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Wolf and Cub.
 "When
I was growing up I didn't want to be the leader," says Joel
Byrne, guitarist and singer in possibly the most talked about
alternative rock band to come out of Adelaide since the turn
of the millennium. Though the softly spoken Byrne does not outright
specify that Wolf and Cub is his baby, it is evident that the
energetic quartet is helmed by his steady hand. Light-heartedly
confessing a tendency for sometimes-megalomaniac behaviour,
it's ironic he shares a surname with Talking Heads guru David
Byrne. We chat affably on the back of Wolf and Cub's debut 5-song
EP, released this month via Remote Control subsidiary Dot Dash
(New Buffalo, Deloris, Nightstick).
2003 has been a big year for the boys, each of them in their early 20s. Byrne, bassist Tom Mayhew and drummers/percussionists Joel Carey and Adam Edwards have supported internationals The Von Bondies, Death From Above 1979, Hawnay Troof, The Coolies and Die! Die! Die! as well as gone back and forth to Melbourne a handful of times, playing to giant audiences and wowing them with their sprawling beat-heavy rock music. The group is at the front and centre of an influx of exciting new Adelaide talent. For all the shows Wolf and Cub has played, Byrne admits feeling a constant pressure to perform solidly, and maintain his band's position as an electrifying live unit. "Yeah it's always nerve wracking. We try not to really think about it, but there's lots of talk. We hear it as well. It's hard for that not to be in your mind when you're playing." Any jitters are almost immediately quashed when Mayhew's bass surges Neu!-like while twin drummers Carey and Edwards carve a bestial stomp and Byrne's guitar multiplies, laden in effects, cutting the air like a sword.
Recorded by Matt Hills in April, the band's self-titled EP is a document of the earlier part of their existence. Byrne is quick to clarify that the EP is not entirely representative of their live sound, nor the more progressive experimental territory the band intends to map in its near future. "For us to be happy six months later and be comfortable with what that represents, I don't think that's what we're all about. We probably want to be a little bit more progressive. For what it was and when we did it, we were happy with it. It has got us where we are now in terms of the label and interest. But I don't think creatively it's where we are any more."
The band's strong emphasis on beat is fuelled by its employment of two drum kits, congas, shakers, tambourines and ever-present cyclic bass lines. "He [Mayhew] makes it easier for me to freakout, which is good and comforting to me." Carey and Edwards are very different drummers yet both of their respective sounds are integral to the chugging pulse. "They just want to compete with each other - in a good way," Byrne explains. His guitar playing and singing is itself percussive; for every riff there is a rhythmic noise passage, his processed vocals often indecipherable, bursting from his mouth like cries from an animal.
The band will visit Sydney for the first time later this month and will also play at prime time on the Friday night of the annual Meredith Music Festival. Like so many musicians, Byrne wants to play full-time, though he recognises it's a dream that not many Australians realise. "We just wanna play. If selling lots of records and being out of the underground, if that means playing every day and living comfortably, then cool, yeah definitely! I'll do it. No worries," he trails off jokingly. With a full-length record a little way off yet, it's best to catch Wolf and Cub live. It might very well be the soundtrack to your summer. Try as you may, you won't be able to stop your body from moving.
Lenin Simos
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Wolf & Cub's self-titled EP is out now through Dot Dash/Inertia, and they play at the Rock & Bowl on Sat 20 Nov at Woodville Bowl with The Cops. Wolf & Cub also play at the Meredith Music Festival - tickets are available at dB Magazine.
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