by Scott Yohe
Jangle-pop has always seemed to be a genre where you can pick up any album, whether you have ever heard of it or not, and find something to enjoy. The classification has a consistency to it that cannot be matched. However, every so often, a band releases a truly magical work. Currently, this is Fairweather Friend by The Umbrellas, released via Slumberland Records. The record is a perfect example of jangle-pop, showcasing the band's style, ethos, and emotional intelligence. It demonstrates The Umbrellas' growth since their self-titled album in 2021. They have improved their formula tenfold and created something that can only be described as special.
Fairweather Friend captures the musical landscape of the current San Francisco scene because it was birthed there. The Umbrellas can call upon any of their influences at a moment's notice and turn the sound into their own. The album opens with “Three Cheers!,” the perfect song to introduce Fairweather Friend, a song that exemplifies the name of the album, talking about friends who stab you in the back and leave you for dead. Its upbeat tone is ironic considering how cutting the lyrics are. The song “Echoes” shows off the softer and slower side of The Umbrellas, a song about growing apart from someone, missing the little moments, and feeling small, a feeling that almost anyone can relate to. Vocal duties are split between Morgan Stanley’s feminine voice on tracks like “Games” or “Gone,” while others feature Matt Ferrera’s more masculine and monotone voice. “Games” reaches its climax with a killer guitar solo that brings everything together in perfect harmony. The album ends with “P.M.,” an upbeat song about change, realizing that sometimes you are indeed “better off alone,” and that some people aren’t worth keeping around.
The guitars do what you want them to—they jangle. The drums bound along, creating a pace that is sometimes lax and at other times driving. The bass forms a groove on every single song, allowing you to bop your head along in pure joy. You can hear the jangle that the twelve-string guitar creates on each song, which is always pure bliss. The music can mask the bitterness that The Umbrellas are presenting, but there is also hope to be found. The vocals and lyrical performances have a longing, a joyousness, a nostalgia for simpler times. Fairweather Friend is a brisk record, it clocks in at just under 35 minutes. Its runtime seems like catching up with an old friend if only for a brief moment. It is in these little conversations that we can learn from The Umbrellas, that some friendships aren’t meant to last.
Throughout repeated listens to Fairweather Friend, comes the realization that it is the perfect album in may ways. It is the perfect album to drink a cup of coffee with before work. It is perfect for looking outside as the rain falls, for taking a walk, for telling someone you love that you do, in fact, love them, for lounging with your pet, for riding the bus home, for finally dusting the shelves that you have been neglecting. Fairweather Friend can be the soundtrack to all the pleasant things in life, to all the simple things. It is in these little moments that The Umbrellas can remind us just how important they are.