The Besnard Lakes Are the Subject of Our Latest Post

Have you ever read George R. R. Martin’s tran­scen­dent fan­tasy series A Song of Ice and Fire? I don’t much go in for fan­tasy, but this one came highly rec­om­mended. After reading the first volume I remember telling Ben, our res­i­dent sci-fi geek, that I liked it but sort of wished the story had taken place on a gay space­ship or some­thing. But by the second volume, well… I was hooked.

When I saw the cover of the Besnard Lakes’ new album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, I was imme­di­ately trans­ported to the epic Battle of the Black­water, where basi­cally every­thing gets torched with fucking medieval napalm. I’m with­holding judg­ment on the album as a whole, but the standout track “Alba­tross” spits hot fire. Woozy MBV sheets of dis­tor­tion, Pet Sounds har­monies, even a bit of nar­co­tized swagger from the Velvet Under­ground. Swirl it together and you get the sound of taking some­thing cool and set­ting it aflame.

The Besnard Lakes — “Albatross”

The album was released ear­lier this month, and you can buy it now if “Alba­tross” tickles your fancy. Also be sure to check out their pre­vious record, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, because it’s totally rad.