Over the course of three Smith Westerns albums, the group matured from fuzzed-out buzz band to 70’s-sheen rockers. But with the emergence of the band Whitney it’s apparent that it wasn’t frontman Cullen Omori that made the Smith Westies such an intriguing project. Instead, it’s guitarist Max Kakacek and drummer Julien Ehrlich that have managed to re-purpose the band’s best ideas and push things to unexpected places.
Whitney are chill with lo-fi tracks are, if anything, even more magical live than they are recorded. Add in the visual of a drummer/vocalist and some expert brass instrumentation, and you have a perfect storm of sonic goodness. Their set at the Bodega Social was exactly that, and I’m counting down the minutes and seconds till they play in my city again. Light Upon The Lake, that pops with jukebox familiarity. Maybe it’s the guidance of fellow 70’s rock aficionado Jonathan Rado that translates the ideas of Whitney into such a fully-formed, unexpected debut,
The Fat Angel Sings 