Noisettes

When you're bold enough to call yourself the Noisettes, you best bring the noise. And judging by "Don't Give Up," the first song on What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?, the British trio does just that. The opening track is a blistering, bluesy romp that features singer Shingai Shoniwa snarling and howling like a woman possessed. It's a thrilling introduction to the U.K.'s latest induction into the rotating cast of buzz bands.

If only the entire album had retained this energy. As the songs on Wolf progress, the band loses its detached cool and slumps into generic retro-rock coupled with cringe-worthy lyrics like "scratch your name into the fabric of the world." The folk-psychedelics of "The Count of Monte Christo," for instance, sound almost as current as the book being referenced (another lyric sample: "The count... gave me a penny for my thoughts but wouldn't get no change"). "Bridge to Canada" kicks off with a searing verse, but founders later with the over-produced chorus.

It's clear that Shoniwa has an exceptional, soulful voice, but the Noisettes' sound lacks identity. Caught out somewhere between hipster-contemporary and vintage rock, they succeed at neither. Sadly, Mr. Wolf, the Noisettes' watch must be broken, because their debut isn't very timely.

- Arye Dworken
04.17.07

They've been described as Billie Holiday fronting the White Stripes, and while that doesn't begin to do justice to the Noisettes' originality, it's not a bad way to start talking about their sound. On their striking full-length debut, What's the Time Mr. Wolf?, the band moves from revved-up arty garage rock to soul and jazz-tinged balladry -- sometimes during the course of one song -- like it's on rails. This might not be the most natural, or expected, combination of sounds on paper, but for most of the album, it works amazingly well. It would be easy to say that singer Shingai Shoniwa is the reason for the Noisettes' musical alchemy, and with good reason: she can sing and scream with the best of them, sounding effortlessly, coolly beautiful on "Hierarchy" and fiery and fearless on "Don't Give Up." However, the rest of the Noisettes have just as much range as Shoniwa, delivering the acoustic filigrees of "Count of Monte Christo" and radical gospel-punk of "Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)" with the same passion. What's the Time Mr. Wolf?'s best moments make the band's balancing act seem easy. "Scratch Your Name" and "Bridge to Canada" sound violent and hopeful, full of anthemic choruses and soaring harmonies; "Iwe" makes this approach fiercely romantic. On the album's more experimental second half, however, the band teeters a bit. Songs like the awkward "Mind the Gap" and "Cannot Even (Break Free)," which begins as smoky, hypnotic jazz and gets dangerously close to being tuneless and shrill, are more overwhelming than fascinating. Nevertheless, the Noisettes rarely let their ambitions get the better of them. Any band capable of fusing such divergent sounds and ideas so completely and compellingly is worth hearing -- and watching. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide