The album title is a tip-off that these Australian rockers are still
living in the past. There’s nothing even remotely new-millennium about
Cosmic Egg. From the scuzzy guitar riffs to Andrew Stockdale’s
shrieking howls, Wolfmother’s second album is a devoted regeneration of
the stomping ’70s van-rock of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Songs
like “California Queen” and “New Moon Rising” pile on wobbly wah-wah
and bong-worthy freak-outs. There’s even some Stooges-like sludge this
time. If people got high to it back in the day, chances are pretty good
there’s something that sounds like it on Cosmic Egg. Stockdale
is the anchor here (he replaced the band that backed him on
Wolfmother’s 2006 debut with some new guys), swaying like Robert Plant
one minute, steamrolling like the entire MC5 the next. Far out. —
Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2009.
