In that way that sometimes things find you, this one came right to me. I quite literally woke up one day and there it was. A friend, long moved away to the far coast, that I hadn’t heard from in some time, texts me a link to this album, just right out of the blue. At 7am, comically, time zones. “Hi! Currently have this one on repeat” it says. We agree strongly on Haim, among other things, so I clicked the link immediately. Well. Now two of us have it on repeat. Soon perhaps as many as three people I know will have this on repeat. It’s a better world if more of us have Wolf Alice on repeat.

I should clarify, after name dropping Haim, this is not like Haim. I mean, How Can I Make It Ok does have some Haim-y vibes, but no. No, the vibe count on this album is basically the track count, next track comes around and the sonic and genre similarities between what you just finished listening to and what you’re about to listen to may not even be in the same county. That kind of thing can be a mess sometimes, disjointed and meandering, but not this time. I think Wolf Alice is…well, I think they’re just that good. Expansive dream pop, dancing shadows of Goldfrapp, harmony-laden chamber acoustic, goth punk, 80s-esque synth pop, it’s a journey. A super, super rad journey.

Correctly a four piece as rock n roll intended, Ellie Rowsell carries lead vocals, along with guitar and sundry other things, and you’ll be five, maybe ten, seconds into hearing her sing when you understand how and why I’m hooked, not that any one song tells you the whole story. The talk-sing, semi-operatic, grrl power, folk-y, just gets after it vocally in whatever way seems best to her and I support her contining to do all the things cause they’re all great things. Joff Oddie shreds the other guitar, also among other duties, with Theo Ellis and Joel Amey rhythming up the bass and drums respectively, and it’s just all tight as hell.

Stream the album, buy the album, whatever the kids do these days. Buy the vinyl. Hang it on your wall and light a candle, it’s a shrine now. Thank Wolf Alice every day for their bounty. Light another candle, ask Wolf Alice for more albums. Not, like, right now, they just made this one, but later. Like, a year. A year from now you light the second candle and together we begin our vigil for the next Wolf Alice album. It’s a church now, our god tours, it’s a real win. Our hymns slap, no arguing with that.

Now, before you click play here, I need to clear something up. I am not, in fact, a “bad man”. In any sense. Positive, negative, I’m just some guy. I’m no prince or anything, but “bad man”, no, there must be a misunderstanding. In all honesty the “Adam” mentioned in Delicious Things railing blow and producing a movie may not be me. I don’t have a house in LA or any producer credits I can recall, but still. Just in case there’s any confusion, if you’re in my house I will not be stingy with the drugs (there won’t be any drugs, where do you even buy cocaine, is there like dark web Door Dash for real drugs, I don’t even own any bitcoin) and I would never use my extensive connections (there are no connections) as a producer (of, like, internet words? I don’t produce much else, I don’t even produce that many of those) to lure anyone into my boudoir (realistically, if that worked, I feel like I’d know by now, not that I have any better ideas), though I do identify with song Adam in that I do like the fact that she plays music in a band, so, you know. That kernel of reality; the relatable moment, if you will.