The album artwork for Wolf and Cub’s new album, Science and Sorcery, evokes psychedelic eras now long since relegated to dust. Fitting, then, that the image features a desert landscape, dunes shadowed by a triangle of light that contains an outcropping of rock. It could be Mars, it could be Colorado, it’s impossible to tell because of the washed out, sepia tones.
I wonder why it is that the guys have gone for this image. The album does have some strange electronic sounds that remind me of Doctor Who; and vocals that are occasionally as dissociated from the music as Karl Hyde of Underworld, but there is no overall psychedelic sound – it is more ambient, or experimental.
“The album has been received a lot better than I thought. Most people who haven’t liked it, haven’t liked it because it doesn’t sound like our first record, which is fine. That’s cool, but I don’t think we’re gonna make it our goal to make the same record twice. The people that have liked it have liked the fact we’ve done something a little different from the first one. “
Whether you don’t like it because it’s not the same or you do like it because it’s not the same, you’ll probably still have an opinion. Joel is fairly sanguine when it comes to critics and feedback.
“There comes a time where you have to remove yourself from it, but initially I was prepared for the worst because the album is really different. The negative things that have been said I sort of expected, but the positive things that people have said have been things they see in it that I haven’t even seen. Thankfully there have been more positives than there have been negatives.”
Many artists are angry at the ease with which people can download their music for free. Fantastic, original artists such as Lars Ulrich and Madonna. It is good to see some musicians realise that changes are occurring and subsequently roll with the punches, getting hits in where they can.
“Record sales are down, but the live scene is thriving. All these kids are getting music for free and it’s encouraging them to take their money and buy tickets. It’s great. I guess it’s ’cause people aren’t spending money on music, they’re spending it on going to festivals and going to shows. “
Wolf and Cub are touring now so there will be shows on which to spend your money. With two drummers there’s bound to be some dancing going on.
“It’s gonna be a bit of a party vibe I think. It’s gonna be dynamic as well, there’s gonna be ups and downs. It’ll be quite tense, but then quite joyous as well. I really don’t know. That’s the thing, expect the unexpected. Our shows could go either way. Sometimes they can be really great, but sometimes they can be really bad. It’s really dependent on the vibe on the day.”
Wolf and Cub are playing on the 19th of June at the Oxford Arts Factory, so get down there and check em out.
