2021 was a banner year for jangle pop. That year, Quivers, Telephone Numbers, Massage, Chime School, The Laughing Chimes and The Umbrellas all made my favorite albums list. I am hoping that Fairweather Friend, which is the second album by The Umbrellas (San Francisco), marks the start of another tremendous year for underground pop. I know I am easily hyped up when it comes to great new music, but after a couple of spins it doesn’t feel hyperbolic at all to dub this one a modern classic.
Fairweather Friend sounds like a leap forward from their already pretty stellar self-titled debut. The record contains a lot of familiar ingredients that made past classics in this scene successful. And while you can point to that sense of recognition, you likely will do so without cynicism. Never a band shy of talents, perhaps the biggest talent of The Umbrellas is to make their sound feel original: despite all the familiar touchstones in their music, you feel like The Umbrellas are neither copy pasting nor plagiarizing. But, the band is also original in the sense that their sound is inventive and playful. Take a song like Toe The Line, with its wonderful juxtaposition of Beat Happening-like indie pop and frantic punk drumming. Gaming is another song where The Umbrellas speed things up, this time with supersweet vocals. Those same vocals shine bright in the unabashed pop hit Goodbye. Regardless of The Umbrellas playing it fast or slow, Fairweather Friend is too darn catchy to resist. The Umbrellas are not just playing the game, they’re owning it.
Fairweather Friend is out now through Slumberland and Tough Love Records.