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Waterfowl

by Frankie valet

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Snag a copy of Frankie valet's still burnin' album of the year "Waterfowl" on vinyl alongside a limited edition t-shirt originally made only for tour!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waterfowl via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 14 days
    edition of 22  8 remaining

      $30 USD or more 

     

  • Snag a copy of Frankie valet's still burnin' album of the year "Waterfowl" on tape alongside a limited edition t-shirt originally made only for tour!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waterfowl via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 14 days
    edition of 22  6 remaining

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    We're putting out our first vinyl record, and it is, quite fittingly, the new Frankie valet album! Comes in a charcoal black swirl! Includes our usual handwritten note and whatever zines / stickers / extra tapes / etc. we find around the house!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waterfowl via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 200  36 remaining

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  • Cassette + Digital Album

    What you've come to know and love us for! A brand new Frankie v tape! Featurin the classic order goodies!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waterfowl via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 100  16 remaining

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1.
Nakid 04:44
So many miles They look the same Shallow hills, they know no names Didn’t seem like they had much to say Out of all That could’ve been said Could have stayed, it could’ve been bad Cows go quiet, and we go quiet Everyone is speechless from afar
2.
Water foul 03:48
I should’ve thought about it I shouldn’t go You’re talking circles again Lips movin slow I hate forcing myself to know You love pushing yourself to grow I hate pushing myself to know You love forcing yourself to grow Drenched in red clay and floating golden I used to know how to swim Now my lungs are flat and useless And my feet can’t touch the bottom And you run and you scream and I don’t And you jump and you scream and I don’t
3.
Engulfed 02:34
All the time Should I stand up in a formal line Do you need me in your current life I don’t wanna know that Try to wait Try to fight the thoughts I formulate Tell me if you’re here or if I’m too late I don’t wanna know that Not just yet Tried my hardest but I can’t forget Panicked hours on the internet I don’t wanna go there Even so Doing everything to let it go More engulfed than you could even know I don’t wanna go there I tried
4.
Theo 02:55
Never meant to let you down Had to take a step back You’re all still beautiful that’s not what this is about We’re taking care of ourselves Don’t get around much anymore You live in a house that gets me down We still call back and forth your voicemails tear me apart Well give me hope for what’s to come I’ll come back I’m coming back
5.
Soft skin 03:26
Soft skin I’m taking you in Tell me how You’re feeding my doubts A mixing bowl Still picking you out Talking in a length of time I’d think we’re the ones who decide What I know I know I don’t know I ask you to tell me so slow Sleeping in a mind I let go Soft skin I’m taking you in Tell me how You’re feeding my doubts A mixing bowl Still picking you out
6.
Wilt 02:15
I move to the east and you move to the west And I just wanted to see you at your best I learned to move the way you wanted me to move Because I can't get over you When the sun is at its peak and I am wilting from the heat From all the energy pointing at me I learned to be what you could barely see Because I wanted to be you and be free I learned to love to move the way that you move Because I can’t get over you When the sun is past its peak and I am wilted from the heat From all the energy pointed at me I just wanted to know that you think of me too Because I can’t get over you
7.
Do you miss your old apartment Would you go back the way you left it I feel bad about Ruby I feel bad about all summer When you said I knew you meant it I can’t go back on what I said then I feel bad about Linden I feel rough about the ending Was it all misunderstanding you know I couldn’t have planned it Lengthy late night conversations, music videos for ages But that never took me from you, I did everything that I thought I could do Filled you in on all my feelings Asked for help and didn’t take it Was it really all that selfish When time moves on and you don’t know what happened Moving out to the Carolinas, future plans that felt so final If I had to go about it, I’d change everything that surrounds it If I told you that I missed you would taking me back be something you could do
8.
Up too late again drinking gin and tonics You tell me we’re bad, we won’t talk about it I don’t say much past sad, you don’t need to know what I try not to think Try to lose some weight, not trying too hard Haven’t run in months, not smoking too much Miss me when you’re gone, maybe send a postcard I think I’m out of touch I wish I knew just what to do with me
9.
I will if you make me do it I will if you push me through it I will, I will I’d still hate to be repulsive I will hide my worst impulses I will, I will
10.
Alright okay 01:09
Alright, okay

about

The songs that we return to throughout our life are often, ironically, songs that we come to in a period of change: melodies that soundtrack love lost or direction found, lyrical fragments that invite us to process, a vitality that pushes us with confidence into unfamiliar territory. Frankie valet write those kinds of songs. Out 2/7 via It Takes Time Records, their new record Waterfowl is a collection that brims with eagerness and invention, that confronts both the clamour of youthful confusion and the stillness of nostalgia—in other words, it’s the sound of four friends growing together.

Frankie valet is Jack Elliott-Higgins on guitar and vocals, Felix Nelson on guitar and vocals, Gram Tolish on drums, and Alison Setili on bass and vocals. After a period of rotating through members, the lineup coalesced around the time the band recorded 2018’s Stop Apologizing, a charming and often understated document of a young band in transition.

Waterfowl, on the other hand, is something else entirely—an ambitious showpiece for a band simultaneously hitting their stride and exploring their range. Contemplative slowcore, MBV-indebted fuzz, post-punk propulsion, and good old-fashioned guitar heroics find a home on this record, often in the same song. The compositions are as unafraid to explore the corners of a placid groove as they are to veer off unexpectedly; mid-album highlight “Soft Skin” perhaps best captures this perfect blend of patience and restlessness, and the effect is something like Yo La Tengo with unmedicated ADHD.

The record is also a fitting companion to Frankie valet’s combustible live show, translating the band’s energy into a warm, lived-in mid-fi zone perfectly suited to songs that embrace dynamics in both decibel and feeling. These four perform with the urgency of a group that knows first hand the actualizing power of a basement show, and Waterfowl is smart to preserve that sense of purpose.

It’s a purpose born of their fertile, sometimes overlooked St. Louis scene, the accidental orbit of friendship and inspiration from which they emerged (Jack met Felix at a show in 2016 when Felix, only 19, asked Jack to buy him a beer). Likewise, the band’s process reflects the creative crossfire of any healthy scene—they write collaboratively, sharing lyrical duties among the vocalists and bringing musical ideas to practice in their infancy, for the group to flesh out together. The words and music reverberate with their communal origins.

“Everyone is speechless from afar,” goes the refrain to tone-setting album opener “Nakid.” As a negative formulation of Frankie valet’s power, it’s a perfect lyric: Waterfowl is a record that invites closeness as an antidote to voicelessness, that celebrates shared growth in all its thrills and embarrassments. And best of all, it’s just the first step. - Nathan Tucker

credits

released February 7, 2020

all songs written by frankie valet
produced by frankie valet & peter flynn auer
engineered and mixed by peter flynn auer
mastered by heather jones at so big auditory

additional vocals on "our apartment" by katya malison
additional vocals on "alright okay" by haley graham & peter flynn auer

thank you jordan & mickey & everyone else
message for a download code

ITT23 // it takes time records 2020
frankievalet.bandcamp.com

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