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Wolf & Cub.
 As soon as I pick up the phone to hear the voice of the quietly spoken Wolf & Cub frontman Joel Byrne on the other end, it strikes me that the thoughts swirling through Byrne's head are the much like his music: chaotic and a kind-of random, yet extraordinarily well-organised. He speaks quickly and quietly, then stops all of a sudden, searching for the exact right word, then continues on his train of thought. Byrne is insightful, thoughtful, and has a very professional outlook on his work.
As a band, Wolf & Cub are appealing on a few levels. Firstly, they are local. Secondly, they are bloody brilliant. Thirdly, their brilliance is enveloped in the fact they seem to have come up with a sound that is different to the current trend of music (mainstream or alternative): it's weird, it's all over the shop, and it seems like a live jam session when you watch them play, but watching closely, you notice drummers Joel Carey and Adam Edwards watching Byrne closely for the next move. It's a sound and a vibe that has instant appeal - and infamous UK label 4AD felt strongly enough about the band that they signed the band to a worldwide licensing agreement. In celebration of the label's 25th anniversary, a bunch of their bands were invited to play over 10 days of shows in London; among them The Breeders, whom Wolf and Cub played alongside at Blackheath Halls.
"That was pretty crazy, 'cause that was the first show we played in the UK," Byrne says. "It would have been better to play a small club show; it would have been more appropriate for us. We probably needed to play a show that was a bit more grounding for us. But still, it was great! The venue was a bit interesting, because it was a venue that doesn't usually cater for rock sort of shows," Byrne explains. "I think it might be usually used for strings, like a ballet kind of..."
An orchestra?
"Yeah, something like that. So they had noise restrictions and stuff like that," he continues. "It was pretty far out [of London], actually... It was a really weird venue. It looked like Thebarton [Theatre] inside, but it just didn't cater for those sorts of shows, and they had restrictions about alcohol down in the dressing rooms, you couldn't smoke, even the staff. It looked like a school assembly type of venue."
On meeting The Breeders, Byrne explains they only saw the legendary band in passing. "Kim and Kelley [Deal, Breeders singer/songwriters] are recovering alcoholics and it's difficult for people in our band to socialise without drinking, so we were already on unlevel footing," Byrne says. "You can't be anywhere near Kim with alcohol, there's strict guidelines.
"This gig was just odd; great experience, you know, but it didn't really set any precedent for the whole tour - not that it was much of a tour."
While Byrne might be speaking in terms of geographical coverage, word on the street is the boys have caused just a bit of a stir in Britain. Byrne sounds just a little surprised when he hears this news.
"Really? Shit! See, stuff like that, we don't hear," he explains. "I was a little bit down about it, 'cause I was hoping for some more attention -I'm talking about [attention] from agents and stuff like that, I was hoping to get some stuff like that. I should speak to our manager, he should be telling us stuff like that, making us feel good! The direct response we got was good, but we played one show and it was like, literally four people: we were playing at eight o'clock at night, no-one turned up. But that's alright - that's what we expected."
After playing a few dates in the UK, Wolf and Cub returned to Australia, stopping to play the most packed set at the Hopetoun Stage at Homebake on their way to Adelaide. "It was good," he says simply. "It was just good being a band and being able to play there. I mean, it's one thing to go as a punter, but to go as one of the bands that's playing, it's just a whole new experience. It's comforting, because you get to retreat backstage. Just to be there; it's good."
Ann Marie Sosnowski
 | Wolf & Cub play at the Big Day Out at the Wayville Showgrounds on Fri 3 Feb. |
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