“Plays like a highlight reel of what they do best: brooding guitar riffs, agile rhythm section, palpable mood swings and effects-shrouded vocals from leader Joel Byrne.” – NME, ★★★★
“A mighty return to form.” – Rolling Stone
“A solid, pulsing slice of noisy rock that makes us feel like they’d never left.”– Double J
“The bearded boys are back, sounding darker and heavier than ever”– Grass FIres
Today, Wolf & Cub release their fourth album NIL via Part Time Records / Remote Control.
Featuring the dark and abrasive first single ‘Blue State’ & searing second single ‘Close to the Edge’, NIL is Wolf & Cub‘s first long-form release since 2013’s Heavy Weight. Where Heavy Weight hinted at the band’s ability to traverse tougher terrain, NIL sees the band gravitate away from previous psych-rock offerings in favour of a masterful and revelatory heaviness.
Produced by the band and released on bandleader Joel Byrne’s own label Part Time Records, NIL was recorded in Sydney at a variety of locations across a protracted timeframe. The album is crushing in its intensity as Wolf & Cub embrace the freedom that comes with starting again and the confidence that comes from experience. “My measurement for Wolf & Cub’s success in my late-thirties is significantly different from what it was at the beginning of our career,” says Byrne. “There’s no burden of expectation here.”
Byrne makes it clear that Wolf & Cub in 2020 is entirely comfortable with their place in the musical landscape: “I think we all saw Heavy Weight as something that had more commercial potential than anything we’d done. When it didn’t live up to those expectations it kind of derailed us. NIL is the result of us going against every instinct that was behind Heavy Weight. It’s liberating: this time it feels like we’re only answering to each other.”
Wolf & Cub – NIL1. Blue State
2. Level
3. Close to the Edge
4. Witch Trials
5. Nil Desperandum
6. Losing Touch
7. Desperate
8. Light of The Morning
9. Undone
10. Bleed Generation
Wolf & Cub – NIL is out now via Part Time Records / Remote Control