I'm revisiting Expo 86 and my initial reaction seems to have been harsh. It's much better this time for me.

Ahhhhh! Love this band. THIS is the band that got me into indie music.

Of the Boeckner/Krug bands, I've only heard Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown (pretty much in that order too..). Must say that Sunset Rubdown hasn't really grabbed me yet, I revisit them every now and then because two of my friends like them but they don't quite do it for me.

Apologies is a great album, there are so many top notch songs on there. I found it harder to get into the other two but I think they're nevertheless superb albums, there's definitely great songwriting going on there. The opening riff to Cave-O-Sapien makes me want to air guitar till my fingers drop, I can never help singing along to the chorus of Ghost Pressure and with every listen I feel that Soldier's Grin just gets better and better.

I can imagine that with the gap between Apologies and the other albums it was hard for listeners to hear Wolf Parade do any songs that wasn't familiar to them already. I can imagine waiting for the new I'll Believe In Anything or This Heart's On Fire and just being disappointed. I think At Mount Zoomer and Expo 86 have a lot to say for them, though I might be inclined to say that Apologies is the better overall album.

Apologies to the Queen Mary

Is this a band that never topped their debut?

Yes.

At Mount Zoomer was quite a bit different but good nonetheless.

There are also a number of good spinoff projects, my favorites being Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes.

California dreamer is one of their all time best songs and it's on At mount Zoomer (their second album) so...I'd say the first two are about equal in quality. The rest I need to revisit.

I loved Apologies to the Queen Mary but after that I wasn't able to fully connect to their sound anymore.

They seemed so determined to not rehash their sound, I can respect that.