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Wolfmother

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Wolfmother

Wolfmother are an Australian Grammy and ARIA award winning hard rock band from Sydney, New South Wales.

History

After releasing their self-titled debut EP through Modular Recordings in September 2004, Wolfmother began appearing at several high profile music events, such as Homebake and the Big Day Out. The EP was a success, reaching number thirty-five in the ARIA singles chart and receiving consistent radio play on Triple J.

In 2005, the band made their way to Los Angeles, working alongside producer Dave Sardy (Marilyn Manson, Oasis) to record their eponymous debut album, released in October 2005.

The first single to be released was "Mind's Eye"/"Woman" (a double A-side), making its debut on the Australian music charts at number twenty-nine. The album itself entered the Australian Charts at number three and has been a regular feature of the Top 20 ever since, having gone platinum three times. Wolfmother won the 2005 J Award from the Australian youth radio network Triple J for the best Australian album of the year,[6] and finished the year with Falls Festival appearances. Rolling Stone magazine listed Wolfmother as one of their "Top 10 Bands to Watch 2006."[7]

They achieved a record breaking six songs in the influential 2005 Triple J Hottest 100, with "Mind's Eye" their highest entry at number six. This breaks the record of five songs previously held by Powderfinger, Queens of the Stone Age, Silverchair and The White Stripes.

File:WOLFMOTHER.jpg
A 2006 poster advertising Wolfmother concerts.

In 2006, they played their second Big Day Out tour in January, and released their second Australian single, "White Unicorn." The band performed at the Austin, Texas SXSW festival in March and Coachella in April where they were commonly cited as the 'breakout' band of the year.[8] They also performed at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in May, and at the Oxegen festival, Bonnaroo and the Roskilde Festival in July.

International success

Andrew Stockdale during a performance in Tennessee, USA.

Wolfmother have enjoyed considerable success in reaction to the mid-2000s Retro Metal movement, at which they are often considered the chief pioneer. Many of their songs have been featured in the advertising of many products including the Apple iPod, multiple Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 games, the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer, and TV programs and movies such as "Jackass: Number Two", Dane Cook's "Tourgasm", "House", the 2006 Australian Football League (AFL) finals, and the Winter X Games 11.[citation needed]

The band also made many promotional appearances. They appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" on May 4, 2006. Additional stops in June 2006 included the 2006 MTV Movie Awards and The Late Show with David Letterman, where Letterman would remark to a sweaty Stockdale in their interview "That was pretty damn cool!" In July, they played the famous T In The Park festival in Scotland. On August 1 2006, Wolfmother appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno show before playing in San Diego's Street Scene.

Chris Ross playing bass during a performance at SXSW 2006.

Starting on July 14 2006, Wolfmother played a total of 18 shows in Australia including the Splendour in the Grass music festival. On July 29, they played at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan before continuing their tour of US and Europe which included high profile music festivals such as Lollapalooza and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. On September 10, they took part in the inaugural North American V Festival in Toronto, Canada. On September 23, they were in Baltimore playing at the Virgin Music Festival. Wolfmother was also scheduled to appear at the Download Festival in San Francisco on September 30, but on September 25, bassist Chris Ross's wife had a baby. The baby was one month early and Wolfmother cancelled/postponed their dates in the following month. During this break, Wolfmother released their final single from the self-titled album, Joker and the Thief, in Australia on October 28, where it reached number eight on the Australian Singles Chart, their highest position to date in Australia. Wolfmother resumed touring on November 4 in the United Kingdom.

On November 9 2006, Wolfmother appeared on the NBC late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly.[9]

On November 14 2006, legendary hard rock/heavy metal band Led Zeppelin were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame; they asked Wolfmother to appear as their guests. The band covered the Led Zeppelin song "Communication Breakdown," a common Wolfmother concert vehicle before and since. Half way through the song, lead vocalist Robert Plant turned to guitarist Jimmy Page and famously remarked "These guys are pretty good!"[10]

Myles Heskett during a performance at SXSW 2006.

