The law of the internet pretty much says that tall poppies are fair game, and sons of famous fathers are always in the cross-hairs simple because of their parentage. Some of course will be waiting for Van Halen similarities just to shoot it all down, but to be honest Wolfie treads his own path here just like he did on that wonderful debut, and again he handles all instruments.
If I’m totally honest I rather like it, even though the polished early Century Hard Rock sheen isn’t bang on my usual cup of tea. There’s some wonderful musicianship here like on ‘Right’ which burst out of the speakers; and some absolutely lovely riffs! But at other times I’m not too sure about the Rush meets Big Country vibe of tracks like ‘Like a Pastime’. It’s those Prog-lite leanings that I can see a lot of people connecting with, but for this listener its exactly that aspect that puts me off a little. Conversely the single ‘Another Celebration At The End Of The World’ is just damn good fun with some sublime guitar.
There’s a little more free reign you feel than on the debut, and we trek some interesting paths. On the safer side of the street there are two main variations – for every relatively straight forward hard rocker like ‘Miles Above Me’ with it’s wonderful breakdown, there’s the ones that you feel are simply airplay targeted like ‘Take A Bow’ piled heavy with harmonies and hooks. Not that there is anything remotely wrong with either of those of course. “Take a Bow’ is, after all, a rather tasty mid-tempo number replete with some of my favourite guitar on the record.
For me though, the more intriguing side of the ledger is on tracks like ‘Optimist’ that feel like they have grown organically rather than being tethered to a template (no matter how good that template may be). Indeed ‘Optimist’ treks down an extremely interesting alternate route – it’s chunkier, heavier and is the highlight of the album for me. It definitely sounds like something I’d love to hear more of.
Deep into the record it’s tracks like ‘I’m Alright’ with it’s refreshingly simple approach that connect instantly even if the Prog-lite harmonies do get a little repetitive with repeated listens. ‘Erase Me’, another aimed at radio, is also more than adequate and rather essential if you hanker after that early 2000’s feel.
We close strongly too with the ballad ‘Waiting’ doing a great job of pulling off an angst-riddled modern Rock ballad before the other real highlight ‘Better Than You’ closes out in the sort of style that you can only dream of. It too has that modern progressive signature but rather than sound even remotely pretentious is just shines. That one I could play all day and not get tired of it.
A great modern Rock album that packs a lot into its ten tracks. Do I like it more than the debut? You know what – I think I just might do!
8 / 10
Mammoth II tracklisting: 1. Right | 2. Like A Pastime | 3. Another Celebration At The End Of The World | 4. Miles Above Me | 5. Take A Bow | 6. Optimist | 7. I’m Alright | 8. Erase Me | 9. Waiting | 10. Better Than You
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