Album Review: Wolves In Argyle – Dangereux

Wolves In Argyle
Dangereux
Incineration Ceremony Recordings
★★★

Oakland based Wolves In Argyle look to the estrangement of California garage rock prowess on their debut Dangereux. With an aroma of desert rock, garage mold and spilt beer, the band concocts a witches brew of leather-clad weirdo culture and acid green aesthetics to formulate a novel three-chord adventure.

With “Beautiful Losers” the raw power is motivated by punk adrenaline with its Mary Shelley philosophy. Dave Holmes borrows from Andy Cairns self-inflicting ideology as he sings, “Look at me, I’m not your destiny.” In turn, Holmes was at a place in his life where he became a stranger to himself. Is society the monster or is the internal perspective the monster? That’s where Wolves in Argyle’s work lies.

Wolves In Argyle – Dangereux

Tribalism goes hand in hand with this punk ritual and “Letters Never Sent” does not disappoint. A brooding instrumental intro of chest pounding, it revs up with Gits drummer Steve Moriarty being a blaster master with the power drum roll, all launching into a full-blown punk attack. When you have Joe “Fucko” Garcia (Naked Aggression) and guitarist Josh Phillips (White Trash Debutantes), in the roster, you can expect frenzy.

“Next To You” is a slow down in comparison, putting on their best Urge Overkill without the Chicago finesse. It’s a song that is not out of place but it does not exactly match up. Especially when you have the So-Cal punk pop vibe without the polish. It’s that gruffness that makes this debut shine.

What a better way to end this album with the aggro-punk of “Wasteless.” This is the level these guys need to be playing on all the time. It’s a rush to have this song blasting in your face. Keep this intensity and Wolves in Argyle will be leveling up by next album.