Frankie Valet - Waterfowl (February 7, 2020) Album

OhTheWater · Nov 20, 2018

1. Nakid
2. Water foul
3. Engulfed
4. Theo
5. Soft skin
6. Wilt
7. Our apartment
8. Try not to think
9. You found me out
10. Alright okay

The songs that we return to throughout our life are often, ironically, songs that we come to in a period of change: melodies that soundtrack love lost or direction found, lyrical fragments that invite us to process, a vitality that pushes us with confidence into unfamiliar territory. Frankie valet write those kinds of songs. Out 2/7 via It Takes Time Records, their new record Waterfowl is a collection that brims with eagerness and invention, that confronts both the clamour of youthful confusion and the stillness of nostalgia—in other words, it’s the sound of four friends growing together.

Frankie valet is Jack Elliott-Higgins on guitar and vocals, Felix Nelson on guitar and vocals, Gram Tolish on drums, and Alison Setili on bass and vocals. After a period of rotating through members, the lineup coalesced around the time the band recorded 2018’s Stop Apologizing, a charming and often understated document of a young band in transition.

Waterfowl, on the other hand, is something else entirely—an ambitious showpiece for a band simultaneously hitting their stride and exploring their range. Contemplative slowcore, MBV-indebted fuzz, post-punk propulsion, and good old-fashioned guitar heroics find a home on this record, often in the same song. The compositions are as unafraid to explore the corners of a placid groove as they are to veer off unexpectedly; mid-album highlight “Soft Skin” perhaps best captures this perfect blend of patience and restlessness, and the effect is something like Yo La Tengo with unmedicated ADHD.

The record is also a fitting companion to Frankie valet’s combustible live show, translating the band’s energy into a warm, lived-in mid-fi zone perfectly suited to songs that embrace dynamics in both decibel and feeling. These four perform with the urgency of a group that knows first hand the actualizing power of a basement show, and Waterfowl is smart to preserve that sense of purpose.

It’s a purpose born of their fertile, sometimes overlooked St. Louis scene, the accidental orbit of friendship and inspiration from which they emerged (Jack met Felix at a show in 2016 when Felix, only 19, asked Jack to buy him a beer). Likewise, the band’s process reflects the creative crossfire of any healthy scene—they write collaboratively, sharing lyrical duties among the vocalists and bringing musical ideas to practice in their infancy, for the group to flesh out together. The words and music reverberate with their communal origins.

“Everyone is speechless from afar,” goes the refrain to tone-setting album opener “Nakid.” As a negative formulation of Frankie valet’s power, it’s a perfect lyric: Waterfowl is a record that invites closeness as an antidote to voicelessness, that celebrates shared growth in all its thrills and embarrassments. And best of all, it’s just the first step. - Nathan Tucker

OhTheWater · Nov 20, 2018

This thing draws from all over. I'm definitely hearing Elliott Smith on "Holes in Your Story". Love the vocals on "April". This could fit nicely on Orchid Tapes. Check it out!

OhTheWater · Nov 20, 2018

@sophos34 @primavera @yung_ting @Swae Lee

primavera · Nov 20, 2018

liked the song in the vid, i’ll check this out

sean_rugy · Nov 20, 2018

Elliot Smith and Orchid Tapes is a perfect RIYL

yung_ting · Nov 21, 2018

this sounds great, thanks Spo

OhTheWater · Jan 14, 2020

New one

OhTheWater · Jan 14, 2020

I'm just gonna update this to be the album thread for the new joint lol

OhTheWater · Jan 14, 2020

Engulfed rules

sean_rugy · Jan 14, 2020

I got so confused for a second lol

Leftandleaving · Jan 23, 2020

Nice

Justin Roux · Feb 11, 2020

Really falling in love with this, it’s gonna be perfect for when spring comes around.

Elder Lightning · Feb 11, 2020

Parts of this are really hitting for me, but other parts not so much.

There's enough here, though, and some definite earworms, that I can see myself coming back to it, but I'll probably be more into it when the weather warms up.

Elder Lightning · Jul 1, 2020

Finally decided to come back to this and really feeling it today.

gonz (Alex) · Feb 21, 2023

new ep and it’s good!

perfect timing as i’d been wondering in recent weeks if the band survived the initial covid years

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