Wolfmother, Cosmic Egg. 2009

Wolfmother, Cosmic Egg                                                                                      

Following up on 2006’ full throttle, relentless, self titled debut album, Andrew Stockdale has emerged like a mythical bird whose name had been used far too many times in any type of music review. Wolfmother were seemed to be gone and forgotten following the departure of all original members Chris Goss and Myles Heskett in August 2008 due to the ‘oh-so-familiar’ musical differences, now, in 2009, Stockdale is back, with an army of three. Longer hair, more grunt, more riffs, more psychedelics, more exploring of boundaries. Upon hearing their latest album it does make the listener think ‘Goss? Heskett? Who?’

Cosmic Egg dropped on the UK in October 2009 and landed with a bang, the opening track, California Queen, builds slowly but surely with Stockdale’s infamous voice hitting home with two guitars, drums and numerous vintage effects backing each line. A breakdown occurs and due to the mention of hydroponics (a device used in marijuana manufacture) the tempo drops and the albums first heavy riff explodes. This is cascaded back into the first riff and tempo back up to where it once sat. The down temp riff returns and then builds into a battle of octave drenched guitars soloing against each other like two scorpions stabbing at each other; this draws the first track to a close and a short breath away from the albums commercial golden child.

New Moon Rising was the first track from cosmic egg to surface in the media, appearing on Youtube days before the release, the song demands attention from the intro riff which bends the listener in the almost poetic lyrics which are drawn out just enough for the listener to retrieve another beer. Double tracking on the chorus is most welcome as Stockdale blends two guitars into the melody, a low down vocal break is commonplace with Wolfmother and it is always well received. The intro riff pulls the song to its watertight ending.