It was curious to listen to Canadians Wolf Parade's latest album Thin Mind immediately after Wire's Mind Hive yesterday. Not simply because they share a word in their title. As I said in my review of the latter, it's a remarkably contemporary record. Thin Mind certainly isn't. This is an album where virtually every single mannerism, lyric and sound on the record sounds like it comes from Post Punk New Wave and Electro Pop tracks put out between 1978 and 1983.
This in itself is a remarkable achievement in itself. But is it one to commend? I think not really and I tired of Thin Mind after about four songs and chose to listen to the new Andy Shauf one instead, altogether a much better album which I'll get round to writing about presently.
It's not really a good thing to make records that purely replicate the sounds of the past. Some can get away with it. Like The Killers for example, by making the songs so good that you can't ignore them. Or Weyes Blood by making it more than mere note for note replicate and turning it into a contemporary statement about nostalgia instead.
Thin Mind does neither sadly. It's too much in thrall to thrill. It ultimately tested my patience too greatly and often came across as pompous and turgid. There have been some really great records put out that January that inevitably remind the listener somewhat of the past. Wire, Shauf, En Attendant Ana, Aoife Nessa Frances, Bill Fay among them. By comparison this is strictly second division material.
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