Thursday, November 12, 2009

AOTW: Freelance Whales - "Weathervanes"

We can all agree that Freelance Whales might be one of the dumbest animal-related band names in a sea of them (get it?). I mean, what're they freelancing: sonar messages? Swallowing biblical figures? Frustrating old seamen (hehe... seamen)? Come on. But confusing name aside, the Whales' have started developing the indie-music-blog cred that's so essential for new bands to make it (see: Pit, Passion and Weekend, Vampire). Their debut album, Weathervanes, is one of the least offensive albums you'll hear this year (which may, in itself, be offensive to you, Mr. High-brow Music Critic), and with all the talk of Owl Eyes copping the Death Cab for Cutie/Postal Service/Ben Gibbard sound, it's surprising more people haven't caught onto Freelance Whales.

Album-opener "Generator ^ First Floor" both looks and sounds like an Arcade Fire impression, replete with repetitively strummed guitars and plenty of "Oohs/Aahs." Judah Dadone's upper-register vocals are immediately soothing (and eerily similar to the aforementioned Gibbard's). That's not a knock in any way... I'm throroughly convinced that clean, alto-register vocals will always sound great. As the album progresses, we get to hear a band that hasn't exactly pinned down what they want to sound like. Which is exciting. They incorporate electronic blips, glockenspiels, and KORG-y synth with "traditional" sounds, and they vary the rhythms. "Broken Horse" opens with a simply-picked melody that would sound at home on an Iron & Wine or Michigan-era Sufjan Stevens album, while the track right before it ("Kilojoules") invokes Vampire Weekend-y thoughts. "Starring" will likely draw the most (appropriate) comparisons to Postal Service, as the first synth hit sounds a lot like "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight." The second half of the album drags a little bit, but their sound remains strong, and "The Great Estates" is a flat-out beautiful way to finish what turns out to be a very good start for a(nother) promising band from NYC.

According to their MySpace, Freelance Whales will have a song featured on the new HBO "comedy" Bored To Death this week. It's not surprising for so many reason, but without question... as the year ends and more people hear the album, Weathervanes will get more TV exposre (I wish I could make bets like "One song by the Freelance Whales will be on Chuck or Friday Night Lights in the Spring"). With TV exposure comes greater fan attention and by late next year, they may even be touring as a headliner. These things happen fast, and Freelance Whales have the talent to pull it off.

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