Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney, New South Wales. Their works have earned them one Grammy Award and three ARIA awards.

History

2004-2005

After releasing their self-titled debut EP through Modular Recordings in September 2004, Wolfmother began appearing at several high profile music events, such as Homebake and the Big Day Out. The EP was a success, reaching number thirty-five in the ARIA singles chart and receiving consistent radio play on Triple J.

In 2005, the band made their way to Los Angeles, working alongside producer Dave Sardy (Jet, Oasis) to record their eponymous debut album, released in Australia in October 2005.

The first single to be released was "Mind's Eye"/"Woman" (a double A-side), making its debut on the Australian music charts at number twenty-nine. The album itself entered the Australian Charts at number three and has been a regular feature of the Top 20 ever since, having gone platinum three times. Wolfmother won the 2005 J Award from the Australian youth radio network Triple J for the best Australian album of the year, and finished the year with Falls Festival appearances. Rolling Stone magazine listed Wolfmother as one of their "Top 10 Bands to Watch 2006."

They achieved a record breaking six songs in the influential 2005 Triple J Hottest 100, with "Mind's Eye" their highest entry at number six. This breaks the record of five songs previously held by Powderfinger, Queens of the Stone Age, Silverchair and The White Stripes.

2006

Wolfmother's debut album was released internationally in April, with mostly positive reviews from the US and UK.

during a performance in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.]] Wolfmother have enjoyed considerable success in reaction to the mid-2000s Retro Metal movement, at which they are often considered the chief pioneer. Many of their songs have been featured in the advertising of many products including the Apple iPod, multiple Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 games, the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer, and TV programs and movies such as Jackass Number Two, Dane Cook's Tourgasm, House, the 2006 Australian Football League finals, the Winter X Games.

playing bass during a performance at SXSW 2006.]]The band also made many promotional appearances. They appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Letterman, where Letterman would remark to a sweaty Stockdale in their interview "That was pretty damn cool!"

The band performed in numerous festivals throughout North American and Australia in 2006. Including SXSW, Big Day Out, the Sasquatch! Music Festival, the Roskilde Festival, Splendour in the Grass, the Fuji Rock Festival, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds Festivals, V Festival, the Download Festival, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; where they were commonly cited as the 'breakout' band of the year. But on September 25, bassist Chris Ross's wife had a baby. The baby was one month early and Wolfmother cancelled/postponed their dates in the following month. During this break, Wolfmother released their final single from the self-titled album, "Joker and the Thief", in Australia on October 28, where it reached number eight on the Australian Singles Chart, their highest position to date in Australia. Wolfmother resumed touring on November 4 in the United Kingdom.

On November 14 2006, when legendary hard rock band Led Zeppelin were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, they asked Wolfmother to appear as their guests. The band covered the Led Zeppelin song "Communication Breakdown," a common Wolfmother concert vehicle before and since. Half way through the song, lead vocalist Robert Plant turned to guitarist Jimmy Page and famously remarked "These guys are pretty good!" during a performance at SXSW 2006.]]During an interview in March 2006, Andrew and Myles created a 'Free the Gnomes!' design using the 'consequences' method, where each couldn't see what the other had drawn. The design was contributed to the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the charity, Teenage Cancer Trust.

2007

On the February 13, it was announced on that the band would be playing at the Download Festival in June and the band was given the third headline spot on the first day (Friday June 8) after Velvet Revolver and DragonForce respectively.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Wolfmother won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their song "Woman." Prior to winning, Stockdale had jokingly discussed with reporters his prediction of "no chance" at the awards. They beat bands such as System of a Down, Tool and Nine Inch Nails to win the award.

The band released an exclusive new song titled "Pleased to Meet You" on The Official Soundtrack through the Record Collection label, and was later released as a single in the UK.

during a performance at Summerfest, in Milwaukee, WI on June 28th, 2007.]]On June 28, they headlined at Summerfest, "The World's Largest Music Festival", in Milwaukee, WI. Finishing up their US Tour in Detroit, Michigan to an abundantly enthusiastic crowd on June 30. Andrew Stockdale mentioned during the encore that they wanted to finish up in Detroit since that's where the post production finishing touches for the first album were conducted.

On July 7, they performed on the Australian leg of the Live Earth concerts in Sydney. Andrew Stockdale said in an interview "That will be our last show for this album. We will find out what a green note sounds like on the next record".

Wolfmother released their first concert film on September 10 in Australia (November 20 internationally), titled Please Experience Wolfmother Live. The footage of the main DVD is from their performance at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia. Other live shows, music videos and interviews are included in the bonus features.

As of late November, Wolfmother's debut album has been certified Gold in The United States. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS

Critical response

While the band has gained much success, reception is divided. A Total Guitar review calls Wolfmother's music "ruddy marvellous", and Pitchfork praises them for "how capably they strike a balance between meaty vintage metal and crisp, stoner-rock melodies". Others hold that their music is too derivative of 70's rock; a Stylus Magazine review states "everything there is to say about them is best said by immediate reference to another band and Wolfmother always come up short in the comparison", An allmusic review is more critical, calling their music "precious, inarticulate, [1] confused" when compared to that of their musical influences, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has stated that he is a fan of Wolfmother.http://www.citizeninsane.eu/s2006-08Mojo.htm

Wolfmother has responded to the accusations about the perceived derivative nature of their music, with Ross saying "[2] don't pretend that we're Zeppelin/Black Sabbath...There's similarities in our sound, but we're not trying to emulate them at all.." [3]

Influences

While Wolfmother has been identified as being influenced by '70s rock bands such as Black Sabbath, their official Myspace lists their influences to include mostly '60s groups such as: Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Who, as well as newer acts, including The Avalanches, Radiohead, The White Stripes and stoner metal band Kyuss.http://www.myspace.com/wolfmother

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Videography

• "Mind's Eye" (2006)
• "Dimension" (2006)
• "Woman" (2006)
• "White Unicorn" (2006)
• "Love Train" (2006)
• "Joker and the Thief" (2006)

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations