In the music industry, creating one album in five years is considered a success. Producing three albums, touring with major bands such as Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse, and being able to work on individual projects is simply unheard of.
This musical fairy tale is quite familiar for indie-rock band Wolf Parade.
The Montréal band will perform at the Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., at 8 p.m. today. Admission is $18.
The theater is looking forward to the band’s concert for a primary reason: its music.
"Wolf Parade has been one of the top indie-rock bands in the last five to six years," said Andre Perry, the Englert executive director. "Its work has been consistent."
Wolf Parade’s most recent album, Expo 86, took only seven months to create. The band began writing the music in November 2009 and released the album in June.
The record was named after the World Fair in Vancouver at which the five friends, each younger than 10 at the time, met in the summer of 1986. As they grew older, all became involved with other projects.
Singer and keyboard player Spencer Krug and guitarist Dan Boeckner reconnected in 2003 by chance. Krug was living two doors down from the telemarketing company at which Boeckner worked. When the two began hanging out regularly, they decided to start a band.
The pair were soon offered a gig opening for a group in Montréal. Desperate for a drummer, they called up their friend Arien Thompson the day before the show, and he accepted the offer. Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of the band Arcade Fire were present that night, and they liked what they heard.
The band’s career skyrocketed with the release of its first full-length album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, which was produced by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock.
University of Iowa sophomore Austin Bell began listening to Wolf Parade’s first album as a freshman in high school.
"I liked Wolf Parade," he said. "It was different from the Blink 182 and AC/DC music I had heard before."
Often compared with Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade’s high-energy vocals and synthesizers have remained consistent on each album. The band released Expo 86 at the summer 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival.
Wolf Parade’s November tour began in Montclair, N.J., and it will end in Toronto on Nov. 26. Its performance today will be the first time the band has visited Iowa City.
Because the grouphasn’t been here before, Perry decided to book Wolf Parade as the "sendoff show" for the Englert’s fall season.
"Out of all the bookings for the Englert, this is definitely one of those shows that I truly love," he said.