MILES OF TRANE RATING: YES. There's only so much time in life and thus music bloggers with day jobs must rely on information from the internet to decide what to even give a chance. (Ask my wife -- a lot of time is spent listening and reading before an album note comes out). So when I saw Pitchfork gave Freelance Whales debut album "Weathervanes" a mere 4.2/10.0 I wasn't optimistic it would make it past a quick overview listen. But it resonated, so I listened to the entire album. And then I wanted to hear it again, and am still listening. Pitchfork quibbles mightily with the admittedly non-Pulitzer lyrics -- which, by the way, fit the music -- and the derivative sounds. Oh, my. If we are to use this to disqualify an album that is a blast to hear because it sounds good and make you want to go bar hopping, search old record bins, and lay on a blanket in the sun all at the same time, then we could save a bunch of money with 2 gigabyte iPods. It may not make the best of list for 2010 and may not be talked about in a year or two, but I'm not so sure. I like it. Give it a test drive.
The review and listener ratings at Pretty Much Amazing give it a thumbs up and more-like-it but maybe a bit overboard 87/100: Freelance Whales – Weathervanes, Album Review at PMA | Pretty Much Amazing
Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Freelance Whales: Weathervanes 4.2/10.0
The Album Project » Full Review: Freelance Whales – Weathervanes This review gives it 5/5, echos a "fine line walking" observation noted by others, and really likes the lyrics. So there. But I'm not convinced that if I had five stars to hand out that this album gets all five.
