O.K., get ready for the hyperbole: The Whale, by Wild Sweet Orange, is the EP I’ve heard in a long time. Granted, it’s a 2007 release, but I’m just getting to it and holy crap is it good. Beginning with the marching existential angst of “Wrestle With God†and ending with the sweet kindness of “I’m Coming Home,†the EP takes the listener on a natural progression from the frustration of the lack of the faith to the recognition that, to quote Lennon, love is all you need.
Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, and similar in some ways to Drive-By Truckers, Broken West, and the like, Wild Sweet Orange nevertheless has its own sound. I haven’t been this blown apart by an EP since . . . I really don’t know when. I’ve read that we can expect a full-length CD on Canvasback Music (Columbia Records) in 2008.
I can’t wait.
