- I'll confess that I haven't exactly been bowled over by the Wolf + Lamb sound. In fact, Seth Troxler's Aphrika EP aside, I'd state with some conviction that I find the vast majority of their output wholly uninspiring and (dare I offend the taste of many an RA reader) mundane at the best of times. Believe me, I've given it a fair listen. And it's an opinion I recognise isn't exactly in line with the slew of journalists, bloggers, fans and DJs that have championed the label over the past few months. But with all the hype surrounding the imprint, I felt it my duty to at least give Ryan Crosson and Lee Curtiss a chance when they descended upon Dublin recently, figuring I'd put our acrimonious relationship to bed if I wasn't in any way impressed with the night's proceedings.
The event was held at Dublin's new bastion of cool, Pygmalion. Housed under the affluent surroundings of the Powerscourt Town Shopping Centre, the club's underground location and vibe is a stark contrast to the all-but-forgotten high-end retailers which once occupied the floors above. Not that any of this mattered to the crowd, an assemblage of patrons as diverse as I've seen in recent times, an odd mix of rugby supporters, fashionistas and clued-in clubbers. For those of us more interested in dancing than chanting or posing, our feet were stuck firmly on the dance floor. Even me, the Wolf + Lamb pessimist, had to admit my admiration for Crosson and Curtiss' more than stellar back-to-back set.
With a track selection based firmly around funky and soulful 4/4 numbers, the crowd dwindled in size as the night drew on, with many blaming the lack of "banging tunes" for their exit. But what was bad for the club's bar sales was good for the vibe: The 3/4 full club was treated to a warm, lush set consisting of old school classics such as Cajmere's "I Found You" alongside contemporary numbers such as Uner & Coyu's "Baby Allfunk."
Musically the night rolled along in a similarly muscular and funky tech house vein until about 3 AM. At this stage, the bass levels were suitably cranked up a notch, paving the way for Reboot's "Saxtrack" remix which sparked pandemonium in the small bunker-like main room before Crosson took sole control, with the B-52's "Love Shack" and Hall and Oates' "I Can't Go for That" the cue for a good ol' singalong. Not a conventional ending to a night, but then Wolf + Lamb aren't ones to conform. Entering Pygmalion as a skeptical student, I left a keen fan of the label's representatives and their dynamic flair and undoubted chemistry behind the decks. Unlike the crowd who left prematurely, I'm not going to give up on Wolf + Lamb just yet.