Wolfmother

About Wolfmother

Wolfmother emerged from Sydney in 2004 as a three-piece rock band that sounded like they'd been cryogenically frozen sometime around 1971. Andrew Stockdale on vocals and guitar, Chris Ross on bass, and Mick Heskett on drums played loud, riff-heavy rock that pulled directly from the well of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. No irony, no updates for the modern era, just full commitment to the bit.

Their self-titled debut landed in 2005 and did something unexpected: it actually worked. "Woman" became the track everyone knew, with its steamrolling riff and Stockdale's Robert Plant-via-Australia wail. "Joker and the Thief" and "Mind's Eye" followed as singles, and suddenly a retro-rock band from Australia was getting serious attention. The album went platinum multiple times at home and won five ARIA Awards. They picked up a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2007 for "Woman," which felt both deserved and slightly absurd given how thoroughly unfashionable this kind of rock was supposed to be.

Then things got messy. Ross and Heskett left in 2008, right as the band was working on their second album. Stockdale decided Wolfmother was essentially his project and kept going, recruiting new members and releasing "Cosmic Egg" in 2009. It's a solid album, "New Moon Rising" and "White Feather" continuing the heavy blues-rock approach, but the lineup instability became a pattern. Wolfmother turned into a revolving door situation, with Stockdale as the only constant.

"New Crown" arrived in 2014, self-produced and self-released initially, showing Stockdale was willing to do whatever it took to keep the band going. "Victorious" came in 2016, leaning harder into metal territory. These later albums have their moments, but they never recaptured the unlikely lightning-in-a-bottle thing the debut pulled off. The songs are competent, sometimes better than that, but the cultural moment had passed.

The lineup changes kept coming. At various points, the band has included different drummers, bassists, and additional guitarists. Stockdale has always maintained creative control, which means Wolfmother is essentially whatever he says it is at any given moment. They tour regularly, playing festivals and club shows, with setlists that lean heavily on that first album because that's what people want to hear.

Stockdale released a solo album under his own name in 2013, which made the whole Wolfmother-as-brand-name thing even more transparent. But here's the thing: they're still around, still making albums, still playing shows. "Rock Out" dropped in 2021, their sixth studio album. They're not chasing trends or reinventing themselves. Wolfmother remains a hard rock band in an era that mostly doesn't care about hard rock bands, and Stockdale seems fine with that arrangement.

Wolfmother shows are loud, heavy, and unadorned. Stockdale plants himself center stage and commands the room through sheer force of presence. The crowd gets physical but not chaotic—people come to feel the weight of the riff. No surprises, no extended jams, just well-executed rock.

Known for Woman, Joker and the Thief, Dimension, Vagabond, White Unicorn

See Wolfmother Live