Battle of the Bands 10.06.09: Foo Fighters vs. Wolfmother

Posted by Adam Battagello on 10.06.2009

With the imminent release of Foo Fighters' greatest hits, and the return of a new look Wolfmother to rock, who will pull out the win in today's face-off?

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, that time of the week has rolled around once again, the time when we do away with civilities and niceties in search of one simple answer. Who is better? It's Battle of the Bands.


Before the Blow


Some information that struck me as most interesting this week (essentially because I have a vested interest in it) was the release of bands that shall be playing the 2010 Australian Big Day Out festival. Now for those of you not from down under, or who are unaware of the Big Day Out, what we're talking about is a traveling festival, headlined by both local and major international bands. This year some of the big names include Muse, The Mars Volta and Lily Allen to name a few.

Yours truly shall be waiting in the cyber cue for tickets later this week, and if you happen to be in the land of Oz next January, be sure to check it out. Quality stuff, a guarantee from me to you. But enough of that.


IT'S TIME FOR THE FACE-OFF



This Week:
Foo Fighters- Wheels vs. Wolfmother- New Moon Rising




Well the group in the first corner this week certainly needs no introduction, but being a gentlemen I shall give them one anyway. Since starting as a one man project for Dave Grohl in 1995 following the demise of Nirvana, the Foo Fighters have gone on to become nothing short of an institution in modern Rock music. Millions of albums sold, plenty of Grammys for the shelf above the fire-place, and enough clout to fill an arena in just about any corner of the globe. When it comes to modern bands, few come bigger than Grohl and Co.

And in the other corner we have Australian act Wolfmother. The group hit it big in 2007 with their throwback to Zeppelin-esk hard rock, picking up a Grammy for their single ‘Woman' before doing what many in the industry would refer to as ‘dropping completely off the damn map'. If you'll notice I only included a picture of lead singer Andrew Stockdale as, part of the reason for Wolfmother's recent disappearance being that the rest of the band members essentially took their ball and went home. But now Stockdale has returned, backed by a new group and ready to take over rock once again. But can the group's latest single ‘New Moon Rising' possibly hope to stand up against the institution that is the Foo Fighters? Let's find out shall we?

Foo Fighters- Wheels



I must admit, I've been quite a fan of Dave, Taylor, Shifty and Nate for some time now, and with the news that the group had planned a Greatest Hits release for this year, I hoped I'd find myself in a position to review any potential new singles that would come along with the compilation, and so here I find myself.

Contrary to what many detractors might say, Foo Fighters are, in my eyes, like a fine wine, with age they continue to get better. Many hark on that the sounds of the groups' last two albums ‘In Your Honor' and ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace' are simply too far from the original product, but unlike these people, I actually enjoy seeing some progression in the bands that I listen to. If I had to listen to a group releasing the same sound over and over again, God only knows what would happen.

For those aforementioned listeners who feel the group has been moving in the wrong direction, their latest single ‘Wheels' is probably not for you. Rather than recalling the earlier work of the band, ‘Wheels' is instead a continuation of the uplifting rock sound explored on the last Foo Fighters album ‘Echoes…'.

For those who have heard this last album, an appropriate comparison in my mind is the song ‘Statues'. While ‘Wheels' is much louder and not necessarily as strong as this aforementioned track, the same inspirational feeling runs throughout both songs. If the Foo Fighters continue to push down this road, I certainly wont be the one to complain.

The aspect that impressed me the most about ‘Wheels' and something that I have found impressive about the Foo Fighters as of late, is the ability of drummer Taylor Hawkins on backup vocals. Hawkins' effort at lead in the song ‘Cold Day in the Sun' instantly had me hooked, and in the chorus for ‘Wheels' the man once again displays just have valuable he has become to a group that, not to long ago, was just simply the Dave Grohl show.

If there's one thing that does bother me about the track, it is an area in which the Foo Fighters rarely fail to impress, the guitar work. Past tracks have shown how good Grohl and lead guitarist Chris ‘Shifty' Shiflett can be when they are on the ball, and, compared to the memorable guitar that is sure to feature on the other tracks included on the upcoming Greatest Hits, I can't help but feel that ‘Wheels' will get lost in the shuffle. In summation, very strong as a single, but probably not the best the group could have offered.

Moving On!

Wolfmother- New Moon Rising


With the essential collapse of the old Wolfmother last year, one could not be blamed for thinking that this was simply another in a long line of bands that had burned out all to quickly from the pressures of massive international success. Now, under pressure from a barrage of critics, lead singer and guitarist Andrew Stockdale pulls together a rag tag group of musicians to return to the top of the music world. I…think I just wrote the next Disney movie…

As you could expect, rather than trying to push for new ground, Wolfmother's newest track ‘New Moon Rising' is very much the sound of a group trying to re-establish themselves in the genre of Hard Rock. You can't really blame them for this, lead singer Stockdale witnessed the implosion of his original line up under the strain of success, and is now understandably taking a slower route back to success through familiar means instead of pushing musical boundaries.

That being said, in an age where Hip Hop music reigns supreme, ‘New Moon Rising' is a refreshing change of pace, and one hell of a psychedelic fuelled piece to rock out to. Wolfmother are never short on excellent guitar riffs, and they bring out the big guns here. The only other band that this sort of rock really compares to in the modern day, and one which this newest track has seen many comparisons to, is the Queens of the Stone Age. When you're being compared to one of the coolest bands in the modern rock scene, you're obviously doing something right.

One issue that I've had with Wolfmother for as long as I can remember, and one that extends to this latest track is that, while cool to bang heads to, the song doesn't say anything particularly insightful in terms of lyrics. You can see a faint hint of Stockdale's desire to comment on his path back to rock in the lyrics "Small town boy now…gotta find his way now," but other than that, the message gets lost in an ocean of seemingly pointless words.

In an attempt to search for meaning in the lyrics themselves, Stockdale's explanation simply made me even more confused, "When I'd drive home, like at the end of the night, I'd see all these like native animals that I'd never seen in my entire life. Like, I was driving along and in the middle of the road was this four-foot-high koala. And I've never seen a koala! Another night I saw an animal with spikes all over it…I saw a lot of, like, wildlife that people even in that town said they'd never seen their whole life." While this explanation is about the coolest and most quirky thing I have ever heard, koalas on steroids do not make an inspired lyric.


There Can Only Be One!

This week, our winner shall be Foo Fighters. Like when I reviewed Pearl Jam some time back, the Foo Fighters have really been in this business too long to ever make a major slip up, and for the most part ‘Wheels' is a strong continuation of style for the band. I feel that, while Wolfmother are still trying to find their feet again, we will see them eventually reach they top when they do feel comfortable, and I wholly expect them to give groups such as Foo Fighters a run for their money in the foreseeable future.

What do you think?

Well, that's all from me for now, until next week, happy battling.