WHITE WHALE
WWI
Merge
· ’70s stadium rock is not dead – it’s just gone indie.
White Whale sets out their modus operandi early on WWI’s opening tirade "Nine Good Fingers," guitars raging alongside slamming drums. The shadow of ‘70s rock hangs heavy overhead, but that’s not meant as any sort of disrespect. While the likes of The Darkness and The Kings of Leon come off as mere moronic re-plays, White Whale have sifted through the decade’s decadence and held aside those aspects worth saving.
At times it might get a little bit misdirected – "I Love Lovely Chinese Gal," for one – but how much can you fault a band who plays so big and so well? "What’s an Ocean For?" solves its own titular question as, "to carry a ship ashore," and sometimes the answers are really just that easy. There’s mad imagination at play here and while WWI may not have all of the hooks and crannies of their forefathers in place, it is at least one of the most layered – and somehow unique – listens so far this year.
"Who are you trying to kid?" begs "O’William, O’Sarah’s" epic middle section, but it comes without question that White Whale, at least, truly mean every second.
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