Beast Moans
Swan Lake is a supergroup made in indie-rock heaven, featuring Dan Bejar (Destroyer), Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes), and Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes) and debutBeast Moansis the cacophonous, lo-fi outcome of their collaboration. Using what they do best, Swan Lake's members have meshed their distinct styles and odd voices together, mingling them to create something limitless and fresh. But, cooperation takes patience, and so does this album. There's a lot going on and without the guide of great engineering, wading through some of the murkiness is probably best left to the band's other pre-established fans. While this record isn't a collection of bonus tracks, there are undeniable watermarks: Destroyer fans will rejoice at strident "The Freedom" that's so Destroyer that it self-references a city of daughters, yet is peppered up with Krug's characteristic weirdo keyboards and Mercer's haunting backup singing. Similarly, "All Fires" and "Bluebird" spark pure pathos not unlike other Sunset Rubdown lamentations, and Carey Mercer's spastic frenzies aren't at all hushed either. Echoes of the inescapable rock & roll canon are here too. If it ever seemed lazy to compare Destroyer to David Bowie, that association has a leg to stand on in the sum of Swan Lake, as Mercer renews Bowie on "City Calls" and the album's mood recalls Bowie's Eno-influenced period. Also, the playful "A Venue Called Rubella" is really Beatlesy and "The Partisan But He's Got to Know," is a raucousPere Ubujaunt that could be the soundtrack to a Bobby Socks night for the undead--not a bad thing, in fact it's the best track on the album. Perhaps intentionally, the lyrics are mostly indecipherable and swirl together in static ("Pleasure Vessels," "Shooting Rockets"); the duets Krug and Bejar share are sometimes like duels ("Are You Swimming in Her Pools"). Overall, the album is loud and challenging, aptly full of moaning, gnashing, and circumstances of halting, crystalline beauty.--Gabi Knight