Pick of the Week #45: Noah and the Whale

In part because I thought it'd be fun to have back to back picks of the week with the word 'Whale' in the title of the band name, and in part because I've been listening to Noah and the Whale's The First Days of Spring almost exclusively this week, I present to you... Noah and the Whale's The First Days of Spring...

Before seeing Noah and the Whale at Criminal Records a couple of weeks ago they weren't on my radar screen at all. I'm fairly confident they were/are a pretty hip/happenin' blog band, but I just never got on board -- I'm not a sheep! After seeing them and enjoying the 3/4/5 songs that they played, I was ready to give The First Days of Spring a few good listens, but I wasn't expecting it to light my world on fire or anything.

And it hasn't... it's not that kind of album. It is, after all, a break-up album. I see you're processing that whole Spring metaphor they've used... re-birth, new beginnings, very clever. Even it's not the world-fire-lighting type of album, it is exceptionally good at what it does do, capturing that post break-up moment that is often full of both hope and despair. In that respect, the album feels a little bit like the post-relationship reflection of a dumpee, looking back at all the relationship without remembering all the awful things that happened in the relationship that led to the break up in the first place.

What strikes me about the band and their album is how affecting I've found them both, particularly given that I'm in the opposite place in my own life (soon to be married -- sorry ladies). It's not just the symphonic string arrangements, although that's certainly part of the whole mood, but it's the way that the vocals - very somber, conversational, and almost hoarse at points - create this really beautiful contrast.

Hopefully with the success of The First Days of Spring they should have their pick of groupies so that the next album will turn out a little happier... I'm hoping a bikini inspired, beach themed, summer album... although I'm not holding my breath...

[mp3] Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring

Pick of the Week #1: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah
Pick of the Week #3: Glasvegas/Animal Collective
Pick of the Week #4: Bruce Peninsula
Pick of the Week #5: The Antlers
Pick of the Week #6: The Darcys
Pick of the Week #7: Ohbijou (Swift Feet for Troubling Times)
Pick of the Week #8: Gentlemen Husbands
Pick of the Week #9: Chris Whitley
Pick of the Week #10: Alela Diane
Pick of the Week #11: K'naan
Pick of the Week #12: TOR/Sufjan Stevens
Pick of the Week #13: Timber Timbre
Pick of the Week #14: Justis
Pick of the Week #15: Hibiscus & Rosehips Compilation
Pick of the Week #16: Patrick Watson
Pick of the Week #17: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
Pick of the Week #18: The Liptonians
Pick of the Week #19: Sunparlour Players
Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade
Pick of the Week #21: Howie Beck
Pick of the Week #22: Pink Mountaintops
Pick of the Week #23: Still Life Still
Pick of the Week #24: Hayden
Pick of the Week #25: Snailhouse
Pick of the Week #26: Dog Day
Pick of the Week #27: Ohbijou (Beacons)
Pick of the Week #28: Dog is Blue
Pick of the Week #29: Parkas
Pick of the Week #30: The Wooden Sky
Pick of the Week #31: Bowerbirds
Pick of the Week #32: Miss Maya
Pick of the Week #33: Ben Folds Presents ...
Pick of the Week #34: Mantis
Pick of the Week #35: Diamond Rings
Pick of the Week #36: The Wilderness of Manitoba
Pick of the Week #37: Asher Roth
Pick of the Week #38: Julie Doiron
Pick of the Week #39: Chad VanGaalen
Pick of the Week #40: That's the Spirit
Pick of the Week #41: The Ghost is Dancing
Pick of the Week #42: Dan Mangan
Pick of the Week #43: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Pick of the Week #44: Said the Whale