Electro-folk quartet Whistle Peak prepare for the February 14th release of their sophomore long player on Karate Body called Half Asleep Upon Echo Falls.

Unlike so many of the supremely self-conscious freak folkers and ambient noodlers who’ve been getting all the acclaim lately — I’m talking about Fleet Foxes and Josh T. Pearson, people – Whistle Peak sound neither drunk nor full of themselves.

They sound like little children discovering toys in their grandparents’ basement, a place where miniature Casio keyboards sit next to antique washboards and pieces of stray china. Throw in a toy piano, a tuba, some clever lyrics and some dogs barking in the distance and you have New Folk with a sense of humor.

Infinitely more interesting than a lot of mandolin-driven crap being hyped these days. Thank God is all I can say about that.

Half Asleep Upon Echo Falls releases February 14th in digits, on CD and on a teal-colored LP limited to 250 pressings.

Whistle Peak – Wings Won’t Behave (Karate Body, 2012)