This is the new band of Matt Suggs (Butterglory), Rob Pope (The Get Up Kids), and members of Thee Higher Burning Fire. Amassing the power of Big Star with the fury of Black Sabbath and the mesmerizing wiles of Badfinger. T... more »his is their debut.« less
This is the new band of Matt Suggs (Butterglory), Rob Pope (The Get Up Kids), and members of Thee Higher Burning Fire. Amassing the power of Big Star with the fury of Black Sabbath and the mesmerizing wiles of Badfinger. This is their debut.
"Having never heard of these guys before, I was pleasantly surprised as I listened to it. It has a early Kinks flavor to it, (which I like) so it feels a bit retro. I must give kudos to the producer, as he obviously contributed a lot of the extra flourishes that make this album so interesting to listen to. The melodies are great, but I can't get Ray Davies out of my head. I gave it a four, just because it is so unique. It gets better as it goes along, and has an overall cohesiveness to it that should make it enjoyable for all. If you like Neutral Milk Hotel, you will probably enjoy this album as well..."
Why isn't there more hype?
J Scotty | Los Angeles | 08/11/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I had read a few reviews of this before I bought it and they were all basically mediocre or slightly above average. Despite a member of the Get Up Kids being in the band, they rock with a sincerity and style of Crooked Fingers/Arcade Fire/Band of Horses and probably a few more bands I can't think of at the moment. Perhaps a little bit of Neutral Milk Hotel. Although, maybe I'm just reeling from the first few listens. All in all, Matt Suggs' voice and credibility bring this all together. Butterglory never had this much energy, but they did offer a clever line here and there ("the halo over your head...turned out to be horns instead"). It's got a sea-faring charm with some sincerity and I find it hard to see through them.
Which I can't say the same for Margot and the Nuclear So and So's."
Aim high, sail low.
Mister Charlie | Los Angeles, CA | 02/06/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Butterglory, blah blah blah. Nobody here has yet mentioned that Matt Suggs made two solo albums since Butterglory's last album, which by the way was in 1997, 10 years ago. Mr. Suggs has come a long way since the shambling indie pop of that band! Despite the collaboration here, this White Whale album sounds like a logicial continuation of what he was developing over those albums.
a complaint about the amazon "product description": why mention Big Star, Black Sabbath or Badfinger? I don't get the connection at all. Okay, maybe the Badfinger in the last half of "Yummyman Farewell". Maybe.
Arcade Fire (or even the Decemberists) is a more apt comparison, which you can't help just from seeing the artwork for both albums. I'm not exactly sure what lies beneath Arcade Fire's songs, but beneath White Whale's sweeping smarty-pants indie rock is an barnacly underbelly of blues and folk, even at times Irish/Celtic folk. The Unreal Folk Blues Of White Whale? Suggs has a distinctive voice that has occasionally reminded me of Nick Drake with more oomph, or a more mealy-mouthed Beck.
"We're Just Temporary Ma'am" would be my pick for a single or exploratory download.
All the buzzes and drum fills, tinkling pianos, build-ups and break downs are in the right places, and somehow this album pulls off the curious trick of seeming both adventurous and predictible at the same time. I guess it's all a matter of whether you've heard too much of this before or not. If you've never heard of Arcade Fire or the Decemberists or White Whale and are trying to pick between the 3, I'd say White Whale might be the easiest port of entry because Suggs' vocals are easier to swallow than the shouty Arcade Fire or the nasally Decemberists.
Oh, and as for the pre-war/seafaring references, I'm not bothered that they focus on a time and subject that probably gets next to zero hits at google, nor am I bothered that they often don't make sense. I say: you GO, white whale. I need all the breaks I can get from the gangstas, playahs, and heart-on-my-sleevers that dominate the charts (and, often, the "indie" world as well). Who is semolina pilchard, anyway? Does it matter?"
Jambase.com review
P. Kaufman | 09/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Side project or a super group? Such is not determined, but the listeners can decide for themselves. Lawrence, Kansas's White Whale features vocalist Matt Suggs of Butterglory, bassist Rob Pope of mope masters The Get Up Kids, as well as John Anderson, Zach Holland, and Dustin Kinsey of The Higher Burning Fire. They come from a state of being where they're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, as their debut release is epic, dramatic, and cinematic but not too much. They obviously contain the Peter Pan complex of the Arcade Fire while coming off as if it was the Decemberists who made OK Computer while on a field trip to The Village Green Preservation Society.
"O'William, O'Sarah" is a seven-minute-plus passage down a lane of mood swings that remains rousing and rollicking with its fuzzy organ lines. "The Admiral" is like a heavy chamber pop amelioration given to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune with a hair-raising choral breakdown, while the deep-water ambience that floods numbers like "I Love Lovely Chinese Gal" makes it seem as if White Whale has just stumbled upon the lost kingdom of Atlantis. "What's an Ocean For" is rather quaint in the manner in which it galvanizes the listener as "We're Just Temporary Ma'am" is tantamount to a crescendo sea chantey that a crew of tipsy nineteenth century sailors would sing around a bottle.
Be it instrumentally or vocally, WWI is delivered with tepid fervor on all fronts. It's the end of the world as White Whale knows it, but they feel fine, Matey.
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
