'5 Years Time,' by Noah and the Whale

It's a Tahoe, it's a Trailblazer, it's ... an Outlook?! Saturn's latest, progressively named auto may look like just another eight-passenger gas-guzzler, but in its latest commercial, this division of GM claims to be "rethinking everything." Translation: Better gas mileage -- the best in its class, according to the automakers. And to drive home the "green" message (even though it isn't a hybrid), the company enlisted the help of a happy little tune by quirky indie troupe Noah and the Whale for its TV spot.

As the vehicle meanders through an urban landscape, cardboard images begin to envelop both their surroundings and the vehicle itself. And all the while, Noah and the Whale's catchy '5 Years Time' seems to cue the images as they sprout from nothingness. Tunnels are accented with sun rays, walking businessmen are now canoeing, and all of a sudden the Outlook has sails! With repetitive lyrics like "And there'll be sun, sun, sun/All over our bodies" and "It was fun, fun, fun/ When we were laughing" -- and, let's face it, the ukulele and clapping don't hurt -- the song is indicative of the London quartet's sunny-on-the-surface music. But, as Noah and the Whale's 22-year-old singer and principal songwriter, Charlie Fink, will tell you, "There's an underlying melancholy that I think most people understand."

They may look like Panic at the Disco with their dramatic, often florescent suiting, but thanks to the baritone of frontman Fink and folkie influences like Daniel Johnston and Jeffrey Lewis, they sound more like the Magnetic Fields. And the quirky bunch, who take their name from New York director Noah Baumbach and his film 'The Squid and the Whale,' say that they're surprised by the success of the Saturn-approved song. "If someone had told me the potential was there for such things to happen with this song, I would have laughed," Fink told the London Times Online. But regardless of his view, audiences are responding to its infectious charm -- it hit the Top 10 on the U.K. singles chart this year. So with this commercial running on American TV screens, and the release of its first LP, 'Peaceful the World Lays Me Down,' on September 16th, the band looks forward to gaining a few more fans across the pond.

Watch the '5 Years Time' video
Buy it on iTunes
Can't find that song from that commercial? Send the commercial, movie or TV show to us at whatsthatsong@aim.com.