Check out Wolfmother

The debut album by Australian power trio Wolfmother came out this week, and before I say anything more about it, let me get the obvious out of the way first: Wolfmother sounds a lot like Black Sabbath. Wolfmother also has a singer that sounds a lot like Robert Plant (and a little like Jack White). Wolfmother is not a very original band.

OK? Got it? Everything you will read about Wolfmother (if you haven’t read or heard about this much-hyped band before now, you will) will repeat a variation on the previous paragraph over and over again. Wolfmother is so derivative, it seems, that the band inspires music writers to be just as derivative when writing about it.

Anyway, back to the CD. “Wolfmother” is the early front-runner for my album of the summer. I was driving around this week and blasting the choice second cut “White Unicorn” (awesome title), and the fuzzed-out guitar and big, dumb drums sounded even cooler with my nostrils filled with spring air and grill smells. This is arena rock, pure and simple, and if you like the sound of smashing guitars and drumsticks being tossed in the air, it is so for you.

No, Wolfmother is not very original, especially when you consider other recent classic rock revivalists like the Darkness and fellow Aussies Jet. But how original is it to drive around in the sun and blast crunchy rock riffs out your car window? And who cares when you’re having this much fun?