Wolf People

-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER-

Drawing their name from the Margaret Greaves children’s book Little Jacko and the Wolf People, Wolf People are a psychedelic quartet formed in 2005 in Bedfordshire. Tonight, they play Deaf Institute in Manchester.

As the disco ball dangling above the crowd shoots amber and violet hues across the room, four unassuming thirty somethings slowly waltz on stage, all looking like bullied supply teachers who met in a school staff room. As the rest of the band slowly get settled, Wolf People’s frontman Jack Sharp approaches the mic and after a brief line of feedback cuts through the small murmurs and quiet conversations of those around the venue, the band rip into their set.

Constantly changing and morphing, their songs accelerate at lightning speeds, propelling energy levels in the room to that of two lines of speed in the cockpit of a concord. But within a moment’s notice, it all comes crashing back down, going from headbanging, pounding battle cries of bluesy bass driven fuzz rock to fragile, carefully-crafted ballads and back. This constant fluctuation keeps the crowd on edge, with all members of the crowd in constant awe of the hazy prog-infused psych rock spilling off the stage. After a few songs, the band welcome Swedish progressive rock veteran Reine Fiske to the stage and every song now becomes a platform for the band to constantly jam and morph, with all three guitarists on stage continuously and seamlessly swapping lead and rhythm roles.

In the digital age of music, an age where anyone can create and release music for a seemingly small fee, prolificness seems to be the order of the day. Acts like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Mac DeMarco seem to be stuck in an endless cycle of touring and recording, however it seems this fascination with prolificness seems to be lost on Wolf People, having only released 4 album since their formation in 2005. This has not taken anything from their music, with every song sounding straight from the side stages of Woodstock 69. Although Wolf People have not brought anything particularly new to the table, their almost bipolar take on psychedelia, laced with bombastic Sabbath-esque riffs, long drawn out jam sessions during songs and soft delicate folk interludes are best experienced live.

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