WK3 - Freelance Whales - Weathervanes (7.5)

Released - 12/29/09 (Digital) - 3/16/10 (Physical Re-Release)

Label - French Kiss / Mom and Pop

BLURB - What a clever take on emo. It's so clever I don't even know if I can call it emo...in fact I can't. Freelance Whales is what would happen if Ben Gibbard had a banjo, a lot of friends and lived in Williamsburg. This group of friends flavors up their brand of indie rock with a combination of bubble gum folk, layered waves of ambience and a certain indefinable hipster charm. Hopefully, this will make the Owl City nation realize their own futility and that there are actually real musicians and real friends out there, making real music. While I can't get this album out of my iPod rotation, I can't help but think I'll eventually grow out of it. Weathervanes is an all too likable album...that may be the problem.

Rating - 7.5 out of 10

FULL STORY - I'm pretty sure I saw Freelance Whales playing in a subway station last year. I was on my way to a race in Brooklyn, transferring trains in Greenpoint, when I saw what looked like a high school posse of hipsters playing xylophones and banjos. Here's the proof, but this time they were in Williamsburg.

The first track off the album, 'Generator (First Floor) has been sweeping subway platforms for the last year. Branded with a banjo riff, a slow building rhythm section and 5-way background vocals, the song offers up a campfire feel. The kind of song everyone can sing along to, and does. 'Generator (First Floor)' does a great job prefacing Weathervanes and informally introduces us to the group. After hearing this song I kind of feel like I know them from somewhere...like maybe the guitar player and I were friends in another life.

'Hannah' is the second track and makes great use of the obligatory synthesizer. Stylistically, the song bounces back and forth from that of The Get Up Kids and The Postal Service. Lyrically, the tone is playful, yet full of hope and anticipation. The lyrics themselves are creative and have a naive, youthful buoyancy to them.

"Do me this solid if you would pretty lady, please grab your martini and meet me on the balcony. I've prepared a lights show, you could fake a melody, we could argue when and where the cymbal hits should be."

Despite the overall bounciness of this track, Freelance Whales does a great job altering pace and tempo. The chorus is credible, calm and relaxed...a favorable contrast to the verse. A bright display of layered bridges add some maturity and a sense of musical awareness to the song, assuring the listener that they know what they're doing.

The fifth track on the album, 'Starring' begins with a droning, industrial synth chord progression, only to be briefly slapped around with it's antithesis, a cheerful, poppy synth riff a la HelloGoodbye. Man, I hate HelloGoodbye. Somehow this works though, as the entire song performs a balancing act between dark and light. Even the chorus follows along with the line, 'This is me starring in the strangest nightmare." 'Starring' in itself is a bittersweet oxymoron and leaves it's audience hopefully in despair.

If 'Generator (First Floor)' was the song everybody sings along to, then 'Kilojoules' is the song that everybody claps along to. It really sounds like a kids song from Nick Jr., with xylophone and keyboard riffs in all the right places. 'Kilojoules' has a very lighthearted tone, which allows you to enjoy yourself as it effortlessly clears your mind. For some reason, I imagine a college freshmen girl listening to this song on repeat in her dorm, as she gets ready to go see her boyfriend's crappy band. I don't know why.

Much of the rest of the album is very airy and filled with soothing acoustic guitars and duet style vocals. Chimes, pianos and xylophones accent the indie, pseudo-folk melodies comfortably and without force. Despite the fact that these are mostly slower songs, they are all fused with a sense of hope and togetherness and help to push the songs forward.

I still don't know why I like this album as much as I do. Part of the reason I only gave Weathervanes a 7.5 was because I really feel I'm lacking some objectivity. I've listened to it constantly since I bought it, but in the back of my head I genuinely feel that it lacks staying power. It's such a blatant departure from the music that I've been listening to lately. Freelance Whales reminds me of sleepovers, dances and camp outs. Hearing this album is just like looking at your yearbook. I feel too old for it...not that it's beneath me, but you can really tell it is meant to appeal to that 15-20 year old demographic...and yet somehow this 24 year old can't put it down. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Tracks

1.) Generator (Second Floor)

2.) Hannah

3.) Generator (First Floor)

4.) Broken Horse

5.) Starring

6.) Kilojoules

7.) Location

8.) Ghosting

9.) The Great Estates

10.) We Could Be Friends