Wolfmother and Nyrkkitappelu

Bringing the most majestic of riffs wherever they go, Wolfmother rock like it’s eternally 1973 and the eighties never happened. They do so with absolute conviction as well, which is strange because the original trio that made up the band only met at the turn of the 21st century. Andrew Stockdale, bassist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett formed Wolfmother properly in 2004 after a couple of years of aimless jamming. Their first demo recordings netted them a record deal with Modular Recordings and after their first batch of national tour dates were completed they set to work on their self-titled debut E.P. The trio realised they had something special on their hands when their E.P, a debut effort from a one year old band, charted at number 35 on the Australian album charts in its first week of release.

In fact, the band were so sure of themselves that after they finished their first six months of hardcore touring (or “Chonging” in the bands parlance), they relocated to Los Angeles to record their debut effort with David Sardy. Sardy had previously worked with the likes of Oasis, Slayer, and their countrymen Jet and whatever good luck charm he’d given those previously mentioned bands more than made its mark on Wolfmother. Their self-titled debut album was released in October 2005, peaked at number three on the ARIA Album’s Chart and stayed there for two years, going five times platinum in the process.

For a period of time, they were far and away the biggest new band in Australia and by 2006 their appeal started to spread across the globe, playing Download, Lollapalooza, Fuji Rock, Reading and Leeds festivals in the same summer among many, many others. As Wolfmother’s fame grew, Stockdale began to take complete creative control of the band, Ross and Heskett left as a result and it was another three years before another album would take shape. 2009 saw the release of “Cosmic Egg” a record that didn’t match its predecessor for impact but was rapturously received by fans, who propelled it into the same number three spot of the ARIA Charts that its predecessor got to and into the top 20 of the Billboard 200.

Ever since then, the band have been beloved by their fans for their face melting riffs and spectacular live shows. No matter that the band have effectively become Stockdale’s solo project, he still does it better than just about anyone else in the world right now. With a third album out in the form of 2014’s “New Crown” very little seems able to stand in the band’s way and for that reason, Wolfmother come highly recommended.