London based Noah and the Whale have created wistfully gentle indie/anti/nu/pop-folk sound only since 2006. The band, Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar, harmonica, ukulele), Tom Hobden (fiddle), Urby Whale (harmonium, bass), and Doug Fink (drums), say that in addition to folk they find influence in punk (but who doesn't). Critics have compared Noah and the Whale to Belle & Sebastian, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Bonnie Prince Billy.

The name Noah and the Whale came from their favorite film, The Squid and the Whale, directed by Noah Baumbach. Staying on the topic of film, they love the films of Wes Anderson (but who doesn't), and close many of their emails and blog posts "sic transit gloria" (translated, "thus passes the glory of the world"), a phrase used in Wes' great film Rushmore.

Even though they are a young band, they have already played Leeds, Reading, Latitude, SXSW, V Festival, Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury. They are not a small deal, that list pretty much covers the major music festivals in the U.K. and U.S.

Although on the surface, Noah and the Whale's music, with its instrumental bells, whistles, ukuleles and claps, appears light and happy, there's clearly a far darker narrative within. The lyrics tell stories describing the tension between life-ness and death-ness, between hopefulness and hopelessness.

Their third L.P., The First Days of Spring, surfaced October 06, 2009 in the U.S. and is more electric than their previous L.P.'s, but maintains their signature epic story telling formula, this time about the disenchantment of a relationship. The band created a related film corresponding to the album, also called The First Days of Spring.

On a sad/happy note, on August 28th 2009 (three days before the U.K. release of The First Days of Spring) Doug announced his intent to leave the band and pursue a career in medicine.

Visit their YouTube page here, their myspace page here and their website here.

Check here to see if Noah and the Whale have any gigs scheduled near you.

As always, whenever possible, please buy your music from your local independent music store by people who know and love music and not from retailers like Wal-Mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-Tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand). Incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the United States. That my friend, bites.

Noah and the Whale rock.

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