Is it twee?
With a name like “Sea Wolf,” the band has got to either be that or heavy metal, right? And with an album title like, “Leaves In The River,” you’d be right to guess against metal. But we’ll get to the answer to our question later. For now, answer this one: Do you remember Sea Wolf? I reviewed their EP here, then picked it as one of the best EPs of the midyear. You may recall that Sea Wolf is essentially Alex Brown, a singer/songwriter whose brilliance is untainted by his youth. So, his band did the short version. Can they pull off a proper album?
Yes.
“Leaves in the River” is excellent. There’s enough variety here to keep the listener’s ears fixed on every note, never knowing for sure what will happen next. Will it be the low menace of “Don’t You Love Me Anymore?” Will it be the gentle, pensive title track? This is an album to lose yourself in. Records don’t get a whole lot better than this nowadays.
And as for the question, yeah, it’s twee. You got a problem with that?
