Vancouver's 1986 world fair had a lot going for it – the Great Hall of Ramses the II, Bill Cosby, a UFO- themed water park, a century-old railway roundhouse, Miles Davis, a riot and Jacques Cousteau were all there. Now that it has also been retroactively given the distinction of bringing Wolf Parade together it can safely be added to the list of “best summers ever.”

Whether the story of the band's five members meeting at the Expo and agreeing to meet up almost fifteen years later is true or not, the throwback parallels the youthful energy present throughout Expo 86. The band used a live recording process similar to what Spencer Krug used while recording his last Sunset Rubdown album, and it translates into a genuine sense of urgent, manic intensity, and, perhaps most importantly, danceability.

The album also feels like a unified effort, put together by a band which is exceedingly comfortable working as a group. At Mount Zoomer didn't always manage this, and at times felt more like Dan Boeckner and Krug were content to swap song-writing duties from song to song. It didn't necessarily make for a terrible album, but it definitely makes for a better one when the two songwriters are able to work together fluently.

A symptom of the unified approach – everyone gets to lead. Most of the notable solos are the work of Dante DeCaro who, according to lore, had to stand firm for his place as one of the band's guitarists. He was 5 at the Expo, “only little,” so he had to promise to practice “lots of wicked solos.” It shows (even if he didn't show up at the preappointed time...)

That said, this is still a five member band. The music is thick with musical and lyrical layers, sometimes with three guitars stacked into the mix. Lyrically, it opens with “I was asleep in a hammock/I was dreaming that I was a web/I was a dream catcher hanging in the window of a minivan parked down along the water's edge/I'd say that I was alone.” which means... well, it probably means something. “Maximalism,” as the band calls it, at its finest.

Expo 86 is a party album. Put it on when you want to fill a room with a sense of frenetic energy, or when you want to feel restless and the world needs to be absolutely brimming with possibilities. It will probably make you want to dance, so be prepared for that. Most of all it will make you remember why Wolf Parade is worthy of all of the acclaim we heap upon them.

Dana Durell
When Insects Rule The World
Thursdays, 9-10pm