Cover Feature Wolf Alice: Full Throttle

“We don’t go for subtle identification; it’s either gold all over your face or blue all over your head,” laughs Theo Ellis, running a hand over his new Slush Puppy-hued scalp. Every Wolf Alice album deserves a physical embodiment, and their bassist has taken the new album title ‘Blue Weekend’ quite literally, manifesting the emotions of the record with an icy dye-job.

“As long as the glitter doesn’t come back, I’m happy,” says guitarist Joff Oddie. “You find it everywhere; you haven’t played a show in months and it’s still everywhere. Just see a little glimmer on your arm like fuck, it’s back.”

“I might bring it back,” quips Theo, swigging from a can. “Just to piss people off.”

Having become one of the most beloved guitar bands in the country, it’s difficult to imagine Wolf Alice inciting anything other than love. Over ten years as a band, Theo, Joff, singer Ellie Rowsell and drummer Joel Amey have proven themselves to be a certifiable force of nature, nabbing a Mercury Prize and drawing in an ever-swelling legion of glitter-daubed fans with their sincere, versatile take on indie rock’n’roll. A different band might have let it go to their heads, but they’re still as humble-shy as ever, gathering on Zoom with all the ‘we’ll tell you later’ in-jokes and ‘no, you first’ nods that come from easing yourself back into a jam-packed promotional cycle.

“We’d been working solidly for a period of five or six years non-stop,” says Joff, recalling the headspace of late 2018. “In fact, there wasn’t a gap at all - we finished touring ‘My Love Is Cool’, had three months working in a rehearsal space, went to record ‘Visions Of A Life’ and then went right back on the road. By the time the Brixton shows came around, I think we were just knackered, just done. Needed a snooze!”