popwreckoning updates

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-02-15

Posted: 15 Feb 2009 10:59 PM CST

(@glowah) Coldplay just won song of the year. I think it should have been the grammy for best bouncing of the year. Settle down Chris. #
(@indierockjess) Am I the only person not watching the Grammys slash the only one who didn’t even realize they were on tonight? #
(@glowah) Blink 182 is back for real! Album and tour in the works. #
(@indierockjess) server down #
(@davinic) jenny lewis’s ‘carpetbagger’ playing at jack stack restaurant! #
(@spikingmidgets) Guess what! The fucking servers down! #
(@spikingmidgets) Holy Crap! This is worth the read: http://tinyurl.com/acpx5w #
(@indierockjess) Ryan Adams engaged to Mandy Moore?!!!? #
(@indierockjess) SO EXCITED that it’s almost 6PM and it’s not totally dark outside yet! Dear summer, let’s get a move on! #
(@davinic) watching zooey, matt, and jenny on Elvis Costello’s ‘Spectacle’ #
(@dollsneerpiece) : i was SO at that taping. #
(@davinic) nice performance of ‘pretty bird’ by jenny with matt on guitar. #
(@davinic) love the dual drummers. Costello better live than on album. #
(@indierockjess) totally loving @davinic! he’s got beautiful things coming for us!! #
(@davinic) california pizza kitchen playing Rilo Kiley’s ‘It’s a Hit’. Maybe today is a holiday for hangin’ (out) . #
(@indierockjess) dear publicists, i really do love you, but stop sending me the same email 15 times. thx<3 #
(@indierockjess) jammin’ out to some Drlkt Freddie at my desk! http://www.myspace.com/drlktfreddie #
(@indierockjess) Dinner with the French Kicks #
(@indierockjess) thenewno2 album is pretty rad (son of a Beatle, has to be in the genes?) check it: http://www.myspace.com/thenewno2 #
(@indierockjess) …so the press release says - I’ve not picked it up hehe #
(@indierockjess) Download “Let’s Get It On” for free, today only!! http://tinyurl.com/bsdrhc #
(@spikingmidgets) new manchester orchestra single has hit the radio! Thank you god for another reason to live! #
(@indierockjess) “Dollhouse” is awesome, watch it: http://tinyurl.com/b69psl #

February 8, 2009 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-02-08 (0)
January 25, 2009 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-01-25 (0)
January 18, 2009 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-01-18 (0)
January 11, 2009 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-01-11 (0)
January 4, 2009 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-01-04 (0)
December 21, 2008 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-12-21 (0)
December 14, 2008 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-12-14 (0)
December 7, 2008 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-12-07 (0)
November 30, 2008 — Twitter Weekly Updates for 2008-11-30 (0)
September 26, 2008 — Live Updates From Austin City Limits (0)

Or, The Whale - Light Poles and Pines

Posted: 15 Feb 2009 11:10 AM CST

“Come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? Ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! Man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run.” Okay, so maybe I stole that from Herman Melville, but that is kind of how I felt about country music. I was sure my soul could not be swerved to like the genre. Enter Or, The Whale, the California seven-piece, who got their name from Melville’s famous Moby Dick Or, The Whale. They have swerved me and their album Light Poles and Pines has me hooked on their brand of country.

Starting with the a capella on “Call and Response”, this group has breathtaking harmonies. The vocal control on this album is perfect. When describing adverse atmospheric conditions like on “St. Bernard”, the vocals take on a rawness. Yet, when it comes time for the final song on the album, “Fight Song”, they sing with clarity, "If this is the last song that you hear, I'll make sure it is sharp and clear." There’s even less country twang on this tribute to soldiers lost in war.

When you have seven members in a group, you are bound to have some fun instrumental combination. Or, the Whale uses the sounds of banjo, accordion, mandolin, washboard and harmonica in addition to the traditional drums, guitars and bass. The group really has fun on the quirky “Prayer for the Road”, where they really just jam out with a false start and everything. The playfulness of this song is welcome after a few tracks that had dragged preceding it.

Or, The Whale’s Light Poles and Pines is available now.

Tracklisting:
01. Call and Response
02. Saint Bernard
03. Threads
04. Isn't She Awful
05. Death of Me
06. Crack A Smile
07. Fixin' to Leave
08. Rope Don't Break
09. Life and Death at Sea
10. Gonna Have To
11. Prayer for the Road
12. Bound to Go Home
13. Fight Song

Or, the Whale: website | myspace