The Fairline Parkway’s self-titled debut album off Atlanta-based Lazyline Records is meant for autumn. It is a “comfort album” for when the weather starts to get chilly and the schoolwork starts to pile up. Like an overcast day, The Fairline Parkway makes you want to turn off the heat, curl up and contemplate the mysteries of life with your closest friends … well, for 40 minutes at least.
Everyone needs a few albums like this one in their CD collection?gentle, soothing music you can still listen to when your ears hurt. If you feel that you already own too much Elliot Smith and Belle & Sebastian, then perhaps you do not need this one. At its worst, some might argue that the Fairline Parkway is boring, too slow and mellow to compete with the Top 40 bands of the music industry, while at the same time not original enough to compete with the big bands of the college music scene. Instead, they are just your standard, introspective indie band. Then again, it does not seem as if the group is trying to be the most original; it is not pretentious enough.
At its best, The Fairline Parkway is pretty, humble music. Repetitive without becoming annoying, the album is both mild and relaxing, while surprisingly re-energizing; it is a warm bath after a long, tiring day.
Some albums command attention right from the start; they either command your respect or repel you after only a few tracks. The Fairline Parkway is not one of these, its charm lying instead in its unassuming seductiveness. What starts as floating, atmospheric sound slowly sneaks to the foreground before you even realize how much you were enjoying it all along. The duo of Zachary Okun and Raj Gadhia have put together not just a collection of songs, but a true album, best enjoyed in its flowing entirety from start to finish, not just select tracks.
Like groups such as Sigur Ros, Martin Sexton and even early R.E.M., the Fairline Parkway blends mellow vocals and melodious sound, making it difficult at times to extract a coherent set of lyrics. But don’t worry, you won’t mind. The scattered fragments of distinguishable lyrics (“I want to see you on my nightstand, baby, again”) that peek out of the surrounding instrumentals are intelligently written, but their content is peripheral to the music itself. Rather, the vocals function more as an additional instrument in the musical composition than as distinct and significant in scope or focus. Refreshingly, The Fairline Parkway does not attempt to preach, or even to make you think, but has merely created music for the sake of beauty?to have something pretty and intelligent to listen to behind your life.
This Sunday is the first day of autumn, so it is time to bid summer farewell and face the facts that D.C. is only going to get colder, and the schoolwork harder. Get excited, because the season is getting just right for wool sweaters, hot tea and the soothing sounds of the Fairline Parkway.
