San Francisco-based jangle-pop four-piece The Umbrellas return with their second full-length “Fairweather Friend” on January 26, a co-release by Slumberland Records of the USA and Tough Love Records of the UK. With alternating guy-gal lead vocals and rich harmonizing from Matt Ferrera and Morgan Stanley (as both wield guitars in the scheme), the record offers an energetic and catchy journey down a well-traversed indie pop avenue of everlasting appeal.
Completed by bassist Nick Oka and drummer Keith Frerichs, The Umbrellas debuted in 2019 with the 5-song “Maritime E.P.” via the cassette specialist label Discontinuous Innovation Inc. and followed up that likeable set with an eponymous LP for Slumberland in 2021. “Write It in the Sky” b/w “I’ll Never Understand” arrived in 2022, co-released by Slumberland and the labels Tear Jerk (Australia), Meritorio (Spain), and Fastcut (Japan).
Emerging with a solid stylistic foundation that’s been sharpened right up to now, The Umbrellas carried over three songs from the cassette to the first LP, with “Happy” something of a Heavenly-esque standout. For the 45, they didn’t futz around with the program, but neither do the tracks sound formulaic. Instead, they dish a double whammy of indie pop, fuzzed-up and raucous, its contents illuminating how The Umbrellas are a comfortable fit on bills and tours with hardcore bands.
To elaborate, on “Fairweather Friend” The Umbrellas maintain the C86 bedrock (though we could go all the way back to The Byrds, I guess), but it’s important to note the band’s attentiveness to indie pop developments circa the ’90s and later, as a toughness is consistently felt amid the jangling and sweetness.
Opener “Three Cheers” for instance, sounds like it could’ve landed a slot in K Records’ International Pop Underground series of 45s or even made it onto one of those early Kill Rock Stars comps. Or come to think of it, been an early release on Slumberland Records. But making the scenario more interesting is a mid-section redirect that harkens back to Orange Juice (and that’s C81, baby) before delivering a revved up finale.
The beats are big, the bass lines sturdy, and the guitars jangle crisply with finely tuned layers of distortion in the Morgan Stanley lead vocal showcase “Goodbye.” Beginning with a dose of fuzz, “Toe the Line” bursts forth with a speedy gallop suggesting those hardcore cats have rubbed off on The Umbrellas. And then they slow it down and boost the pretty as “Echoes” again brings Heavenly to mind. So does “Games,” although the faster clip and the high levels of distortion lend distinctiveness.
The bold rhythms and fuzz layering continues in “Say What You Mean,” while “When You Find Out” is a boisterous melodic mover with rattling tambourines, a bass line thick and buoyant, ’60s-tinged keyboard and soaring vocals from Stanley. From there, “Blue” is a more relaxed strummer with Ferrera in the lead that reminds me just a smidge of Tree Fort Angst’s classic “You Should Have Seen the One That Got Away.”
“PM” is one more serving of spirited jangle for the album’s close. But the standout track on “Fairweather Friend” is “Gone,” which resonates like a bunch of late ’80s R.E.M. enthusiasts attempting to wed the incessant jangle of the Syndicate of Sound’s “Hey Little Girl” to a late ’70s power pop structure (scarves optional). And The Umbrellas pull it off! What a fine fucking year 2024 is already shaping up to be.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