During an interview in March 2006, Andrew and Myles created a 'Free the Gnomes!' design using the 'consequences' method, where each couldn't see what the other had drawn. The design was contributed to the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the charity, Teenage Cancer Trust.[11]

On the February 13 2007, it was announced on that the band would be playing at the Download Festival in June and the band where given the third headline spot on the first day (Friday June 8 2007) in between Velvet Revolver and Dragonforce playing various songs from their self titled album.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Wolfmother won the 'Best Hard-Rock Performance' award for their song "Woman."[12] Prior to winning, Stockdale had jokingly discussed with reporters his prediction of "no chance" at the awards. They beat bands such as System of a Down, Tool and Nine Inch Nails to win the award. "I was a huge Tool fan back in the day, I saw them at Hordern Pavilion and Newcastle Uni," said Heskett about their nomination for the award.[13]

The band released an exclusive new song titled "Pleased to Meet You" on Spider-Man 3: The Official Soundtrack through the Record Collection label.[14]

On May 12 2007, they announced at Pointfest 20 that that would be their last concert in America for an undetermined amount of time.

In June 2007 they performed at the Bonnarroo Music and Arts festival in Manchester, TN on the second largest stage the event offers.

On June 28 2007, they headlined at Summerfest, "The World's Largest Music Festival", in Milwaukee, WI. This is the first time the band performed the song "Pleased to Meet You" live, according to Stockdale during the show. Finishing up their US Tour in Detroit Rock City, Michigan to an abundantly enthusiastic crowd on June 30 2007, Andrew Stockdale mentioned during the encore that they wanted to finish up in Detroit since that's where the post production finishing touches for the Wolfmother LP were conducted.[citation needed]

File:Wolfmotheratsummerfest.jpg
Wolfmother during a preformance at Summerfest, in Milwaukee, WI on June 28th, 2007.

On July 7 2007, they performed on the Australian leg of the Live Earth concerts in Sydney. Andrew Stockdale said in an interview "That will be our last show for this album. We will find out what a green note sounds like on the next record".[15] According to an interview with Billboard, the band has begun recording for its second album, Wolfmother II which is slated to be released in early 2008.[16] The album may include a second guitarist as rumored among fan sites, and such songs as "Pleased to Meet You" which was previously released on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack, "The Earth's Rotation Around the Sun" a non-album single released in 2005, and a possible cover of Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown, a concert vehicle favorite of the band.

Critical response

While the band has gained much success, reception is divided. A Total Guitar review calls Wolfmother's music "ruddy marvellous",[17] and Pitchfork praises them for "how capably they strike a balance between meaty vintage metal and crisp, stoner-rock melodies".[18] Others hold that their music is too derivative of 70's rock; a Stylus Magazine review states "everything there is to say about them is best said by immediate reference to another band and Wolfmother always come up short in the comparison",[19] while a largely positive Billboard review ends with "Next time, however, they'll have to give us more than just a tour of their uncle's vinyl collection."[20] An allmusic review is more critical, calling their music "precious, inarticulate, [and] confused"[21] when compared to that of their musical influences, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart positions
Australia
Australia 		UK
United Kingdom 		U.S.
United States
2005 Wolfmother 3 25 22

EPs

Year Album Chart positions
Australia United Kingdom United States
2004 Wolfmother EP 35 - -
2006 Dimensions - - -

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
Australia U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Mainstream Rock UK Singles Chart
2005 "Mind's Eye" 29 - - 142 Wolfmother
2006 "White Unicorn" 33 38 29 -
"Dimension" - - - 49
"Woman" 34 10 7 31
"Love Train" - - - 62
"Joker and the Thief" 8 31 27 64
2007 "Pleased to Meet You" - - - - Spider-Man 3: The Official Soundtrack

Videography

  • "Mind's Eye" (2006)
  • "Dimension" (2006)
  • "Woman" (2006)
  • "White Unicorn" (2006)
  • "Love Train" (2006)
  • "Joker and the Thief" (2006)

