Feeling a bit psychedelic these days? Need a burst of creative energy? The band Coywolf of Oakland, California understands. Their album Our Spells can align that buzzing consciousness to good vibrations. They offer an effective brew featuring a shoegaze shell with a energizing creamy garage rock center. Side-effects of Coywolf‘s music may include dancing, erratic head movements, inspirational daydreams and a desire for more Coywolf.
Rumors of a new Coywolf album are circulating through the Bay Area but it has yet to be seen or heard. The band says new music will be revealed soon during their next live performance. They have organized an underground psych rock concert with several excellent local bands. The details are listed below but first what’s the deal with Coywolf?
Coywolf’s style is vocal forward with two guitars building the structure in classic rhythm and lead guitar arrangements. This is not Metallica rhythm and lead guitar but rather has of elements of Spacemen 3, Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Jesus and Mary Chain. There is an undercurrent of punk, goth, grunge and dream pop peeking through the layers of shoegaze.
Coywolf‘s full-length album Our Spells, was released in 2023 supported by a run of live performances. The first singles, ‘Dead Moon Circus‘ and ‘Feat of Doing Anything At All‘ were first released on Bandcamp a few years back but remade and re-recorded for the album Our Spells.
‘Dead Moon Circus‘ is the opener on Our Spells; it has an upbeat rhythm with vocal harmonies, wah-wah guitar solos and vocal lines that are doubled with guitar leads. The formula is captivating and brings the listener into their creative world. The lyrics reference breaking free, reflections, dreams, and ‘stealing back what they stole from me‘.
The second single, ‘Feat of Doing Anything At All‘ hits with staccato jangling guitar lines and catchy vocals throughout. The chorus hits with layered vocals singing ‘when my cells divide I need energy when our worlds collide I’m on overdrive‘ backed with a reverberating melodic guitar run that counters the vocal rhythm bringing the music to a higher level of enjoyment. The rhythms laid down by the bass and drums have a new wave feel that makes your head turn and hips groove.
Coywolf is premiering music from their new album live at their Halloween Resurrection Show in Oakland October 26th (see flyer below). This concert features a bill of talented psychrock bands from the Bay Area. The concert has Coywolf‘s sister band Star Decay (POW review here) who shares two of the same band members with Coywolf. Trendy Dad (Bay Area) bringing their high energy punk, garage rock; My Dallas Teens (Grass Valley) with their American psychedelic rock and roll; and The Green Door (Bay Area) with driving 60s acid rock with desert sounds.

Now you are hip to the band Coywolf and their latest happenings but the question remains, what is a coywolf? A coywolf is a coyote wolf hybrid hence coy-wolf also known as wolfcote which is another good band name. They are known for being sly, intelligent, dangerous, pack animals that can run with wolves and coyotes. They are scary with sharp fangs but not an apex predator like a true wolf and they are pretty darn cute.
Coywolf is 100% human complete with beauty, unique imperfections and strong inspirations. Our Spells has psyched out rock from front to back. The ringing vocal harmonies take the songs to glorious heights. The guitars utilize a variety of effects for pleasurable tones and textures from 60s jangle to spaced echos, swirling modulations and molten fuzz-wah. The bass adds depth and is the glue that bonds the vocal melodies, guitar chords and the drum rhythms into a groovy sound. There is no doubt that this music was meant to live in a live environment. The blazing energy of the leads, the blissful vocals and driving drums would all be amplified and consumed by the hungry audience.
Coywolf rocks! See them live, buy some digital music or shirts, support Bay Area rock music and stay cool.

Social Media Links:
https://coywolfsound.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/coywolfsound