The Umbrellas
Fairweather Friend
Release Date: Jan 26, 2024
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Twee Pop
Record label: Slumberland
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Album Review: Fairweather Friend by The Umbrellas
Excellent, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Barely a week goes by without someone, somewhere putting out a decent indie-pop record. From impressively consistent labels like Slumberland to bedroom artists lovingly creating homemade cassettes, the music is out there if you know where to look — and it's still very good. But while the standard of indie-pop may not have fallen, its star certainly has.
Opinion: Excellent
The Umbrellas' second album opens with a shimmer of cymbal, a bobbling pogo stick of bass, a jagged slash of guitar, hitting harder from the get-go than in the dream-poppy self-titled. Two distinct personalities emerge from songs which alternate lead singers. "Three Cheers," and indeed, all the cuts lead sung by Matt Ferrara, leans hard into Postcard Records/C86-ish pop.
Opinion: Excellent
San Francisco four-some The Umbrellas released their self-recorded, self-titled debut album back in 2021 , an indie pop song cycle that seemed much more than a genre piece. Propelled by fizzing, helter-skelter energy and some incisive lyricism, the record was spotlighted by live shows underpinned by a muscular heft - and thirst for noise - that those studio sessions could only hint at. Second LP 'Fairweather Friend' aims to build outwards.
'Fairweather Friend'
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