>> PREVIEW
WOLF PARADE
Tuesday, August 15
The Warehouse
A sense of humour and a hot-snot indie rock star are two things that aren’t found together nearly as much as they should be. Some of them are aloof, guarded and intensely protective – hiding anything that could send their cool stock crashing down. So, when Dan Boeckner, one of Wolf Parade’s two front men starts making whip-smart cracks (occasionally at his own expense) and pokes fun at indie snobs, it’s enough to send one falling off a chair.
After helping Montreal become the prom queen of the international music scene last year, Boeckner has moved back to his British Columbia home. Last autumn, while Wolf Parade toured in support of their wildly successful Sub Pop LP Apologies to the Queen Mary, a familiar face appeared at a Vancouver gig. Boeckner first became smitten with Alexei Perry three years ago. Upon recently reconnecting, he relocated to be with her. They’re now engaged with a four-month-old band, The Handsome Furs. A Sub Pop release of their distinct blend of mutated guitars, pretty singing and dancehall beats is expected early next year.
In the meantime, Wolf Parade are drawing up a game plan for their highly anticipated followup album, also due in 2007. Since Apologies dramatically shot up and exploded, there’s obvious heat on the band to create something equally fantastic. Autonomy is a strong priority this time around, since the band prefers the material they record while alone in a studio. In other words, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock (a fan of Boeckner’s since his days in Atlas Strategic), who both signed the band to Sub Pop and helped produce their last album, will not be behind the knobs. Instead, Wolf Parade has set up camp in the studio they built in Montreal a couple of months ago.
"I’m actually looking out my window right now – we built our own studio across the street from where I’m standing," relays Boeckner. "We’re going to start hacking away at recording another record. We’re going to do it by ourselves this time.
"Working with a producer is something – I mean, there’s already almost like too many cooks in the band, y’know? You’ve got two people writing songs and everybody is really, really opinionated and not afraid to open their word-holes and let their opinions spill out and fill up the room and make everybody get a headache. Having one more loud, drunk opinionated person is not a good idea, but it was fun."
The studio is called Mount Zoomer – a B.C. euphemism for magic mushrooms and a nod to Montreal band, A Silver Mount Zion. Drummer Arlen Thompson, who has been growing his hair to Viking lengths for this upcoming tour, is the brains behind it.
For today, Boeckner is practising for the tour and half-heartedly worrying about his music taste, which he thinks is going down the crapper. Aside from the new Liars album, Drum’s Not Dead, he namedrops music that he currently loves like he’s dropping grandma’s expensive china. Bon Jovi’s "Wanted Dead or Alive" leaks out as well as the latest single from a fellow Vancouverite.
"In all honesty, one of my favourite songs right now is that Nelly Furtado ‘Promiscuous Girl’ song. That may be because I like the beats or the chorus is really good, but it’s probably because I'm getting older and my taste in music is getting worse and worse and worse and worse."
No one could ever accuse 28-year-old Boeckner of being a pretentious jerk. Well, unless he’s chastising himself as he comments on his new digs in Vancouver – a city which looks all shiny and new again.
"Yeah, it does because I never go to the east end anymore. Never. Only to go to Chinatown and buy cheap bootleg DVDs because I’m totally bourgeois now. I live in a glassy downtown apartment… in a giant, white apartment with barely any furniture, just like a glass coffee table and some copies of Wallpaper Magazine and a really expensive espresso maker."
He hesitates for a split second before adding one last statement.
"I exfoliate regularly."
Smart alecks unite, Wolf Parade will be on tour until mid-September, when they conclude their tour with a stop at Austin City Limits Music Festival. |
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