Canadian indie pop? Who’d have thought! Seriously, though, Vancouver’s Said the Whale have been around for over six years making crisp pop songs–but Hawaii is the first album of theirs that I’ve been lucky enough to hear. The lead single, “I Love You,” is awesome–and not even a little twee. Other great cuts are the opening track, More Than This, a trippy piano-based song that would be at home in any Edie Brickell or Grateful Dead fan’s collection; On The Ropes, which almost sounds like Beach Boys pop (only more sophisticated); and the acoustic “Narrows.”
But truly, every song is a winner here.
This is on my “Best of 2013” shortlist.
