Review Summary: With thick, expansive melodies and downright amazing creativity, Freelance Whales present one of the best debuts of the indie pop genre.
Freelance Whales is just one of those bands that’s hard not to be impressed by. The five-piece indie pop group heavily incorporates banjos, synthesizers, glockenspiels and more to create an incredibly rich sound alongside the usual fare of guitars, drums and bass. It’s always great to hear when bands attempts to expand their sound beyond the typical guitar/bass/drums trio, and given their pursuit for a unique, textured sound, does the band successfully pull off the attempt or does their debut
Weathervanes come off as sounding forced and gimmicky?
“Generator ^ First Floor”, the first track off of
Weathervanes, is a great example of what this band does best: creating lush, melodic soundscapes. By using a multi-instrumental approach, Freelance Whales expertly create an engrossing atmosphere of pretty little sounds and ideas, and it’s difficult not to be completely enveloped by the rich setting. And just as all the sounds and noises finally mesh together on the intro of “Generator ^ First Floor”, the music bursts into the first verse, and the lead singer’s buoyant voice flawlessly narrates the mood and successfully puts the cherry on top: “We get up early just to start cranking the generator, our limbs have been asleep we need to get the blood back in ‘em”. Alongside some tasteful background vocals and a perfect sense of song progression, the result is a song that is nothing short of captivating. The complex layers of meshing sounds are incredibly well done, and there will be always something that catches your ear with each new listen.
Indeed, the best songs on the album are when the band attempts to create a beautiful, aesthetic surrounding. “The Great Estates” is a slow build that masterfully progresses into the crashing outro of chanting vocals, while “We Could Be Friends” has more of a rock-type edge that supports an incredibly catchy bassline and chorus. Both “Broken Horse” and “Ghosting” are more subdued and laid back, but still successfully achieve a riveting mood and an interesting forward progression. “Generator ^ Second Floor” continues the intricate nature of the first Generator song, but features more of a solid backbone and a catchier chorus this time around. It’s these songs when the band is at its absolute best, and their best efforts are perfectly capable of being listened to over and over again due to their elaborate characteristics.
But while
Weathervanes has plenty of fantastic songs, there admittedly some lulls here and there. The weakest songs on the album are the ones where the vocal hooks exclusively try to carry the entire load; the songs that are focused more on the catchy vocal work are the ones that seem to have the shortest shelf life. While it’s true that songs like “Hannah”, “Starring” and ‘Kilojoules” are all fun and catchy, the enjoyment seems to wear off only after a few short listens, which is completely untrue of the other aforementioned tracks where the band was more ambitious with the music. These songs are not bad efforts by any means; it’s just that there’s little motivation to go back to them when the band has better, more lasting tracks to offer on the album.
When listening to Freelance Whales, you can tell that there’s a strong artistic drive beneath every song, and that makes
Weathervanes a very fun listen for that reason alone. This band is very talented at creating engrossing songs and beautiful musical terrains, and it’s exciting to think that this is only their debut effort:
Weathervanes is a successful offering from a band with enormous potential, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if these guys created an indie masterpiece somewhere down the line with the talent that they’ve showcased here.
Weathervanes is very good album for sure, and by far one that any fan of indie pop should check out.
