FUCKWOLF - GOODBYE ASSHOLE
Despite having plied their trade around the clubs and dive bars of San Francisco for the best part of two decades, this is the debut album from Fuckwolf. The almost comically antisocial monicker and title make it clear that mainstream success is not high on the trio’s agenda but both suit the scuzzy, fucked-up music on offer.
Fuckwolf offer a mash-up of late-60s Detroit garage, early 70s NY proto-punk and mid-70s Akron OH art-Punk, with the odd dash of UK glam and touches of psych and post-rock. The guitars take in Dolls riffing and Stooges wailing. The drum thud away like the Glitter Band meeting Pere Ubu. The bass comes on like Michael Davis on Kick Out The Jams and Back In The USA. At its best, this sound like Iggy fronting Bardo Pond and jamming Bardo Pond songs.
So far, so thrilling, right? Well, yes and no. Fuckwolf can make a great noise but they don’t write great, memorable songs. I’ve listened to this a dozen or more times and not one riff has stuck in my head. I can’t remember a single lyric. Whilst Fuckwolf might make for a great evening’s entertainment at ear-splitting volume in a dodgy cellar bar with sweat dripping off the ceiling, this album doesn’t represent that and, being brutally honest, I can’t see myself ever listening to it again.
3/10
