The Explorers Club
Freedom Wind
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Dead Oceans
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Album Review: Freedom Wind by The Explorers Club
Very Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
To say that the Explorers Club are trying to channel the mid-'60s Beach Boys on Freedom Wind isn't meant as complaint or praise or any other subjective judgment. It's objective. They are trying to channel the Beach Boys, utterly, totally, completely, and they're not pretending otherwise. From the reverb and the ever popular Ronettes drum break starting "Forever" and the album off to the close harmonies and the lyrical subject matter and more, even the studio chatter, this is a Beach Boys clone, tribute, borrowing, imitation, call it what you will.
Based on rating 7/10
The name might exude adventure, but this sextet from Charleston, South Carolina isn't about to discover new musical territory any time soon. Freedom Wind is the sound of a band in love with harmony-laden sixties pop, more specifically the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. After 30 seconds of Forever you’ll have probably drawn up a mental list of the Explorers Club's chief influences, but this doesn't have to be a problem; the harmonies are polished and the melody is sufficiently summery to make denying the song's obvious charms virtually impossible.
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