Sea Wolf

White Water, White Bloom

(Dangerbird)

Record Review by Kevan Peterson

Opening with a surge of instrumentation, “Wicked Blood” launches into a powerful rock song with a full body of sound and catchy, if unintelligible lyrics.  “Dew in the Grass” heavily features a cello, which gives the tune a melancholy vibe that complements front crooner Alex Brown Church’s vocals wonderfully.  The listener soon finds that White Water, White Bloom is one of those albums whose execution is so seamless that the end results seem effortless, as if the music just flowed out of all the musicians and came together naturally.  But when you examine and strip back the layers you’ll find a well-executed if not methodical album.

“Orion & Dog” whittles down to guitar, cello and vocal, a sound producer Mike Mogis is quite comfortable with, having also produced similarly stripped down bands like Bright Eyes and Monsters of Folk. A track later, things liven up with “O Maria!”  The exclamation point in the title doesn’t just symbolize excitement, the guitar goes electric and the sound gets amped up as well.  The title track keeps the album lively with a relatively straightforward rock song, before the mood grows more somber with “The Orchard,” where plucking guitar and sparse keys set the mood to mellow.

Overall, Sea Wolf turns in a solid sophomore release with White Water, White Bloom.  Every note sounds true and the instrumentation fits together like a puzzle viewed from across the room, where every crack, space and intersection become inseparable from the work they create.