Aussie rock trio Wolfmother heads stateside

Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale at the Auckland's Big Day in January. Picture / Dean Purcell

LOS ANGELES - Wolfmother keyboardist/bassist Chris Ross knows how unhip his Australian trio's music is. Blending '70s psychedelia, Led Zeppelin-like riffs and mythic imagery, and even throwing a toss to Black Sabbath, the band's tunes hardly resemble current commercial fare.

"I remember we met with someone who said they loved it," Ross recalls, declining to name the industry executive. "And it was interesting to watch them talk themselves out of it, going from creative into business (mode), saying, 'But I don't know whether this will sell.' You could see the enthusiasm wearing off."

Now Ross and his bandmates are having the last laugh. The Sydney-based group's self-titled CD, released in Australia last fall, is on the verge of triple-platinum (210,000 units) at home, according to the band's manager, John Watson.

And now, it is being unleashed on the rest of the world, including a May 2 US release date on Modular/Interscope.

In Australia, the band broke very quickly after finally deciding to play in front of an audience; for four years, the trio played only for themselves.

Following a handful of public gigs, Wolfmother signed with tastemaking label Modular in 2004 and released an indie EP, which sold around 20,000 copies.

Listeners voted a record six of the group's songs onto the Australian alternative radio network's Triple J "Hottest 100" radio poll in January. The debut album was also shortlisted for the inaugural BigPond Australian Music Prize, the local equivalent to Britain's Mercury Prize.

And with music critics on both sides of the Atlantic falling all over themselves to praise the band - one outlet calls the group's debut "the great stoner/psychedelia record of the new century" - it's no surprise that Ross is just trying to focus on the music.

Bands like Wolfmother face a unique challenge when they try to break stateside. On one hand, the hype among tastemakers is so huge that the act faces unrealistic expectations.

On the other, despite all the hard work the group has done in its homeland, to the vast majority of consumers it is totally unknown and, therefore, has to start at the very beginning.

"It does seem a little unfair," Ross says good-naturedly. "The amount of work we've done at home doesn't register much at all (in the United States). Anyone in the reverse situation would have a step up - people in Australia would know about them."

For Interscope, the goal is to forget the hype and build step by step.

"Our perspective on this is we have a tremendous amount of work to do," says Steve Berman, Interscope president of marketing and sales. "We're trying to ignore that noise and make every correct strategic move to build this band into a long-term artist."

That meant introducing the band via an EP in January and a seven-date tour in March before starting a full-on assault, including pushing first North American single "Woman."

The fast-paced, sonic blast is No. 21 this week on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

In the United States, the group follows an April 29 appearance at the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif., with a 21-date club and small theatre tour.

Much of the summer will be spent in international markets, with stops at several festivals in Europe, including Britain's T in the Park and the Reading and Leeds fests, Denmark's Roskilde Festival and Japan's Fuji Rock Festival. The group will return to the States in August to play 10 dates, including Lollapalooza.

- REUTERS/Billboard