Four years after their self-titled debut album, the hard-rocking rebirth of classic ’70s debauchery known as Wolfmother makes their return with Cosmic Egg. Aussie Andrew Stockdale is back without founding members Chris Ross and Myles Heskett, who left the band citing “irreconcilable personal and musical differences.”
Happy to move on with the original name and three replacement members, Stockdale writes each new song with the same surplus of thunderous strumming while still singing about the mythical cosmos in high-pitched shrieking vocals very few men can reach. It’s hard to determine what left the band with Ross and Heskett, but Dave Atkins (drums), Ian Peres (bass/keyboards) and Aidan Nemeth (guitar) seem content to follow Stockdale into battle.
Beginning with the first track, “California Queen,” it’s evident this album will be an epic Australian adventure following the paths of rock bands both old and new. The instant the drums kick in and coincide with the quick, driving two-note bass riff, you know it’s bound to be a bumpy ride (in the best way possible) through the malicious mind of Wolfmother.
“California Queen” sets the paradigm of what is fast becoming the genuine Wolfmother sound: an explicit A-B-A structure where A situates the rhythm of the song and B is a classic, hard-rock breakdown that totally disrupts the fabric of the intro. This is the way Stockdale seems to prefer to write his songs, as it’s evident throughout the album on tracks like “Sundial” and the closer, “Violence of the Sun.”
A new tactic not seen on 2005’s Wolfmother is the intermittent attempts at upbeat artistry dotted within the billowing bedlam of strum-heavy super rock. Stockdale tries to make a turn toward a different and almost mainstream sound on the tracks “White Feather” and “Far Away.” The band turns away from the hard and heavy hell they created toward a much lighter sound which skimps on the strumming riffs in favor of a simpler sound. If they showed signs of somberness on their debut album, they eventually shut it up suddenly and went back to that new classic rock Wolfmother sound, an effective combination.
However, on Cosmic Egg when Stockdale backs off a bit, he never really comes back. It’s a new sound with the original one remaining woefully absent. This may be what left the band with Ross and Heskett. On Wolfmother, they were able to have diverse songs while remaining steadfast to their defining sound. This new thing Stockdale’s got going on thankfully doesn’t define the album, as the harder stuff in “California Queen” and “Pilgrim” overcomes the not-so-hard stuff.
When buying this album, go deluxe. Sadly, the powers that be decided to sell a standard version alongside another with four bonus tracks. These four tracks — “Cosmonaut,” the early release “Back Round,” “Eyes Open” and “Caroline” — are among the best songs on the album. They ultimately return the sound from the ill-fated attempt at cooling down. The deluxe version contains the Wolfmother from 2005 people know and love while the standard version, without the other four tracks, may bear disappointment and begging for more.
You could say Cosmic Egg is a new chapter rather than pages added on to the last. Die-hard fans may have preferred the latter, but the former isn’t at all bad. The replacement band members prove they are just as talented as the two founders who bailed, and Stockdale remains a vocal king and guitar god. Where Cosmic Egg wanes is when they briefly split from their characteristic rumbling riffs to a solely calmer sound. Hopefully the day the calmness becomes their definition is far from now. Keep it kickin’, Wolfmother. It’s what you do best.
3 1/2 stars out of 5.
