The Devil Whale Made Me Do It

First of all, let me give this disclaimer: this is not a record review. This is a statement of theory, a huge claim, a broad generalization: at some point in your life, you will have a Dark Side of The Moon/Wizard of Oz-esque experience with The Devil Whale's full length release, Like Paraders.

Mine happened just a few months ago. I was moving into a new apartment, and it was a drastic change from the previous places and situations that I've found myself in over the past couple years. While moving all my stuff into my new room, I popped on Like Paraders, which I had recently purchased at The Devil Whale's CD release show at Velour in Provo. The first words of the first song could have been taken straight out of my mouth then: "And if this house fails should we just rebuild by the shadetree on the hill where we can see...The grass is greener there and there's cleaner air and there's no trace of our careless history."

As the haunting lullaby continued, I unpacked my things. The album's second track, "Conscious, A Friend Who Lies," could have been a narration given by a passerby: "You decorate your house, you hope it makes a difference. The outside matters on the inside..."

I'm probably not even qualified to review this record anyway. Its sound draws on influence from a variety of genres, from alt-country to folk to straight up classic rock. As a person who doesn't consider myself to have as broad a music collection as I would like, I can honestly say that Like Paraders has inspired me to broaden my taste, like a gateway drug into a refreshing new world of sound. But this is a record that both music elitists and commoners alike will love.

I've since moved out of that apartment, and into a new one. I'm sure I will move into many more as I drift around this college town. And every time I do, Like Paraders will be the soundtrack to this bitter twentysomething's travels.

So whether you are a Coldplay-loving sweet-bro or a vintage-clothes-wearing music snob, or anything in between, we all experience certain commonalities in our lives. And Like Paraders, by The Devil Whale, will be right there to provide the soundtrack to those commonalities.