Space Wolves, Space Wolves, Space Wolves. What is it about Space Wolves these days? It might have something to do that they're one of Buffalo's most prolific bands (not to mention the plethora of side projects they have under their belts). It might have something to do with their irresistible lo-fi surf rock too. Or the fact that they are a swirling enigma of mystery and free beer in the Buffalo music scene. Anyways, for whatever reason, Space Wolves has become buffaBLOG's darling band - and here's my review of their third album in the span of a year(!) - Space Wolves III.
So if you live under a rock or something, let me explain Space Wolves to you. Space Wolves is a two-piece, surf-pop, lo-fi band that can only be accurately described by a myriad of hyphenated words. These are two dudes who dress in all white and don't cut their hair and sing into an old telephone/microphone hybrid. Their guitarist is also their bassist at the same time, playing a guitar covered in white duct tape that has been modified to have one bass string. I think that should clear things up for you.
I don't smoke, but "Senecas" is so good it makes me want to. Talk about peer pressure... "I know a place where they never charge you tax, where cigarettes - they charge $3 a pack." It's so straightforward it hurts. When singer/guitarist/bassist/mastermind Nick Reynolds sings the hooky "Senecas, Senecas" in what I can only assume is the 40-second song's chorus, it reminds me of what makes these guys so fun. They just tear the genre to shreds, quickly and painlessly. Oh and when I say quickly I mean it. One of the songs is seven seconds long and is still somehow an ear worm.
"The Burn" is (IMHO) probably one of the best songs Space Wolves has ever written. It's a stop-and-start one-two-punch full of riffy goodness that just never really stops being energetic and fun. "The Burn" is followed by "Too Short," where Space Wolves shows a bit of vulnerability (but not before unleashing some killer surf riffs of course). Reynolds asks, "Am I content in my ineptitude?" He might claim that he thinks he's too short to kiss the tall girls or too plain to kiss the pretty girls, but I'll tell you what, he's not inept at writing retro surf songs. SW is definitely blessed in that department.
Another thing I love about Space Wolves is the astounding amount of variety they're able to squeeze out of the surf genre. Some songs are short ("Your [Live In] Girlfriend"), some are a little bit slower ("Sleeping Pills and Beer"), some have more traditional tremolo-picked surf riffs ("Pony Dress"), and some sound more garage-rock than anything else ("The Interstate"). But even as far as Space Wolves attempt to stray from the beaten path (A surf-rock path, I should mention, that they beat almost entirely themselves), the entire album sounds cohesive and fresh. In fact, all three of their albums sound cohesive and fresh... And they've all come out only months apart from each other.
Speaking of "The Interstate," Space Wolves channeled their inner Strokes and wrote some pretty godly garage rock. But in addition to that, for the first time (I think), Reynolds and drummer Chris Scamurra use some extra instrumentation in the form of some chimes. It's a small addition but again, this is one of those instances where Space Wolves succeed at injecting something unique into their music without getting too "weird." And then again, I usually like how straightforward their music is... Take "Pony Dress." It's a simple riff repeated forwards and backwards, but Reynolds does a really cool guitar harmony in the second verse. It's these little things that end up turning Space Wolves songs from retro-pop songs into harmony-laden surf genius.
I say it every time, but this definitely won't be the last you hear from the Space Wolves crew. Who's got the release date for Space Wolves IV?
Thanks for turning me on to these guys. I've yet to check out their other songs, but you've pointed me in a good direction. Keep up the good work and rock on.