Label

Universal

Release date

11th August 2008

Genre

Folk rock

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Anti-folk tyros forget that nobody likes a smartarse

London quintet Noah and the Whale are the latest emissaries from the uneven but intriguing anti-folk scene. Indeed, the relationship between the group's singer, Charlie Fink, and Laura Marling, who appears on this debut album, has led one intrepid critic to evaluate the pair as "the Dylan and Baez for the LDN generation", which may feasibly be setting the bar rather high

This view is reinforced by listening to the album, which is clearly the work of precocious talents who are neither quite as clever nor as engaging as they think they are. Opener 2 Atoms In A Molecule is a truly horrible lopsided twee reel, while the title track and Do What You Do are marred by Fink's arch vocal affectations. The ukelele-driven Top 10 single 5 Years Time shows Noah and the Whale can pen a winning pop tune, but Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down mostly finds them trying way too hard.

More to try: Tunng: Good Arrows The Moldy Peaches: The Moldy Peaches Bright Eyes: Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground