By Chloe Schildhause
The charmingly romantic, springy UK folk band Noah and the Whale have just begun their US tour, and their San Francisco debut will happen at Amoeba Music and Popscene today, Oct. 2.
Their first album, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down (Mercury), was just released in August, but the band has already been a big part of the summer UK festival circuit with gigs at V Festival, Summer Sundae and Glastonbury. Over the phone from the road, frontperson Charlie Fink told me: “Festivals have been cool. I sometimes find it intimidating - the big crowd and stuff. But it’s been fun.”
Fink writes Noah and the Whale’s lyrics. His personal favorite is the title track, he explained. “It says the most of what I’m trying to say on that album.” But what that is exactly is a mystery. “People are trying to get me to assess the lyrics," said Fink. "But I find it quite difficult because what you say in a song is what you can’t express any other way.”
On their catchy "Five Years Time," Fink sings, “I will look at you and says it’s the happiest that I’ve ever been,” but the song is not directed to anyone in particular. “The whole point of that song is that it hasn’t happened," he said. "It’s very wishful.”
The group plays a slew of somewhat unusual instruments to complement Fink's poetic lyrics. As for the vocalist, he said, “I’ve got my guitar, my uke, my mandolin, a banjo, a harmonium, loads of crap. On this [US] tour we usually have horns playing. We couldn’t afford them for San Francisco, but we have a different theme. I don’t think you’ll really miss it - it will just be a different set.”
Different - and a first since it will be Noah and the Whale’s maiden performance in the city. “I’ve been there once before," Fink said. "It was amazing, I went to Alcatraz. I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge as well and went to Berkeley.” The band leader's second visit will certainly be less touristy.
As for the future, the band is already dreaming up schemes for their sophomore album. “At the moment we are trying to make a movie to go with the next album,” said Fink. He's big fan of film: the band’s name comes from the Noah Baumbach movie, The Squid and the Whale, and the group itself is a tad Wes Anderson-obsessed (just watch the video for "Five Years Time").
Noah and the Whale's sound conjures up images of a movie along the lines of A Hard Day's Night or Yellow Submarine, so I asked Fink if he was planning something Beatles-esque. “No, not quite like that," he replied. "More like something you’ve never seen. In England we might do have the film play in theaters the night before the album comes out. That’s what I’d really like - that’d be awesome.”
NOAH AND THE WHALE
Thurs/2, 6 p.m., free
Amoeba Music
1855 Haight, SF
(415) 831-1200
Thurs/2, call for time, $10
Popscene
330 Ritch, SF
(415) 541-9574
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