Wolfhounds - Middle Aged Freaks

  by Dixie Ernill

published: 4 / 5 / 2015

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Review

It’s been a busy twelve months for Romford’s the Wolfhounds, with this new album following hot on the heels of the re-issue of their debut from the 1980s, ‘Unseen Ripples from a Pebble’. Whilst technically it is a new release, no less than 10 of the 13 tracks have already appeared on various singles that the band have released since their return to recording action after a twenty odd year absence in 2012. As such it does feel a little like a compilation and doesn’t flow in the same way that a regular album might. Indeed the Wolfhounds themselves don’t seem to have a definitive sound these days with so much variety spread across this release it’s sometimes hard to believe it’s the same band. Opener, ‘Skullface’ and ;Middle Aged Freak’ are grungy, almost heavy in nature, whereas ‘Cheer Up’ and ‘Divide and Fall’ (the best two tracks on the album) are more standard indie-pop songs, the former in particular being a jaunty sing-a-long song (other than the lyrics!). Elsewhere, there’s a sleazy number in the shape of ‘Rats on a Raft’ that primetime Mark E Smith would be proud of, while both ‘Slide’ and ‘Tunnel’ have a spooky feel to them. ‘Security’ is acceptable mid 90’s indie, but the rest are somewhat lacking in any real direction. When you see the likes of fellow 80’s indie-types the Popguns making a storming comeback album Pop Fiction, I can’t help but think the Wolfhounds have missed a trick here.

Track Listing:-

1 Skullface
2 Cheer Up
3 Divide And Fall
4 Middle Aged Freak
5 Anthem
6 Slide
7 Tunnel
8 6,000 Acres
9 Rats On A Raft
10 The Devil Looks After Her Own
11 Security
12 Built-In Obsolescence
13 The Ten Commandments Of Public Life

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/TheWolfhounds
https://twitter.com/thewolfhounds

Label Links:-

http://oddboxrecords.com/
https://twitter.com/oddboxrecords
https://www.facebook.com/oddboxrecords
http://oddboxrecords.bandcamp.com/