A Coliseum Complex Museum
Unique among their furrowed brow peers, The Besnard Lakes are unafraid to marry textured, questing headphone sonics to the honeyed pleasure of radio hits past: the rapture of My Bloody Valentine entwined with the romance of Fleetwood Mac. Imagine dreamy Beach House riding Led Zeppelin dynamics, with unabashedly androgynous vocal harmonies. Channelling their obsessions with the paranormal as well as the dark arts, 'A Coliseum Complex Museum' is populated by cryptozoological creatures (The Bray Road Beast, Golden Lion) while also luxuriating in natural phenomena and beauty (The Plain Moon, Nightingale). These themes are sincere yet good-humoured. The LP’s title jokily refers to a landmark-heavy road sign spotted on tour in Texas, the varied emotional impulses within reflected by its environmentally warped artwork.
The Besnard Lakes have committed themselves to the “studio as an instrument” mentality of Brian Wilson on each of their sweeping, meticulously crafted albums, but their fifth effort draws from natural surroundings, fixating on the skies, the elements, and animals, both real and imagined.
There are five musicians in the Besnard Lakes, but it sounds like some sort of pop orchestra was on hand to record the group's fifth full-length album, 2016's A Coliseum Complex Museum.
Mystical and psychedelic, with a real knack for texture and detail, The Besnard Lakes' lengthy latest offering is an album best served whole.
A Coliseum Complex Museum is the Besnard Lakes' first record since 2013's Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO. They don't deviate too much fr...
Some of indie rock's most notable acts have married couples at their core: The White Stripes, Yo La Tengo, Low. All of these (barring perhaps the Stripes) have a record of remarkable consistency; maybe there's something in the simultaneous pursuit of both
'A Coliseum Complex Museum' by The Besnard Lakes review by Northern Transmissions. The full-length comes out January 22nd on Jagjaguwar/Outside Music.
Hard to penetrate fifth album from Canada’s musical fantasists. CD review by Kieron Tyler