Weathervanes

Fans of Postal Service and Noah and the Whale should waste no time exploring the Freelance Whales, a band whose sound approximates a campfire mash-up of those two groups. Weathervanes offers sunny glockenspiel- and banjo-driven folk/pop, Judah Dadone’s waifish vocals dueting with quirky synths and cellos — not to mention harmonium and even a waterphone (a bowed instrument that sounds like a distant, hipper cousin of the Theremin). This smart quintet from Queens honed their skills “busking” in subways and public parks and their music has a certain organic, naive quality. On tracks like “Ghosting,” and “The Great Estates,” a youthful chorus of voices is partnered with tremeloed guitars, eerie keyboards and carefully struck glock notes, and on songs like the two “Generators” (“First Floor” and “Second Floor”), the weaving of the ol’ plucky banjo with gurgling synths and an aural wash of harmonium somehow makes perfect sense. Brief instrumental interludes every few songs use music box plinking and ambient thrumming to clever effect, serving as bookends for sections of this enchanting and impressive debut.