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Apologies to the Queen Mary

by Wolf Parade

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On first listen, Wolf Parade is just another Canadian buzz band that plays fun, keyboard-heavy, new wave-y indie-rock and sings in weird, affected, high-pitched tones. Upon further listening, the songs reveal a lot of strange and fuzzy little details, and the lyrics have more depth than most bands do on their debuts. The Montreal-based group was brought to the Seattle-based Sub Pop label's attention by none other than Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, modern rock radio's king of affected vocalizings. Brock even recorded much of the album in Portland, OR. The vocalist has more than a passing affinity for David Bowie, and if you love the Arcade Fire and Frog Eyes, you probably are already a fan. Apologies is a very fun debut; the studied strangeness of the singing grates less over time, and it'll be really interesting to see what they come up with next. –Mike McGonigal