Awards and nominations

Awards

Year Award Issued for
2005 J Award [6]
2006 Jack Awards Best Bass Guitarist - Chris Ross from Wolfmother [22]
2006 ARIA Awards Best Breakthrough Album - Wolfmother [23]
Best Rock Album - Wolfmother [23]
Best Group [23]
2007 Grammy Award Best Hard Rock Performance for "Woman" [24]
2007 Jack Awards Best Live Band [25]
2006 Jack Awards Best Bass Guitarist - Chris Ross from Wolfmother [26]
2006 ARIA Awards Best Breakthrough Album - Wolfmother [23]
Best Rock Album - Wolfmother [23]
Best Group [23]
2007 Grammy Award Best Hard Rock Performance for "Woman" [27]
Total Guitar Reader's Poll Best International Newcomer

Nominations

Year Award Nominated for
2005 ARIA Awards Single of the Year Woman
Best Breakthrough Artist - Single Woman
2006 MTV Australian Video Music Awards Spankin' New Aussie Artist
Best Group
Best Rock Video Mind's Eye
2006 Jack Awards Best Live Band
Best Male Performer - Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother
Best Lead Guitarist - Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother
Best Bass Guitarist - Chris Ross from Wolfmother
Best Drummer - Myles Heskett from Wolfmother
2006 ARIA Awards Album of the Year
Single of the Year Mind's Eye
2007 BRIT Awards International Breakthrough Act
2007 MTV Australian Video Music Awards Best Group (TBA)
Best Rock Video Joker and the Thief (TBA)
Video Of The Year Joker and the Thief (TBA)
Viewers' Choice Award (TBA)

References

  1. ^ http://www.wherehouse.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=2581222
  2. ^ http://www.wherehouse.com/music/product-detail.jsp?id=2581222
  3. ^ http://shop.mtv.com/Wolfmother--Australian-Version--MTV2_stcVVproductId3804024VVcatId424650VVviewprod.htm
  4. ^ http://www.ampcamp.com/product_info.php?products_id=1537
  5. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/wolfmother/wolfmother/index.html
  6. ^ a b "triple j - The J Award - Wolfmother". Triple J. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  7. ^ Green, Andy (2006-03-23). "10 Artists to Watch: Aussio Trio comes bearing monster riffs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Getlen, Larry (2006-04-30). "Heavy Duty". New York Post. Retrieved 2006-08-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ ""Last Call with Carson Daly": Episode dated 9 November 2006 (2006)". Internet Movie Database. 2007-02-12.
  10. ^ "Led Zeppelin and Brian Wilson For UK Music Hall of Fame". entertainmentwise.com. 2007-02-12.
  11. ^ "Clap Your Hands, Wolfmother design T-shirts". NME. 2007-02-12.
  12. ^ "Wolfmother win Grammy award". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-02-12.
  13. ^ "Wolfmother Honored With Grammy In 'Best Hard Rock' Category". blabbermouth.net. 2007-02-12.
  14. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2007-03-29). "Snow Patrol, Flaming Lips Ensnared For 'Spider-Man 3'". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-04-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Dunn, Emily (2007-03-31). "Now rock plugs into solar". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 2007-04-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Benson, John (2007-03-01). "Wofmother Hoping To Further Rock Ambitions On New CD". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Ascott, Phil. "Total Guitar (UK) - Album". Total Guitar. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  18. ^ Byroum, Cory (2006-04-25). "Wolfmother: Wolfmother: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  19. ^ McNally, Patrick (2007-05-02). "Wolfmother - Wolfmother - Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Philip, Sven. "Wolfmother". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  21. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic (((Wolfmother > Review)))". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Jack Awards Winners Announced". Undercover.com.au. 2006-06-22. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  23. ^ a b c d e f "Media Release - 2006 ARIA Awards - Everyone's a Winner!" (PDF) (pdf). ARIA. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  24. ^ "Wolfmother wins Grammy Award". ABC News. 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  25. ^ "Wolfmother wins at Jack Awards". The West Australian. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  26. ^ "Jack Awards Winners Announced". Undercover.com.au. 2006-06-22. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  27. ^ "Wolfmother wins Grammy Award". ABC News. 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
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