Wolf Mail – The Wolf Is At Our Door
Kobalt Music Group
9 songs time – 36:51
Canadian singer-guitarist Wolf Mail treads mainly in blues-rock territory. His guitar playing ranges from noisy to eloquent. The bad news is, to put it nicely, that his “voice” is in tatters. It is gruff but weak. The lyric content is mainly typical blues macho posturing. His band is bass, drums and piano along with a few guest spots. They provide a solid foundation for the eight originals and one cover song.
“Bad As Blues” finds him singing in a seemingly altered and distorted voice. He unleashes some wicked slide guitar. You can hear snatches of what sounds like riffs borrowed from The Allman Brothers version of “Done Somebody Wrong”. The band gets funky on “Just In Time”. An infectious guitar line runs through “Don’t Fall Down”, a song about positivity. The pace is brought down on “When I’m Gone”, a blues-rock ballad.
Two instrumentals are included, the first being the upbeat and bluesy “Loner”. The closing one is “Albert’s Theme”, that features a great guitar tone and melody. Both are perfect showcases for Wolf’s guitar prowess.
The title song is heavy handed with plenty of slithering slide. That is intended as a compliment. “Arleen” is a through back to fifties kick-ass rock and roll as Mike Lattrell pounds the living daylights out of the “88s” alongside Wolf’s guitar energy. The sole cover song is the poignant “Like A Road” from the hands of Dan Penn and Don Mix. The Hendrix influenced guitar has the listener floating through the clouds.
His rough voice kind of grows on you after a while and at times it fits the mood of the song and his guitar playing aptitude helps the situation. Heavier music with the occasional slower interlude will appeal to many and the guitaring is of unquestionable quality. Blues-rock fans will have a field day with this release.