The Besnard Lakes
The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
Jagjaguwar Records
The Besnard Lakes, the Montreal rock act with a constantly growing appeal, gave their record an apt title, because this album is essentially a 46-minute roar.
The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, is a record dripping in shoegaze sweetness and songs that build anticipation. Montreal couple Jake Lasek and Olga Goreas, like to spread themselves all over the musical landscape and use their third album to do just that. The first track (really just an intro for the first song) "Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean," is in itself, a sea of sound, featuring long shaky guitar notes layered with ambient synth noise that lead us into the inner sanctuary of the continued movement on "Pt 2: The Innocent" and continues for the rest of the album. "Albatross," a love song just as flowing as the first track, is laced with a smile by The Besnard Lakes as they introduce some rhythmic drumbeats and guitar melodies.
Some have compared the band's vocals to Brian Wilson and Roger Walters, and while definite Beach Boys and Pink Floyd sounds exist, (especially on the climactic psychedelic rock track "Light Up The Night"), there is something else to Roaring Night. There's something that tugs at the listeners' heartstrings a little more than works by those two bands. It's a safe album without a lot of boldness, yet it spins around your mind creating mystic dreamscapes and grinds against your afternoon, releasing you from your troubles.
