Besnard Lakes, the — The Minor Second

The Besnard Lakes Albums

The Besnard Lakes take the atmospheric and ethereal side of rock music to a whole new level, using slow motion textures to put the listener into a heavenly realm. The husband and wife team of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas are the brains behind the songs, and an unheralded male/female vocal harmony team in their heyday. On their best songs, everything works amazingly and in unison and the band’s many influences gel into one. Crystal clear progressive rock, might be the best description I can come up with.

Band Members:

Steve Raegele (guitar, vocals), Jace Lasek (vocals, guitar), Richard White (guitar), Kevin Laing (drums, vocals), Olga Goreas (bass, vocals), Nicky Lizee (keyboards),

Biggest Influences:

Beach Boys, Slowdive, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Mercury Rev, Arcade Fire, Low

2003

Volume One – 72%

On the debut record, the Besnard Lakes establish some ideas of music they want to create though its not quite fleshed out yet. Best are the psychedelic shoegaze of “Thomasiona” and especially the power hungry “This Thing” that show the band has a future as melodic rock stars if they so choose. Both of those songs are fairly punchy, with “For Spy Turned Musician” also turning out pretty well. Closer “Life Rarely Begins…” is an intriguing and sort of a template for what should come, with all vocals reaching angelic heights. On the longer song format though, the band is not quite there yet and at least three of these songs are over the six-minute mark. Opener “Skyscraper Girls” is an ambitious nine minutes but it sort of feels like an eternity with not much happening. “You’ve Got to Want to be a Star” has an amazing final three minute, but plods along until it gets there. Instrumental “Deep Desultory Dream” is full of ideas, but doesn’t stick to any of them long enough to make anything matter. For an album wit seven songs at almost forty five minutes, there is not enough that truly sparkles yet. Hopefully the band will take most of what works here and make a stronger record in the future. What is here is still a cut above most band’s debut albums though.

Best Songs: Thomasina, this thing, you’ve got to want to be a star

2007

The Dark Horse - 79%

The band’s second album improves on the first. The harmonies and melodies are more pointed, the parts that are more delicate (opener “Disaster”, “Because Tonight” at the begining) and more powerful (“Devastation” is one of the loudest songs I have ever heard, the band truly explodes on this amazing song) truly make some big impressions. “For Agent 13” brings back the specter of classic era Beach Boys but gives it a climax more inline with fellow Canadian’s Arcade Fire. Other peaks of their art are the accurately titled “Rides the Rails” and the angry, murky tunneling sounds conjured on “Bedford and Grand” with its chorus of “you live in the cityyyyy”. Not every song hits on a grand scale, both of the seven minutes tunes are a bit too long (“And you Lied to Me” and “Because Tonight” that has an influence from Low for sure), but the ones that due really fly.

No song is simply a straightforward song, each song evolves into something truly uniquely theirs, as the Besnard Lakes charge forward with confidence. If they can build on the best moments here, they will conjure up something truly special.

Best Songs: Devastation, For Agent 13, On Bedford and Grand

2010

The Roaring Night – 89%

The Roaring Night is a continuation of the last album, The Dark Horse, which is a fine thing. This one ups the ante by being more thought out and more consistent. This is an album of extreme orchestration and emotion: The suites that begin each side of the album "Like the Ocean" and "Land of Living Skies" are soothing and devastating at the same time, like a wave of shoegaze hitting a wall of power pop chords. "And this is What We Call Progress" is the albums defining song, showing how to glide on the tracks and let the soundscapes truly shimmer. The longer song lengths are better portrayed and thought out.

The relationship to Arcade Fire is unmistakable, but more of a compliment than anything else, as the husband and wife duo are more in sync with each other and at times form one, consistent vocal harmonies (more like Low than Arcade Fire). Some of the songs could go on longer than they do like "Glass Painter" showing off a mix of My Bloody Valentine from Loveless and a majestic quality all their own, and "Albatoss" where Olga gets to shine with a lovely ballad matching the Cocteau Twins at their best. Some tunes slightly over stay their welcome ("Land of Living Skies", "Chicago Train") but in all it is the tightest record yet from a band that has now beaten many hyped up bands at their own game. The Besnard Lakes exist in the shadows, waiting to be discovered.

Best Tracks: And This is What We call Progress, Glass Painter, Like The Ocean Like the Innocent Pt. 2

2013

Until In Excess, Impenetrable UFO – 84%

The Besnard Lakes 3rd album is perhaps the definition of a "slow burner". At first it might sound like they have gone back to the sound of The Dark Horse and abandoned The Roaring, but actually it is a sublime mixture of the two albums. By focusing on their melodies and song lengths, Besnard Lakes have a sort of minor classic on their hands. At least four of these songs are unbelievably good: "Colour Yr Lights In" makes Brian Wilson’s influence come alive for the 2010s; "People of the Sticks" should have been some sort of break out single with its glamours keyboard chords and driving chorus; the rhythmically intricate "At Midnight" is perhaps my favorite, and opener "46 Satires" where Elisabeth Frasier’s influence is more obvious than ever.. Weirdly, all of those songs strike at the odd number placements on the album (1,3,5,7) which is a fun quirk.

As always, an album of eight songs. It may not be quite as consistent as The Roaring Lights (2010) but it is still a great and consistent album, one whose mood is more solidly languid than anything they have done before. There is not a song I would skip on the whole thing, “The Specter” has moments of true beauty and “Alamogordo “ is nearly a perfect song it just drags a bit at the end with a three minute fade out. “Catalina” and “and Her Eyes Were Painted Gold” do less for me, but they float by rather harmlessly too. Maybe more will open up on subsequent listens....it is a perplexing rock and roll album and pushes music on to the future, and one of the band’s best albums.

Best Tracks: At Midnight, Colour Yr Lights In, People of the Sticks

2016

A Coliseum Complex Museum – 94%

Oh, the awful album titles of The Besnard Lakes. I am positive that most people are not going to flock to an album called Coliseum Complex Museum, but I am here to tell you that you should. This band has been at it for a while, and in a way, they keep making the same album over and over with a mix of shoegaze, psychedelics, 8-song albums, and never-ending male/female harmonies. Beach Boys melodies, Arcade Fire pathos, and King Crimson grandeur all weigh in heavily and blend perfectly in this underrated Canadian’s bands work. More than any other band around, lead singer Jace Lasek works with wife Olga and guitarist Steve Raegele all three who understand that music is about “sound” and uses waves of noise to make his songs soar deep into the stratosphere.

That being said, this is the best collection of songs they have come up with. There is not a dud in the bunch, and choosing favorite songs is simply apples and oranges. The energetic and tribal drumming of “Necronomicon”, my personal favorite blend of styles on “Towers Sent to Her Sheets of Sound”, a song that matches anything anyone is doing this decade so far. The thundering triplet shimmers of “Golden Lion” would be a radio staple in another universe; opener “The Bray Road Beats” exudes heavenly aromas. “The Plain Moon” brings the spooky quality with thundering guitar riffs to the forefront. “Tungsten 4” ends the album with an epic guitar solo, showing this is an update on classic rock after all is said and done. Crystal clear progressive rock, might be the best description I can come up with.

All of their good albums have led to this one: the elegance of The Dark Horse, the pounding majesty of The Roaring Night, the consistent mood of Until in Excess. At eight songs (as always), there is just enough to satisfy and, unlike so many contemporaries, not too many songs to digest. It’s gorgeous neo-psychedelia that puts all of their contemporaries to shame and a classic album that deserves more notice.

Best Songs: Towers Sent to Her Sheets of Sound, The Plain Moon, Necronomicon