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Jan 5, 2011Weathervanes' intriguing, thought-provoking lyrics and concept-album nature-it's about a boy who falls in love with a girl ghost-make it a literate-pop gem.
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It's the best electronic indie-pop debut since Ben Gibbard last tuned his laptop.
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By the time things conclude with mannerly closer "The Great Estates" it's been made perfectly clear that this is a band ready and able to create visions with enveloping scope and delightful articulation.
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Alternative PressTurns out you can be the next hipster nuzz band and actually be good. [Apr 2010, p.123]
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The whole thing wafts along in a pastel anasthaesia, Dadone's vocals rubbing against barely-there songs crafted with shards of synth, glockenspiel and harmonium. Conversely, the only times Weathervanes descends into twee is where it tries too hard to be noticed.
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Weathervanes, is thoroughly unoriginal in every way possible, even down to the Gibbard-esque vocals. Now, that sounds pretty damning, but fortunately their failures in ingenuity are easily made up in spectacle.
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As a whole, Weathervanes is a largely successful and ambitious trip into uncharted territory for the band, and despite its somewhat saccharine sheen, the album wears well with multiple listens and creates a spooky, dreamlike economy of its own.
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Weathervanes is a darling, coherent, and certainly radio-friendly (if at times sugary) record. But on their next attempt, Freelance Whales should tone down the maudlin, veer away from Sufjan territory, subtract a few bells and whistles and grow up with the college crowd.
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Like labelmates Passion Pit, Freelance Whales trick out their wistful, post–Postal Service electro-pop with just enough record-nerd insularity to fend off cred-endangering Justin Bieber fans.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 17
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Mixed: 2 out of 17
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Negative: 3 out of 17
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Jun 2, 2011
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Feb 8, 2011This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.