Wolf Parade

Wolf Parade’s greatest asset is the ability to appear on the verge of falling apart while marching ahead with lock-step precision. The Canadian indie-rock outfit’s third album, Expo 86, begins in the middle of a pounding drum lick that’s quickly joined by Spencer Krug’s quivering vocal, a zig-zagging guitar, a bloopy synth doodle, and a pulverizing bass line. Things only grow ramshackle throughout “Cloud Shadow On The Mountain,” but not at the expense of the opening track’s twitchingly brisk forward velocity, which sets the tone for the remainder of Expo 86. Live, that combustibility goes positively nuclear, and the newly released, non-album single “Semi Precious Stone” throws more shuddering kindling on the fire.

Updated 11/03/2010