I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from The Francis Wolves’ self-titled debut album when it landed in my inbox. The press release calls the eight-piece from Brisbane an “instrumental garage-afro-soul” band. Other descriptors like stoner funk, psych-jazz, garage soul, and desert funk have also been bandied about. Any of these adjectives works, but it also seems to limit exactly what The Francis Wolves do. In truth they’re all of these things and so much more.
As I let the first track and current single “Gothic Surf Club” wash over me I was reminded of old school Santana. There’s a similar freedom to what The Francis Wolves do, a melding of influences that is so joyous and spirited. As I listened further I was reminded of the movie Whiplash, and the music Miles Teller’s Andrew Neiman might have made if Terence Fletcher wasn’t hovering over him. There’s a similar accomplishment in the musicians here. They’re so very good, and it’s only because they’re so good that they can create music that seems improvised without sounding discordant. There’s an instinctual knowledge of each player’s own musicality and that of the musicians surrounding them that brings everything together so beautifully. It’s like the very best of jams.
The Francis Wolves are a bold band, an exciting outfit playing which genres in the way only musicians that know their stuff can. Those willing to take a chance on this kind of music will be richly rewarded.
The Francis Wolves’ self-titled album is released through Valley Heat Records on April 11. You can pre-order it now through the Valley Heat Records Bandcamp page, which is also where you can buy the album once its released. The Francis Wolves will celebrate the album’s release with a show at The Bearded Lady in Brisbane on April 8, where fans can buy the album early, and another at NightQuarter on the Gold Coast on April 16.