Things I like from Queens:
- St. John’s circa the 80′s when Chris Mullin and Marc Jackson were killing it.
- Coming To America – Remember when Eddie Murphy made funny movies?
- My buddies Kev and Dan.
Other than than that, it’s been barren for awhile but I’m ready to add Freelance Whales to my list.
The 5-piece from Queens combine indie folk and electronic elements and, while the electronic stuff is typically not my speed, Freelance Whales use the effects to complement the melodies and arrangements without overpowering any tunes. Throughout Weathervanes, banjos and synthesizers mix effortlessly to support the album’s love story, described as follows:
The record works to tell a simple, pre-adolescent love story: a young male falls in love with the spectral young femme who haunts his childhood home.‚ ‚ He chases her in his dreams but finds her to be mostly elusive.‚ He imagines her alive, and wonders if someday he’ll take on her responsibilities of ghosting, or if maybe he’ll join her, elsewhere.
“Starring” and “Broken Horse” are my favorite tracks. The latter is a delicate tune that moves along slowly and quietly builds into a brilliant finish with wonderful harmonies and melodies. The video below does the song great justice.
This isn’t an album I expected to enjoy this much. I am not a huge fan of acts that they are being compared with (Postal Service) but something about them struck a chord. Weathervanes is being released on Frenchkiss Records on 3/16 and you can catch them running around at SXSW.
Freelance Whales – Generator ^ First Floor
Freelance Whales – Broken Horse
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, for the first time since I have been a fan of this website, I have to respectfully disagree about this band. I am not going to go as far as to say they “suck” because they don’t. However the quality of song is well below this websites usual standards.
Bon, thanks for the kind and respectful words. These guys aren’t my normal fare either but something just clicked with me. I really liked the video below. Either way, thanks for checking us out. We appreciate it.
I cry myself to sleep every night over the state of St John’s basketball. On that note, I kind of agree with Bon. Nothing about this song really jumps out at me. It’s not bad but just not very original sounding. However, as a resident of queens I will give them the benefit of the doubt and check out their myspace.