Album Review

Whales In Cubicles – Dance In The Evening

• 10th Feb 2014

London based Whales In Cubicles recorded this excellent debut album at the legendary Monnow Valley Studio in Wales. It was produced by Nick Mailing and mixed by Simon ‘Barny’ Barnicott (Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Editors). The band’s indie-with-a-hint-of-psychedelia approach is well done, and the sheer variety of music on the album is quite surprising for a debut release.

Whales In Cubicles are a quartet, namely Stef Bernardi, Alex Pyper, Matt Banham and Fred Fuller. They have been around since 2010, with a couple of well received singles to their name. And a great name it is too, apparently inspired by Andrew Bird’s song Plasticities (“I think life is too long/ To be a whale in a cubicle/ Nails under your cuticle”).

The album opens with Yesterday’s News, which kicks things off at top pace in rock mode. The guitars shred out riff after riff over a lovely bass line and the track also features a great guitar solo. But then We Never Win starts softly with emotional vocals before building into something of a dystopian anthem. And the single All The Pretty Flowers really stands out, a lovely retro melancholic track with delicate lead vocals and some great harmonies.

Golden Medal has a faster vocal pace and a repeated melody that gives way to some more fine lead guitar work. Across America is different yet again, a piano opening the track before the vocals soar in a track that rises and falls superbly. At times a stadium rocker, at others quieter and introspective, this five minute epic is really the album in microcosm. Disappear returns to more standard indie fare, although the acoustic guitar intro suggests something different – and then the big riffs take over. This is another that will sound great live.

Nowhere Flag sees the guitars take on a grungy tone, although it is the chant along chorus that stands out. Wax And Feathers sounds more like a ballad, the vocals smooth over a restrained guitar and some intricate drum beats. The psychedelic touches, the flourishes and soaring harmonies, make this another standout track.

The album’s closing paring head into something close to prog rock territory. The bass heavy I Knew It simmers just below the boil, the expected explosion never quite coming, although the power in the track is still huge. And then Find Your Way, a massive track coming in at more than eight minutes long, shimmers and shines superbly. Acoustic phases with intricate guitar melodies one minute, fuzzy guitars and soaring vocals the next, it fairly speeds by. And this time it does burst into life with wailing guitars and big drum rolls aplenty before a final quieter phase brings the album to a close.

Whales In Cubicles have produced a very good debut album that demonstrates talents ranging from the out and out anthemic rockers to the more tender retro sounding tracks. Not too many bands have such a wide variation of approaches – and to do them all well marks Whales In Cubicles as ones to watch in the future.

Venue: Dance In The Evening
Support Band: Club The Mammoth