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On Our iPod

Golden Grrrls - New Pop 7”

Chris Devotion & The Expectations - Amalgamation & Capital (album)

Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester (album)

Throwing Up - Mother Knows Best 7”

Howling Wolf - Complete Chess Masters 1951-60

The Ketamines - A Rotten Bond/1 Yr (from Oddbox Singles Club Pt 2)

Cardinal - Hymns (album)

Proper Ornaments - Taking the Gamble Out of Buying 12”

Darren Hayman - January Songs (album)

Various: Marshall Teller EP 12”

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Album Review

Freelance Whales
Weathervanes Mom & Pop/ Columbia

Article written by Ged M - Aug 25, 2010

Freelance Whales: Weathervanes

It sounds just like The Postal Service, when it’s not sounding like Sufjan Stevens. And Ben Gribbard might be wondering when he laid down these vocals and why they‘re being credited to a bloke called Judah Dadone. While Weathervanes is full of tinkling pop and catchy melodies, it’s impossible to move beyond those initial comparisons because every song has something that reminds you of where the music comes from. Just because they stick in a few short tracks of electronic wibbling doesn’t make this experimental or different – Weathervanes is simply well-produced mainstream pop, far from the organically crafted sounds that their website claims for it.

Chess Club have already released the two best tracks on a 7”: ‘Generator ^First Floor’ is incredibly catchy banjo-led pop, although it’s about as “folk” as Mumford & Sons are folk; ‘Generator ^Second Floor’ is harmony-doused Sufjan-esque small-scale orchestral pop with that banjo twiddling again.

That sounds a bit mean, reading it back. They have some gorgeous melodies within songs like ‘Location’, ‘Starring’ and the eccentric ‘Kilojoules’, while ‘Broken House’ is gentle acoustic pop. It’s just I was expecting to hear a band called Freelance Whales performing their songs and they serve something that’s totally ‘inspired’ by other artists. Great for fans of the Postal Service and Sufjan, but it’s a bit dull if you already know those bands and want something original.

Links:
http://www.freelancewhales.com/
http://www.myspace.com/freelancewhales