Sea Wolf is an indie folk/rock band based in Los Angeles led by Alex Brown Church. It formed in 2003 after Church left his previous band Irving to pursue his own style, but it wasn't until 2007 that they signed up with Dangerbird Records to release their first commercial album, an EP called Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low. The band takes its name from Jack London's 1904 novel The Sea-Wolf, which shows just how invested the singer/songwriter Church is in classic literature and mythology.
They have an official website here
.
Discography:
- Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low (EP, 2007)
- Leaves In The River (Album, 2007)
- White Water, White Bloom (Album, 2009)
- Turn The Dirt Over (7" Single, 2010)
- Old World Romance (Album, 2012)
- Song Spells No. 1: Cedarsmoke (Unofficial Album, 2014)*
- Through a Dark Wood (Album, 2020)
Tropes that apply to Sea Wolf and their songs:
- Abusive Parents: "Winter Windows" is sung from the perspective of a man who used to be one and regretted it.
- The Alcoholic: The protagonist of "Winter Windows". And who can blame him?
- Classical Mythology: "Orion and Dog" is Sea Wolf's retelling of the myth of Orion.
- Genre Shift: "O Maria!" is surprisingly loud and catchy for a band mostly invested in quiet, melodious works.
- I Am the Band: Church is the only permanent member of the band; every other position is held by a rotating ensemble of backup musicians. It gets very literal in Old World Romance: He's the only member of the band, and he made all the songs himself.
- Literary Allusion Title: Several, mostly from folklore. The band's name itself came from the title of a novel by Jack London.
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Winter Windows" is an exciting, uplifting song...about a neglected child-turned-alcoholic who lost his son by being abusive to him, and regretting every moment of it.
- Surreal Music Video: "Winter Windows"'s video starts out normally, with Church playing two pianos adorned with paper maple leaves. Then the background objects start turning into animals.
