Visions Of A Life – Wolf Alice
Originally posted on the S&R blog.
One of my favourite things to do when listening to music is seeing if I can tell who the artists’ influences are. As I’ve gotten older and listened to more and more, that little game I play by myself becomes not just easier, but richer as well. Visions of a Life, the sophomore effort from Wolf Alice, feels to me like the aural embodiment of that activity. From the jump, I teleport back to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, and while this style never leaves of the rest of the album, other influencers begin rearing their not-so-ugly heads almost instantly. No song sounds like another on the album as Wolf Alice gracefully shifts from MVB’s spacey shoegazing to Black Flag’s screaming punk to The Strokes’ indie chops to straight up pop bliss, ironically some of the most original work on the album, in just the first four songs. This shifting never lets up, leading to a crescendo just after the halfway point with “Formidable Cool”, a track that would sound right at home on a Portishead record. This variety leads not just too incredibly replay value, but a uniqueness only music from so many sources can bring. Just as Tarantino can mold the styles and even actual scenes from his favorite films into something new and exciting, Wolf Alice Ha placed their favorite music, styles, songs, lyrics and all, and placed them in a blender. The result is a glorious mixture that I would never pretend to categorize as anything other than amazing.
Check out Wolf Alice’s Visions Of A Life on Spotify or Apple Music.
And check out Mike Wohl on Spotify and Apple Music and Soundcloud!