The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law
Critic Score
Based on 27 reviews
2013 Ratings: #653 / 1115
User Score
Based on 53 ratings
2013 Rank: #356
Liked by 3 people
January 21, 2013 / Release Date
LP / Format
- / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

91
A.V. Club

The songs on this album are echoing, but not distant; they connect on a personal level, and then pull the listener along in a mighty heave.

80
DIY

A record of dazzling scope, in vision and execution, this is the testament of a band who are seething with primal energy and also have the cojones to be leaders of the pack. 

72
Pitchfork

Wolf's Law is a weirder, proggier record that explores a wider range of textures and sounds than the relatively monochromatic Roar.

70
The Fly

Despite the album’s much-welcomed experimentation – see the Beatles-like orchestration of ‘The Turnaround’ – you still feel the best is yet to come from this riveting trio.

70
Beats Per Minute

You can’t help but admire their ambition, but their tendency to overreach is inhibiting them from becoming the band they want and deserve to be.

70
No Ripcord

Wolf’s Law will strike you as another work with a few memorable songs filled in by an exuberant supply of anthems in which big hooks and sheer willpower disguise a lack of variety or adventure.

70
PopMatters

What’s impressive about Wolf’s Law is that it can still surprise and overwhelm you even when you know more and more of the same is coming. 

67
Pretty Much Amazing

The Joy Formidable demonstrate that they know how to make a solid rock record. However, the band is still brimming with potential, and one can’t shake the feeling that the best is yet to come. 

60
Drowned in Sound

Sounding big may be a pretty good way to get a support slot with the biggest bands in the country and, in time, the world, but after a point you need more to say.

60
Consequence of Sound

Wolf’s Law is stuffed with aerodynamic, fuel-efficient, eco-friendly pop-rock songs

60
Paste

It’s a near frustration that The Joy Formidable seem content with the radio-ready, studio craftiness that the band has practically perfected. 

60
NME

Inevitably for a band built on pomp-rock power, their idea of ‘progression’ means turning everything up to 11.

50
The 405

They have got better at what they do but unfortunately what they've done with Wolf’s Law isn't enough to keep your attention for the entire journey.

NR

More full-on power from the Welsh trio. Huge sound but not without light and shade. Maw Maw song and Cholla particular highlights.

POPFORYOURADIO
75

superb !

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Track List

  1. This Ladder Is Ours
  2. Cholla
  3. Tendons
  4. Little Blimp
  5. Bats
  6. Silent Treatment
  7. Maw Maw Song
  8. Forest Serenade
  9. The Leopard and the Lung
  10. The Hurdle
  11. The Turnaround
  12. Wolf's Law
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Added on: November 6, 2012