While most blogs/publications will be commenting on their top albums of the year (as will we), I decided to do a write up on one of the more overlooked albums of 2006.
Some of you may scoff at the notion that a band consisting of some of the most celebrated songwriters of the past year could be overlooked, but make no mistake about it, Swan Lake's Beast Moans is most certainly an album that many people have come to undermine its excellence due to unrealistic expectations.
Featuring members of some of Canada's premiere bands such as Dan Bejar of Destroyer, Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown/Wolf Parade, as well as Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes fame, Swan Lake formed over the past year and recorded their debut in Victoria, Canada. Krug and Mercer overlooked a majority of the production as Bejar popped in and out during recording (a method similar to his work with that other supergroup the New Pornographers).
Now, when you look at a majority of 2006 year end lists, you'll be likely to find Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up I am Dreaming (my personal #1 of the year) as well as Destroyer's Rubies making their fair share of Top 10's. So if you put the principal songwriters of both those acts alongside the mastermind behind Frog Eyes, you've got to come up with an obvious critics choice right? Well, judging by the lukewarm reviews a lot of people weren't' exactly falling head over heels once the album was released.
Blame it on too much hype, unfair expectations, or simply, factor in that this is probably the most "difficult" release to absorb by any of the three main songwriters of the past year or two, and you've got an album that truly asks for one's patience. I myself wasn't exactly impressed when I first got my hands on the album. I felt too much of the music was cluttered, some of the songs sounded too unfinished or too rushed, the vocals were hard to decipher at times, and all the great songs were too far and between to make for a consistent listen. However, once I sat down with the record, and actually listened to it all the way through, I came to realize that each listen revealed more nuances and subtle quirks (especially with headphones) that I began to appreciate all of the songs more and more as oppose to the initial two or three that grabbed my attention.
What has to be one of the most appealing aspects of Beast Moans is the nifty keyboard sounds that the trio conjured, sounding wackier than anything that appeared on each songwriter's respective band. The opener "Widow's Walk" features a gorgeous guitar line interweaved with a solid keyboard melody making for a fantastic opener, while the following track "Nubile Days" features Krug's excellent knack for vocal melody while Mercer's guitar gives the song a whole new dimension that maybe would not have been evidenced had Krug gone it alone.
It's little pushes like these, that makes the collaboration sound much more like a group effort as oppose to each songwriter tossing a song out there with the other two members serving as a backing band. As a matter of fact, considering how reasonably different the songwriting styles are of each member (though you can find some common ground between Krug's writing and Mercer's) the cohesiveness of the record is quite impressive.
Arguably, the marriage of the three songwriters never sounded as good as it did on "A Venue Called Rubella". Dual vocals from Bejar and Krug make for an immediate highlight as does the angular guitar hooks of Mercer. It's moments like these that make Swan Lake much greater than the sum of its parts. "Are You Swimming In Her Pools" is another favorite that has Krug at his most vulnerable, while the circus frenzy of "The Partisan But He's Got to Know" (delightfully sung by Mercer) makes for a fantastic sing along.
What may turn some people off upon a first listen is how some of the songs have a complete lack of structure for the verse/chorus/verse formula. Tracks like "Pleasure Vessels" I see much more as a mood piece between tracks as oppose to a proper song, which only confirm that this is a record that must be listened to in its entirety as oppose to skipping around for certain songs. The haunting epic closer in Bejar's "Shooting Rockets" sounds unlike anything he ever attempted with Destroyer and brings a fitting close to this ambitious album.
The band already has hinted that they may do a tour sometime down the line while plans for a follow up are also in the works. Although Wolf Parade, Destroyer and Sunset Rubdown may still have the most anticipated upcoming records, here's to hoping that when Swan Lake gets ready for their sophomore effort, their appreciation will have only increased. Perhaps even a few years down the line Beast Moans may be rightfully seen as an album that easily stands alongside (and maybe even surpass) the best work of the initial bands this group comprised of.
While this record may not appeal to the "frat boy Wolf Parade fans" as Krug suggested in a recent interview, it most certainly makes for an engaging listen, one that reveals its layers over time, and only enhances the respect that Krug, Bejar, and Mercer warrant.
Free Songs:
A Venue Called Rubella
All Fires
The Freedom
Purchase from Amazon
1 comment:
huh.
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