CD REPORT NEW ON DISC
With this disc, the trio We Are Wolves is another band from the lauded Montreal music scene poised to enter the continental consciousness. These unconstrained, even irreverent songs combine vintage punk, dabs of new wave, and synth-psychedelia for the Nintendo generation. “Little Birds” announces early that the disc is entirely off the wall, as a sirenlike drone reverberates, leading into a drum machine beat and fuzzy power chords. Vincent Levesque’s old analog synthesizers add a spacey zing that meshes well with the brash sounds of Alex Ortiz’s guitar and vocals. The hypnotic, meditative mood of “Namai-Taila-Cambodge (Go-Tabla-Go)” is a highlight; primal beats from percussionist Antonin Marquis and soothing bass are the foundation, overlaid with crisp guitar riffs and trippy electronic sequences. On “Snare Me” and “T.R.O.U.B.L.E.,” Ortiz’s frustrated howl is reminiscent of the jerky sound of early Devo. This odd conglomeration of genres and moods comes off as fun, rambunctious, and unapologetically strange.
John S. Forrester 