Pumpkins-riffs and misplaced tempo-changes.
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