Freelance Whales – Weathervanes

On first listen, this debut album from recently formed Queens quintent Freelance Whales sounds a lot like a toned-down version of Sufjan Stevens' Illinois, with less of the luxuriant string sections and more laid-back harmonium and glockenspiel accompaniment. Indeed, it's hard to hear anything besides the Sufjan influence in the gentle beats, banjo, layered vocals and Americana storytelling present here.

But that shouldn't deter, as Weathervanes is a fine album with its own merits. Generator 1st Floor — a banjo-led piece about cranking the generator on an early morn — personifies the Whales' charming, rural shtick down to the ground. Elsewhere the band shine on the off-beat Kilojoules, with its clap-happy rhythm and sing-along prose; and on Ghosting, a misleadingly upbeat song about broken teeth and burdensome haunting duties. Weathervanes isn't a bad debut by any measure, but there's a prevailing feeling that the best is yet to follow. [Martin Skivington]