Since long-playing debut Man, Woman, Beast in 2014, the world’s seemingly crawled up Carley Wolf’s backside. As fronted by her, Austin’s feral garage-blues duo Ghost Wolves demonstrates a shitty disposition on opener “Attitude Problem,” combats mental hoodoo with “Strychnine in My Lemonade,” and vexes everyone in the ‘hood with fuzz-drenched bashing via “Noisy Neighbors (Yuppie Scum)” and “Crybabies Go Home.” And that’s just the first four cuts! The very nature of her and husband Jonny Wolf’s primal bash evokes a certain color-codified breakout twosome from last decade, but there’s instant differentiation in the role reversals, with her being Jack and him going all Meg on percussion. He boasts better-skilled timekeeping, while “All the Good’s Gone” bleeds more rockabilly influence than the White Stripes ever unleashed. Produced by Mike McCarthy, Texas Platinum rings with a ratty clarity that proves Ghost Wolves are growing without growing up.
This article appears in April 28 • 2017.
