Wolfmother

In the early- to mid-'00s, more than at any other point in pop music history, it's completely acceptable to plunder the past for material. While no one would argue that Led Zeppelin was inspired by (among other blues players) Howlin' Wolf, they at least brought their own unmistakable sound to the music -- but it's not unlikely that casual fans of Led Zeppelin would completely mistake much of the music of Wolfmother for actual Zeppelin songs. Singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale's vocals often express a spot-on interpretation of Jimmy Page (Mars Volta's howler Cedric Bixler-Zavala seems a close second inspiration for Stockdale), and that's just the first of a healthy list of Led Zeppelin references.

With a couple of EPs under its belt and steady touring over the past few years, this Austalian trio has evolved from a heavier sound earlier on that was a little more reminiscent of Black Sabbath. If this debut is any indication, the band has lightened up a little and become increasingly focused on a blues-heavy, dirty rock, a logical synthesis of heavy metal, garage, and stoner rock. While the band is not immune to straight-ahead proto-punk burners like "Apple Tree," the majority of this record sounds like a fetishized imitation of the point where '70s blues-rock met prog rock (check the album cover for further explanation).

The upshot of all this is that, despite the shameless pilfering of its influences, Wolfmother does what it does really well. You remember, while listening to this album, what seemed so primal and amplified when Led Zeppelin made the blues really loud. This is gut-level music that taps a well of classic rock that bands have been coming back to by the hundreds over the last five years. As long as you don't think about it too much, it may not get better than this. - Cory O'Malley

There's no denying Australian heavy rock trio Wolfmother has been raised on rock -- specifically, raised on '70s rock. Problem is, from all appearances on their eponymous debut, they made their journey into the past via the twin gateway drugs of the White Stripes and Queens of the Stone Age, and once they dug back to the original Zeppelin and Sabbath texts (stopping along the way for some Soundgarden discs and maybe, for lyrical inspiration, Yes and Rush), they indulged so much it screwed with their sense of aesthetics. They threw everything and anything together, not bothering with minor problems like how their frenzied retro-rock doesn't quite support songs with titles like "The White Unicorn" and "Where Eagles Have Been" -- Zeppelin drew inspiration from JRR Tolkien and Sabbath certainly sang about fairies and gnomes, but neither band sounded as precious, inarticulate, or confused as Wolfmother does here. And their naïveté is not limited to guitarist Andrew Stockdale's stock swords 'n' sorcery imagery: they mix up their musical clichés in bewildering ways, as riffs lifted from Soundgarden ("Rusty Cage" provides the opening for "Joker & the Thief") give way to a QOTSA stomp as sung by Jack White (whose ghost is also heard on the title of "Apple Tree," not to mention its frenetic verses), or how a complicated Zep riff is graced by a Jethro Tull flute solo on "Witchcraft." Blame it on their youth -- all this stuff was new to them, so they absorbed it all at once then quickly regurgitated it in ways that won't seem to make much sense to anybody familiar with their inspirations (and their clunky funk-rock workout "Love Train" simply won't make sense to anybody anywhere). At times, Wolfmother's unintentionally bizarre amalgams are kind of delightful, and the group does have a basic, brutal sonic force that is pretty appealing, but even at their best, they never banish the specters of the bands that they desperately mimic throughout this promising but muddled debut. They have enough of a good thing going here to suggest that they'd be a killer live band, but not enough to make this record all too memorable on its own terms. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide