Spring Break
Noah and the Whale debut with peaceful bliss
Gregory Westcott
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Features
Noah and the Whale's debut album "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" takes you on a tuneful adventure somewhere between tragedy and comedy.
Tragedy, in the sense that you can play this during a bad break-up and comedy like you'll listen to the songs when you are moving on.
This album uses the listener as a science project while they experiment with a distinctive folk rock with a twinge of punk influence. The balance is strictly on the folk side but the slightly punk style adds a spice that just doesn't let you figure out the flavor. Check out the beginning of the song "Jocasta" as an example of this fusion.
And, it works.
Noah and the Whale have been together since 2006 and originate out of Twickenham, London, England. The band is made up of: Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), Doug Fink (drums), Tom Hobden (fiddle), and Matt Urby (bass).
The band's name pays homage to Noah Baumbach, who is the writer and director of "The Squid and the Whale," by combining Noah with the title of their favorite film. Baumbach comes from the school of filmmaker Wes Anderson, which is interesting, because "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" plays like a soundtrack to one of his films.
The first song "2 Atoms In A Molecule" gives you a snippet of the buttery voice of Charlie Fink while the band is channeling the melody of a lost Simon and Garfunckel tune.
Listening all the way through the album exemplifies the band's versatility. Each song takes the responsibility to not define the band as ordinary. Once you think that you can categorize Noah and the Whale, the next song will alter your perception.
The band has been compared to The Magic Numbers, The Postal Service and Belle & Sebastian. However, I contend that this band is solely unique in the sound that it has set out to establish.
If you don't fast forward through commercials on your DVR then you might catch the single "5 Years Time" playing while Saturn tires to sell you a car. This is disappointing because I realize that a band needs to make money but they should be trying to help out by selling a Saab or something which looks cool but your not sure where it comes from.
Noah and the Whale appears to be searching for a philosophy rather then being played at a high school dance. The music is unapologetic in its desire to get into your thoughts rather then just residing in your ears. The album is, if anything, under produced, which gives it a sense of rawness that most bands fail to risk in the fear of not being able to eventually sell out.
Songs like "Do What You Do" and "Hold My Hand As I'm Lowered" drops you into the New England fall, staring out a window, trying to blur the drops of rain into the meaning of life.
You then realize, "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" has set out on what it hoped to accomplish.
Tragedy, in the sense that you can play this during a bad break-up and comedy like you'll listen to the songs when you are moving on.
This album uses the listener as a science project while they experiment with a distinctive folk rock with a twinge of punk influence. The balance is strictly on the folk side but the slightly punk style adds a spice that just doesn't let you figure out the flavor. Check out the beginning of the song "Jocasta" as an example of this fusion.
And, it works.
Noah and the Whale have been together since 2006 and originate out of Twickenham, London, England. The band is made up of: Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), Doug Fink (drums), Tom Hobden (fiddle), and Matt Urby (bass).
The band's name pays homage to Noah Baumbach, who is the writer and director of "The Squid and the Whale," by combining Noah with the title of their favorite film. Baumbach comes from the school of filmmaker Wes Anderson, which is interesting, because "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" plays like a soundtrack to one of his films.
The first song "2 Atoms In A Molecule" gives you a snippet of the buttery voice of Charlie Fink while the band is channeling the melody of a lost Simon and Garfunckel tune.
Listening all the way through the album exemplifies the band's versatility. Each song takes the responsibility to not define the band as ordinary. Once you think that you can categorize Noah and the Whale, the next song will alter your perception.
The band has been compared to The Magic Numbers, The Postal Service and Belle & Sebastian. However, I contend that this band is solely unique in the sound that it has set out to establish.
If you don't fast forward through commercials on your DVR then you might catch the single "5 Years Time" playing while Saturn tires to sell you a car. This is disappointing because I realize that a band needs to make money but they should be trying to help out by selling a Saab or something which looks cool but your not sure where it comes from.
Noah and the Whale appears to be searching for a philosophy rather then being played at a high school dance. The music is unapologetic in its desire to get into your thoughts rather then just residing in your ears. The album is, if anything, under produced, which gives it a sense of rawness that most bands fail to risk in the fear of not being able to eventually sell out.
Songs like "Do What You Do" and "Hold My Hand As I'm Lowered" drops you into the New England fall, staring out a window, trying to blur the drops of rain into the meaning of life.
You then realize, "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" has set out on what it hoped to accomplish.
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