Wolfmother [Vinyl LP]

Devoted students of the 1970s school of heavy rock, the Australian trio Wolfmother unveiled its full-length debut in early 2006 to considerable buzz. Deftly walking the line between respectful homage and blatant mimicry, singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale sounds like Jack White channeling Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi--as opposed to Page and Plant--particularly on the stomping opener, "Dimension," while the rest of the band ably follows in Sabbath-y suit. Still, Zepp by no means gets short shrift here, as the band pulls off an acoustic-to-electric switch-up on "Where Eagles Have Been" that is more than worthy of a spot on HOUSES OF THE HOLY. Although Wolfmother won't win any points for originality, the group's commitment to executing a seamless cross between two of the best hard-rock bands ever is a fairly tough MO at which to scoff. This is guilt-free headbanging at its finest.