Wolf Gang - Suego Faults Review
Posted by John Downey on 08.02.2011
He's from England but sounds like he's from New York, so yeah, this one has a bit of hype. Does the album stand on its own merits?
1.) "Lions In Cages"
2.) "Something Unusual"
3.) "Stay And Defend"
4.) "Suego Faults"
5.) "The King And All Of His Men"
6.) "Back To Back"
7.) "Midnight Dancers"
8.) "Dancing With The Devil"
9.) "Where Are You Now"
10.) "Planets"
Wolf Gang's biggest strength, as well as his (yes, this is another one-man band, though he does have a backing band for tours and whatnot) biggest detriment, is that he has a lot of tools at his disposal, and he isn't afraid to use any of them. Max McElligott, the man behind the alias, is the kind of prodigy who could likely make wonderful music with an instrument crafted by an alien race after five minutes of practice, but knowing how to get the most out of an individual sound isn't a pressing priority for him. He uses echoing "ooh ah ooh"s barely a minute into opening track "Lions In Cages"—effective, sure, but most artists know enough to save that cliche for the latter half of an album (or at least the second single).
Layering so many sounds together makes Suego Faults sound like a larger album than it is. Looking through the press material, Suego Faults seems to be "about" a place that McElligott visited in his dreams and is trying to revisit through music. This isn't explored outside of the title track, and even on that track he may as well be talking about meeting a girl at the local pond. McElligott constantly sings about going to a better place, but if you hadn't read up on the album, you could easily misinterpret that as (a) going back to the innocence of your childhood or (b) New York. He's from England, but listen to the above track and tell me that he doesn't sound immersed in the New York music scene.
As much as I complain about his ADD-addled approach to music, though, I have to confess that I actually like Suego Faults. It's derivative nonsense, sure, but it's fun derivative nonsense. "Lions In Cages" frustrates with its overbearing production, but it is full of pop hooks that make it hard to ignore or forget, and the same can be said for most of these songs. "Something Unusual" and "Stay And Defend" are a heck of a one-two punch, sounding similar songs that no one thought to sequence back-to-back. "The King And All Of His Men" will either make you nod your head or tap your foot, "Back To Back" is an affective slow-burner, and I swear that "Midnight Dancers" was the soundtrack for a great coffee commercial fifteen years ago (that's a compliment). "Dancing With The Devil" and "Where Are You Now" don't have much of an identity, but there are still plenty fun.
That leaves just the two ballads of the album, the title track and "Planets". "Planets" tries to rip off "Hey Jude" in so many ways, so it's kind of a blessing that it doesn't go all of the way with that path. "Suego Faults" is flat-out bad—boring, predictable, and a whole lot less precocious than it thinks it is. It's the most minimalist track on the album, but if you're going to go all-out on most of your work, don't bring a lousy piano ballad into the mix.
Ultimately, this album is the equivalent of the Eric Matthews character from Boy Meets World: nowhere as smart as he thinks he is, but undeniably fun and mostly harmless. Whether or not that is appealing is up to you.
The 411: Suego Faults doesn't break the mold, but it barely pretends to anyway. Most of these tunes will be stuck in your head for a long time, with only two true missteps to be found. It isn't brain food, but it still tastes good.
