Rocktrospectiva: The Favourable "Expo 86" Turns 15

Released on 29 June 2010 "Expo 86" was the third album by the Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade. The album spawned the video single "Yulia". 

Considered not nearly as good of a Wolf Parade previous albums. Expo 86 is further evidence of the deterioration of the distinct Wolf Parade sound. Althought for several fans and listeners, the album were quite good, remarkable tracks such as "What Did My Lover Say?"€ and "In the Direction of The Moon"€, though good, it features Krug’s signature emotionless, deadpan delivery to a simple beat, other intense and tasty tracks were "Little Golden Age" that had on the the guitar riff reminiscent of Television’s ‘€œMarque Moon’€, Ghost Pressure, Cave-o-sapien, Pobody’s Nerfect, and of course the intense and dramatic "Yulia".

Expo 86 is certainly not a bad album, still provided moments of interest and listenability, maybe because where some of these songs fall flat is in the edits, where the sound works on this album is when they both play their strengths. Krug was an incredibly talented lyricist and clearly likes to play with song structure – on the other hand Boeckner founds here as a skilled editor, not necessarily innovative in song structure but talented at consistently creating solid music some good favorite songs on this album feature his lyrics: ‘€œPobody’s Nerfect’€ and ‘€œLittle Golden Age.’€

"€œLittle Golden Age"€ had ear-catching lyrics and also boast a clear, unwaving sound. Other goodies on this album include: "€œCave-o-Sapien"€ and the supremely awesome "Ghost Pressure."

The album had considerable and favourable critics evoking that the densely layered sonic landscapes of Wolf Parade albums past ― Expo 86 marked an evolution in sound, but not a change. It's Spencer Krug's manic-pop circus meeting Dan Boeckner's twitchy Springsteen revivalism in one sprawling album that's simultaneously more disjointed and more confident than ever."

 

Expo 86 Track List:

 

1. Cloud Shadow On The Mountain

2. Palm Road

3. What Did My lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)

4. Little Golden Age

5. In The Direction Of The Moon

6. Ghost Pressure

7. Pobody's Perfect

8. Two Men In New Tuxedos

9. Oh You, Old Thing

10. Yulia

11. Cave-o-Sapien