The Review - Wolfmother - Victorious

And within the first 10 seconds you instantly know Wolfmother is back! A ferociously perfect yell (that is almost a mirror to how Wolfomther started their career with ‘Dimension’ on their debut self-titled record) and guitar riff kick off the Andrew Stockdale led Wolfmother’s latest offering, ‘Victorious’.

The opening track ‘The Love That You Give’ is vintage Wolfmother and is exactly what made you fall in love with this group in 2005. The formula isn’t anything new but in 2005 it was a refreshing injection into the alternative rock & roll music landscape to hear that vintage 70’s classic rock sound.

‘Pretty Peggy’ is one of my favourite things on this new record. It starts with Lumineers-esq acoustic guitar. It’s a far way from anything Wolfmother have ever done, which makes it so welcome. It also provides a nice intermission from the three songs punch that kicks the album off. It is yet another nod to the past classic rock records where slower ballads fit neatly beside the rock anthems.

The album concludes with a vintage Wolfmother thumper, ‘Eye of the Beholder’, that brings that same kick-drum quick pace of their classic (and one-time Canuck power-play song) ‘Joker and the Thief’.

On Victorious, Stockdale has released his most succinct record to date. Comprised of 10 songs with nine of them clocking in less than four minutes. Stockdale wails on ‘The Simple Life”, about his protagonist looking for that elusive simple life. You can’t help but wonder, with the revolving door of band mates, long breaks between records, that maybe Stockdale has finally hit on finding his own simple life with ‘Victorious’.

Essential tracks: The Love That You Give, Victorious, Pretty Peggy, Eye of the Beholder

Victorious - Wolfmother