March 29, 2009

Album Review: Swan Lake

Enemy Mine

5 / 10 Facts about this album:
* Swan Lake are Daniel Bejar, Spencer Krug and Carey Mercer.
* 'Enemy Mine' is the band's second album, following 2007's 'Beast Moans'.

Album review:
The actual music on this album is excellent – the sort of Canadian indie beloved of people who live in cities yet dress like the Unabomber. A lot of the clashing influences that clouded their debut ‘Beast Moans’ have been stripped away leaving delightful, sunset-tinged freak-folk. A hole is kicked in the side of it by Carey Mercer’s berserk singing however. If he was a small child you would slap him and inform him of Santa Claus’ non-existence in a desperate attempt to shut him up. Frustratingly, when he reins it in he’s somewhere between Tunde Adebimpe’s art croon and Alec Ounsworth’s startled yelp, but nothing can polish the utter turdishness of lines such as “Conjugated weasel stealing clear diesel behind the bar”.

John Doran

More on this artist:
Swan Lake NME Artist Page
Swan Lake MySpace