Andrew W.K.’s music has always gotten a rap as stupid music for stupid people (usually ones who are severely inebriated). However, the album that put him on the map, I Get Wet, manages to come off like caveman brilliance. It’s “dumb” in a very intelligently calculated way, and has a blissful non-stop energy fueled by some great primal rock instrumentals. On the other hand, his follow-up, 2003′s The Wolf, is essentially the embodiment of all the things that drew the initial criticism.
One problem is there seems to be nothing new for Andrew W.K. to write about. While it’s kitsch to have an album about partying hard, the sentiment wares the second time around. The Wolf is just retreads of better party songs and generic underdog anthems. It quite frankly sounds like the discarded b-sides from the I Get Wet recording session.
The first track “Long Live The Party” starts with building instrumentals that are a clear attempt at “epicness” only to descend into growling vocals which proclaim, “We’re gonna have a party, can’t kill the party,” and nothing else. It’s followed by misplaced electro screams on “Tear It Up.” The album never really recovers after these two duds to begin with.
Much of this has to fall on The Wolf‘s energy. Maybe it’s the increased focus on the piano parts, but it is not even in the same stratosphere as the energy one expects from Andrew W.K. The album just less tuned in than his previous work, like the band wasn’t on the same page when coming up with the musical arrangements.
When the album rolls around to “Make Sex,” it is clear nothing is going right. At least the song practices fair advertising, because if you read the title then you understand all you need to about the song itself. If “Party Hard” was caveman brilliance, then this track is a caveman after suffering blunt force trauma to the cranium. Appropriately, it’s followed up by “Totally Stupid” which is a summation of the album as a whole.
I Get Wet walked the tightrope between the pools of stupidity and brilliance. The Wolf takes a nose dive into stupidity and is left doing the dead man’s float.
Review Score: 1.0
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