The name of Whalers’ album on BandCamp is “Paddle Easy, and it begins with a surf rock-esque whammy-bar bent chord. This band is immediately catchy. I had the first line from “Cheat On Each Other” stuck in my head for about an hour while I was doing nothing but listening to other music.

The cover of the album is a girl swimming underwater. I love themes, and this band does a very consistent job of their water theme. The title track for the album is probably the best. It begins with sparse guitar accented with punchy bass and drums and then filled up with a second guitar and vocals. It seems to be the most mature song on the album. The chords, tones, and lyrics are beautiful.

Perhaps the most important bit of information about Whalers online is one sentence on their Bandcamp which states that “all songs were recorded, produced, and performed by Whalers in Austin, TX in a house off of Riverside Drive.” Bands don’t have to spend money on recording studios or producers anymore, and Whalers is yet another great band helping to proof the value of independently produced music.

Whalers has a Tumblr without the Tumblr extension in it. They performed a Daytrotter session, and they have beautiful videos on Vimeo. This is one of the most exciting bands I’ve written about in a while. Even down to what appears to be their first demo, “Sometimes (Sunsets Suck Demo)”, Whalers are totally worth listening to. If you enjoy well written, played, and self-produced music, make sure to check them out.