Candlebox’s seventh studio album continues the foray into pop-rock that began with 2016’s Disappearing In Airports. Though the Seattle band capitalized on the breakthrough success of grunge music on its early releases, it has always incorporated influences from blues, classic rock, and metal. On Wolves, that early grunge influence is nowhere to be found. In its place is a combination of hard rock & roll and radio-friendly pop-rock.
The pop-rock tracks stand out — in part because they sound so out of place for a band that once specialized in dynamic mosh pit material, and in part because of poor execution. It’s not something the band does well. Songs like “Riptide” and “My Weakness,” with their bland melodies and formulaic structures, could be mistaken for Train songs.
But Wolves still has some gems. The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-influenced “Let Me Down Easy” is grimy blues-rock built on a thudding baseline, sleazy slide guitar, and head-banging chorus. Co-written by Peter Cornell, Chris’s brother, the song tells the story of a man unable to keep his indiscretions hidden. “Can’t find the missing pages from my life,” Kevin Martin belts over the wall of crunching guitar noise.
Martin’s vocals are subdued on most of the album, settling into a soft croon while occasionally breaking out his distinctive powerful scream. On the self-aware “All Down Hill From Here,” co-written by Blind Melon guitarist Christopher Thorn, Martin sings of being an aging rocker past the prime of his career. “Spent half of my life in a rock and roll band, half the time alive, most the time dead,” Martin sings over Island Styles’ thudding guitar riff. “I made it to the peak, babe, but it’s all downhill from here now.”
Those heavier songs show Candlebox at its best. The gritty “Nothing Left To Lose” is the rawest track on the album, featuring a propulsive riff and Martin’s grainy rasp. The verses of “Don’t Count Me Out” steadily build in intensity like a Shepard tone, seeming to come closer to an explosion with each beat.
Other songs effectively blend the heavy Candlebox with the more melodic pop styles. In the mid-tempo pop-rock of “Sunshine,” guitarist Brian Quinn’s discordant harmonics and string bends add a layer of tension to Styles’ tremolo-drenched main riff. Funky wah pedal mixes with an infectious rock riff in the mild rocker “We.”
Candlebox reached its commercial peak with its 1993 eponymous debut and its artistic peak with 1998’s Happy Pills. And though the journey has been downhill from there, Candlebox still has some good rock music to share.
