Album Review: Wolf And Cub - Heavy Weight

Breaking onto the scene way back in 2005, Wolf & Cub managed to achieve a lot in a relatively short space of time – getting noticed off the back of a stellar debut EP, a thumbs up from QOTSA frontman Josh Homme and being the first Australian band to land a record deal with respected Brit label 4AD. Things have slowed for the formerly Adelaide-based four-piece (whose members are now in Sydney and interstate) and on their third effort to date, the band have gone for a less laboured and naked approach. Certainly from the sounds of things the band stuff seems to be second to whatever other artistic endeavours the guys get up to in their spare time, which lends itself to the conclusion that Heavy Weight wasn't intended as any sort of 'comeback' album.

Still, the altered direction is worth a listen, particularly on tracks like second single I Need More, the rompy All Through The Night and the dreamy What More Could I Say, all of which appear on the latter half of the record. Joel Byrnes' vocals have also been stripped of the heavily layered coat they were subject to on the previous two albums and this has meant less of a dark psych feel on the album as a whole, but that's okay because the result is a well measured cup of influences past and present.