Noah & the Whale @ Union Pool (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

"Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, the debut LP by the London folk-pop quartet, bites its best sensitive-indie forebears and then pukes up all the most superficial chunks. You've got your boy-girl harmonies: Charlie Fink sounds like a UK Jens Lekman covering Pedro the Lion; Laura Marling is more Amelia Fletcher. You've got your quirky, mostly sprightly arrangements: acoustic guitar, ukulele, banjo, glockenspiel, handclaps, fingersnaps, strings, horns, eccentric percussion... the full Sufjan Stevens. You've also got your trite generalities, ridiculous philosophical musings, utterly banal narrator, and, most damningly, no recognizable sense. of. humor. at. all. This is twee pop you might order in a kit, ask Dad to put together, and then leave on a shelf for the dust to cover up (the sooner the better)." [Marc Hogan, Pitchforkmedia.com]

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