Where's Wolfie

It’s undoubtedly something of a misnomer to call a Wolfie disc “mature” — the group still possesses a childlike wonder with the very concept of pop music that is hopelessly endearing, and one rues the day it finally does disappear — but there’s no denying that Where’s Wolfie is a major leap forward, expanding on the keyboard-powered, new wave-influenced sound of their prior work to showcase an increasing debt to Zombies-like, late-’60s popcraft. Where at times Wolfie’s debut, Awful Mess Mystery, suffered from sameness from song to song, each track on this sophomore effort bears its own distinctive stamp: the boy-girl harmonies that were such a delight last time out are even more prominent here, and the melodies are consistently crisp and catchy. Irresistible. – Jason Ankeny