Essentially a solo vehicle for Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother have long been most comfortable when occupying the space between Blue Cheer’s late-60s proto-metal and Black Sabbath at their (relatively) uptempo early-70s peak, with Stockdale’s voice even reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne’s before overindulgence wrecked it. At its best, their fourth album shows that even such unashamedly retro stylings can still sound exciting, as on the pounding The Simple Life, even if the lyrics are at times hilariously anachronistic (“He lives with the peasantry/ She lives with the higher class” – who knew 21st-century Australian society was so feudal?). Stockdale is less successful when he tries to introduce a little variety: the mawkish Pretty Peggy might mark a new nadir in the inglorious history of rock balladry, although Best of a Bad Situation does a good approximation of the tumbling momentum of Rod Stewart’s Every Picture Tells a Story. Flawed, but enjoyable.
