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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You've Gotta Love the Whitlams, May 26, 2006
Little Cloud is the latest offering from Sydney-based troubadours `The Whitlams'. While most fans rate `Love this city' or even earlier work as the finest example of the band's swinging rock and gentle ballad style, Little Cloud is proof that the band is at an all time high- Tim Freedman continues to surpass himself when it comes to beautiful songs and even more beautiful lyrics. Most bands have rough patches- we're still waiting for a bad or even mediocre Whitlams album, it hasn't happened yet. The rodent or rat being referred to through the album, on quite a few of the songs, is an analogy for John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister. The Whitlams are huge supporters of the Australian Labor Party, and like a lot of Australian's were somewhat shocked and disheartened about John Howard's 2004 election win- which inspired some of the music of this album. As Tim said, `this album is about New York, fancy lovers and a rodent'.
Here's a track-by-track guide to the double album:
Been Away Too Long
Here we have a classic pop tune, with a slightly dreamy quality, to me it recalls the feeling of being sleepy and somewhat jetlagged whilst being overseas for months, or years, then landing and realizing- you've been away too long, realizing this is where all your loved ones are- the place where you belong. Some interesting guitar work in this.
White Horses
The somewhat dull, fluffy opening leads into one of the catchiest songs on the album. White Horses would make a great single, as its one of the best songs on Little Cloud. `Any winner's a loser baby...any loser will tell you that' is an infectious line that will be stuck in your heads for days.
I Was Alive
This was the first single off the album, and has been on repeat on my iPod for about a month... it's about, as Tim explained at a concert, `a nightmare girl', and although Tim enjoys many a glass of red wine, it seems he met a girl that liked a good time more than he did. It's an upbeat masterpiece. `She don't know which one to buy- Australian shooter or Australian Bride'- great line.
Year of the Rat
Took me a long time to get into this one, the hook is a little more subtle than most of the other songs on the album, but eventually I started to like it, it's a little `Louis Burdett'-esque. In the concert, Tim explained it was about driving from the airport to the city after getting off the plane from his extended holiday in New York (he spent a few months in the big apple) and seeing all the changes that had been made to the place.
Keep The Light On
This is one of the many beautiful songs on this album, I don't think it was intended to be a song about death but to me it is- about keeping the light on for someone close who's died, vowing to always remember them. On the flipside, it could be about losing someone in the sense of them leaving, and it remains equally as powerful. The opening line is pretty poignant- `we stumble into each others lives, we knock some things over, Try not to make a sound.'
Tonight
Tim said that with this song he was trying to capture some sort of inexplicable longing, which I think he's achieved quite well. It's a middle ground between the punchy rock numbers and the softer ballads. The chorus has got a serious hook with the line `And you run to stay still, you hope your heart explodes, your beating wings'....it is pop at its finest.
12 Hours
This would be an equal tie for my favorite song on the album. It's a melancholy ballad reminiscent of `Charlie No. 2 (Buy Now, Pay Later), about the emptiness that's felt after a long relationship ends, trying to pick up the fragments of your life and realizing who you are. The best line of the song, either the first one `Spent 12 hours drinking, slept with someone that looked like you', or the achingly heartfelt `If they let me into heaven they can close down hell'. The last line of this song offers a jab at John Howard `pour another barman- `cause the rodent got back in'.
Little Cloud
`The fence, it shimmers in the heat, like it wants to disappear'- not a particularly extraordinary lyric, but the hook that accompanies it outshines any other on the album. This is one of those songs that have to be listened to a few times before its brilliance shines through.
Beauty in Me
This song is about a young girl addicted to drugs that Tim has come in contact with before, it's a pretty sad song, once again fairly poignant, but it's also pretty catchy and one of the first songs I really liked on the album. Like the first line `Cross legged on the front lawn, she's had a bad pill, lights of the city they can all go to hell.'
Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent
This is the second single off the album, it's a fairly solid, catchy little number, but lacks a certain something possessed by most other tracks on the album. Slightly repetitive, but probably pretty radio-friendly. I like the line `I'm in awe of the sabotage within'. The song is all about...well use your imagination, the heart growing absent due to fondness, although the lyrics are pretty abstract.
Beautiful As You
Whilst bordering on being slightly generic, the song manages to create some sort of individual signature, and it's by no means unlikable. The lyrics don't run too deep, which is in some senses a pleasant reprieve; it's just basically a simple song about missing home and being in love. "I miss you like I miss the skyline of my home town, And I love you like I love the familiar feeling of being homeward bound ...'
Second Best
This song has a `late night' feel to it, it's a song I find it quite hard to get into, I don't actively dislike it, it just doesn't really appeal to me.
Fancy Lover
I love the lyrics in this. Tim has captured a very real and yet ignored situation- the song is about pretty much falling into a relationship with someone who is `fancy', that is, out of your league. It has moments of whimsy `Where do they get to meet their own kind of people, is there a light on the steeple that only fancy people see?' but they have an undertone of sadness, for knowing you're not good enough for someone is a pretty lousy feeling. The song also acts as counseling for those in the same situation `she wouldn't look so perfect, if it was just for you...' The best thing about this song though, is the backing vocals, fitting in perfect with the flow of the song.
Stay With Me
This is a pretty standard Whitlams rocker, it's as close to a `filler' on this album as you'd find, its pretty inoffensive, it might be one of those tracks I haven't listened to enough, it's possible I'll get more into it later on.
She's Moving In
This is my least favorite song on the album, described by the Sydney Morning Herald as `a cat-house shanty', it's just merging into genres of music that don't really appeal to me, maybe other people will enjoy it.
The Curse Stops Here
The Final song on the second CD is equal favorite (with 12 hours), it's a haunting ballad continuing on the story of Stevie Plunder from the original Whitlams line-up who died in a mysterious fall off a cliff in the Blue Mountains in 1994. This has been around for many years, appearing first as a B-Side on the `Blow Up The Pokies' single. Many of the Whitlam's songs have been about Stevie and his death, and some about Andy, another of the three original band members who committed suicide (Blow up the pokies) the Charlie songs are al based around Stevie, but in my eyes `The curse stops here' is the most touching one, talking of Tim's despair over the death of his friend. The first line is enough to feel the emotion...'Stevie left on a Friday too...' it's heartbreakingly beautiful.
Essential Tracks:
* 12 hours
* The curse stops here
* Little Cloud
* White Horses
* Keep the Light On
* I Was Alive
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good value!, May 3, 2006
This was a great album - I was expecting quite a departure from the classic Whitlams style of the earlier albums, but they bring it back to some extent in "I Was Alive" and "Stay With Me". "Beauty In Me" was excellent, as was "Keep The Light On" and "White Horses".
Even if you just *like* the Whitlams, and are not a huge fan, I still recommend this album.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From Sydney to New York (and back again), April 14, 2006
Wow! I must say I was extremely impressed by this double album, it has the heart and energy of their previous releases but a much more advanced structure and production. The songs are catchy and laced with Mr. Freedman's trademark wit...
"Cross-legged on the front lawn she's had a bad pill
The lights of the city they can all go to hell"
It is instantly lovable (start to finish) and is currantly on high rotation in our household. The final and only live track 'The Curse Stops Here' played with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra may well be their finest song to date.
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