The Besnard Lakes - ...Are The Roaring Night

Montreal's The Besnard Lakes made some waves with their 2007 sophomore release, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, a dense, dynamic album that cast them as the black sheep - err, dark horse - of Montreal's poptacular indie scene. The references to The Beach Boys and Phil Spector that crop up frequently in the band's press are a little misleading, insinuating ideas of sixties sunshine that don't mesh with the Besnards' brooding aesthetic. However, the comparison is apt in regards to The Lakes' use of the studio as an instrument, and the band's meticulous attention to production detail yields engaging, finely-crafted music that only reveals its true depth upon repeat listenings.

...Are The Roaring Night takes full advantage of the group's pension for grandeur and pacing, setting the songs around the post-modern tale of "Loyalty, dishonor, love, hatred all seen through the eyes of two spies, fighting a war that may not be real." Thick clouds of drone and feedback are pierced by soaring guitar lines, dreamy vocals, and blasts of pounding drums, creating an musical topography of peaks and valleys that rarely presents a plain. Uncut nails it: "The dark heart of Canada has landed, burning within the psychedelic dirge-pop of this husband and wife-led Montreal Collective." Recommended.

Artist Site   MySpace   Jagjaguwar

The Besnard Lakes - Albatross (From The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night)