Due to all the side projects that Dan Boeckner (Handsome Furs) and Spencer Krug (two Sunset Rubdown albums and one with Swan Lake) have been involved in lately, it feels like its been eons since Wolf Parade released their heralded debut Apoligies To The Queen Mary. Believe it or not, it's only been a short three years. At Mount Zoomer is their highly anticipated follow-up and thankfully it doesn't disappoint. If anything, all the side projects have made them more refined and polished musicians.

Recorded at Arcade Fire's church studio, At Mount Zoomer certainly does feel a lot more advanced than Queen Mary. Boeckner and Krug have both grown as front men and here they each shine on their four respective tracks - then both share the wealth on the album finale, the epic near 11-minute opus "Kissing the Beehive." Speaking of beehives, At Mount Zoomer also finds Boeckner and Krug intentionally sweetening their mass appeal. "Fine Young Cannibals" seems destined to be that radio crossover hit that a band like Spoon has always been searching for and it wouldn't surprise me if "The Grey Estates" ended up being the track that turns Wolf Parade into the next salivated-over "it" band that Vampire Weekend have become. I wouldn't be shocked if Wolf Parade went on another little extended hiatus after this to work on all the other projects they're passionately involved in but if they keep coming back with albums like At Mount Zoomer then I have no problem with anxiously waiting again.