Heavy Weight (Wolf & Cub)

WHILE Perth act Tame Impala has been flying the flag for Australian psychedelic rock since 2010, Adelaide quartet Wolf & Cub have been quiet.

Heavy Weight: Wolf & Cub

WHILE Perth act Tame Impala has been flying the flag for Australian psychedelic rock since 2010, playing on American talk shows and at nearly every festival in the world, Adelaide quartet Wolf & Cub have been quiet.

Following an excellent debut in 2006's Vessels, their second album, 2009's Science and Sorcery, was a stark disappointment.

Heavy Weight, then, marks a return from the musical wilderness -- four years away is a long time for any band, especially a mid-tier independent -- and a return to form that will have Tame Impala looking over its shoulder. Joel Byrne (guitar and vocals) and Joel Carey (drums) are the two original members, but with the change in line-up comes renewed focus: 11 songs deep and no missteps to speak of, only a meandering and characterless two-minute coda to eighth track See the Light that we could have done without.

Elsewhere, All Through the Night is a sprawling, urgent cut in the vein of Canadian indie rock band the Besnard Lakes; I Need More is as streamlined a pop song as the band has produced, and in Got a Feeling Wolf & Cub end Heavy Weight on an uplifting note, similar to how Californian rock act Black Rebel Motorcycle Club closed its most recent album.

Embedded throughout these songs are smart basslines, tidy percussion and Byrne's vocal hooks and impressive array of guitar effects. May their fine work here land them on US talk shows and global festival stages before too long.

LABEL: MGM
RATING: 4 stars