‘Pop’ is short for ‘popular music,’ often because it’s comforting in its predictability. Certain chord changes just sound right, and are easily digested by folks with myriad different levels of music consumption. How then do you explain the success of Montreal-via-Vancouver’s Wolf Parade, a band making music that’s structurally ‘pop‘ but consistently dares to throw aural curveballs? They put out a sophomore LP like At Mount Zoomer (June 17th, Sub Pop), for one. Spencer Krug’s soaring synthesizer tones lead Wolf Parade’s meander away from the conventions of indiehood that have fenced in so many talented bands before them, but never before has his demented pop genius been so accessible. From the subversive synth intro to leadoff track “Soldier’s Grin” to the bouncy pop of “The Grey Estates” and the dark, driving symphonics of “Call It A Ritual,” it’s obvious that Krug and co-songwriter Dan Boeckner write the kind of melodies that enter your brain like an overcaffeinated pile driver and stick there like sweet wild honey. Resistance is clearly futile.

The band’s last effort, 2005’s vibrant and challenging Apologies to the Queen Mary, was a power piano-based exploration of 70’s pop rocks and Pixies-ish loud-soft dynamics - thrilling to music critics but virtually without hope of mainstream appeal. At Mount Zoomer neatly collects the gorgeous pop hook splinters and crafty chards of rock sensibility that Apologies left in its wake, packaging the whole thing in a fat, hanging curveball. You know, the kind that’s easy to hit out of the park.

MP3: Wolf Parade - Call It A Ritual

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