A Weather's Everyday Balloons

Track List:

1. Third of Life

2. Winded

3. Ducks in a Row

4. Seven Blankets

5. Midday Moon

6. Newfallen

7. No Big Hope

8. Fond

9. Happiness

10. Giant Stairs

11. Lay Me Down

Rating: 89

It would take too long to get into what I love about the Seinfeld reference A Weather has made with the title of their sophomore effort, Everyday Balloons. But if you’re even familiar with the show (and if you’re not, I’m kind of impressed) then you know the sort of understated brilliance that made the show so popular. Yada, yada, yada, long story short: you don’t need a plot to make a sitcom, and you definitely don’t need a special occasion for balloons. Combine that reference with the supple veneer of A Weather’s arrangements and it’s easy to think of their music as mellow. But this deceptively simple cover hides an infinitely more intricate book than judgment might indicate. In fact, even if you give Everyday Balloons a few casual listens, it may still seem no more than mellow bedroom rock. The truly amazing thing about this album is that, if you really listen, and even crank it up a bit louder than seems necessary, Everyday Balloons takes on a much more anthemic austere. This album plays equally well softly dribbling from your earbuds as it does streaming out of open car windows in the early spring. That kind of duality implies a certain depth to the music that lends itself to heavy rotation on the playlist, the essence of an anthem. To put it another way, you might consider busting out the old discman (ask your parents) for a while and give the iPod a rest.

Cove, in 2008, proved to the world that this previously albumless band deserved every bit of that Bright Eyes opening slot in 2007 and job with his label Team Love. Cove reminded us that slow doesn’t have to mean sad. Nothing about their sound is forced which is really saying something considering the genres in which they’re dabbling. They never try too hard like Stars or Snow Patrol, despite the vocal similarities between Aaron Gerber and Gary Lightbody. They never feel too heavy like The National, though they do try on “Seven Blankets.” They don’t get overly cutesy like The Brunettes or The Ditty Bops, although I’ve heard the alternate album title for Balloons was 1,001 Adorable Similes. All this praise they earned with a debut. With the follow-up, they take a big step towards becoming reference points of the genre like Belle and Sebastian or Iron & Wine.

“Third of Life” starts us off here on Balloons with, if not their best, then at least the most aggressive track on record. It’s aggressive musically, but vocally it’s a really charmingly folksy duet about a couple generally coming to terms with life and love. This is one of the tracks you’re going to need to turn up. Somehow Adam Selzer’s production (Re: M. Ward, The Decemberists) gives the crackling reverb that brings the song to a close a certain delicacy. In a lot of ways, “Third of Life” is reminiscent of Wilco or Yo La Tengo’s spacier distortions, especially when it comes to the meshing of soft and loud. It might be comparatively aggressive, but it’s still rather subtle. The playful little piano bridge into “Winded” and the mantra-like chorus “all that I need is to steadily breathe in and let it out slowly” brings us back to the lighter side of A Weather which is equally important to the duality of the music. The vocals are breathy as ever, but there’s less of a Lightbody feel to Gerber’s voice. The softness feels more genuine, less like stylized whispering. Sarah Winchester’s voice blends with Gerber’s so well that it’s like watching a movie where you know the male and female leads will wind up together. They’re sort of a backwards Mates of State with Winchester on drums, but the chemistry is the same.

“Seven Blankets” is by no means aggressive, but it’s even more ambitious than “Third of Life.” “Third’s” six minutes and 23 seconds feel shorter because of the transitional construction of the song as it expands, and the same is true of “Blanket’s” five and a half minutes. The line between keys and guitar is blurred throughout the album, but especially here. The slow burning melody timed off by what sounds like the dinning of a church bell gives way to more lush instrumentation with a line that pretty well sums up the feeling of the track (or album really): “Just before the pipes froze, I ran the faucet and filled the tub.” Aside from eloquently capturing the essence of their sound, this line is also pretty exemplary of the comfortably domestic metaphors that color their sound so deftly. “Midday Moon” and “Newfallen” demonstrate this theme with lines like “You once were a dish sponge, now you clean tiles in the bathroom where sponges go to die” and “Oh, how fun that we get to be alive at the same time.” On paper, it’s hard to get past how silly it is, but they just work.

“Winded” and “No Big Hope” portray the hot and cold tendencies of A Weather. Whether anthemic or anti-anthemic, the bittersweet lyrics mainly revolve around aging and regrets. The beauty of this album is in the pacing. The tracks flow effortlessly into one another and have the ability to console while they depress. “Midday Moon” feels like Winchester alone with a piano, while tracks like “Third of Life” can feel like there are about a dozen people in the room. Cove fit more comfortably into the chamber pop category, but Everyday Balloons really tests the limits. It’s smart, sweet and soulful without being hackneyed or self-indulgent. These aren’t party balloons, they’re everyday balloons.