2012 Music Recap: Diluvia

I’ve made no secret of my distaste for writing, and honestly, speaking, about music. I just don’t think I’m that good at it. What I am good at is listening to music. In 2012, I’ve thus far listened to over 80 albums, much to the chagrin of my fellow bloggers. As we approach our onslaught of end-of-the-year lists, I thought it would only be fair to go back a write at least something about the candidates for my list, in no particular order. There are going to be a lot of these, so I’ll keep them brief. P.S: I’ll embed a song from YouTube in each post, so you can sample each band.

Freelance Whales – Diluvia

In his review for The A.V. Club, Marc Hawthorne called Diluvia a “grower” – an album that took a few listens to really click for him. I did not have that experience at all, perhaps because this was the first Freelance Whales record I ever heard. It is a fun, super catchy little record, in the vein of Sufjan Stevens. The songs aren’t short, with most hitting at least the four minute mark, but it works because every song builds – and you know how much a love it when they do that.

Yeah, Freelance Whales is a pretty dumb thing to name your band. It’s the kind of name I’m embarrassed to say, for fear of getting douche shivers. But trust me, this is a really great album, the kind of which I am probably destined to enjoy. Such is the hipster burden, I guess.

Favorite Tracks: “Follow Through,” “Spitting Image,” “Dig Into Waves”