The warm fuzz that wraps around you as a falsetto siren snaps you back to life. The Besnard Lakes, a Montreal band that has disappeared into the background over the ages, peeked their heads over the ridge at Great Scott almost two weeks ago. Having splashed onto Canadian indie rock scene over 5 years ago with their breakout album The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, the amalgamation of 60’s psychedelia and 80’s shoegaze/post-rock faded almost as quickly. As the memories flash back into the present, The Besnard Lakes resurrected their presence by channeling the two main elements of their sound that still hold true to this day.
Sand Reckoner dragged in some drawl and a bit of swagger to start the night off. Flashing onto the stage, the three piece started with an intricate instrumental number that heavily featured an impressive finger picking performance by guitarist/vocalist Jonathan Lesh. The boys from Pennsylvania who now call Boston home quickly spiraled down into seabed built on a Southern-themed fusion of traditional blues and hard rock and base grooves. Due to its inherent nature, the lyrics were appropriately cheesy in nature as Lesh channeled some shades of Cash at points. This was music built from the earth as the muddy sounds of the distorted slide-guitar and bass thundered into the audience. But, surprisingly enough, the band didn’t really hit home or build much dialogue with their newfound home crowd.
USA Out of Vietnam stepped out of the shadows with sound that sounded shady in nature. And when I say shady, I don’t mean of the slim kind. I mean in the sense that you’re stuck in a world full of ethereal shades. Blinded by ghostly echoes and intimated by sounds of larger monstrous things that go bump in the night. Quickly awakened out of this dreamscape, the group from Montreal followed up with a more traditionally layered and drawn-out shoegaze/dream-pop blend that felt like it belonged in a feature film. Some might confuse this noise for psychedelic, but, other than a heavy use of wah pedals, it actually unexpectedly pulled me back deep into the realm of drone. But, instead of situating me in a static pool of distortion as with other drone shows I’ve witnessed, USA Out of Vietnam shined as their heavily bearded vocalist alongside his sisters and brothers brought a chorus with an intensity that cut through the swath presented in front of me.
The Besnard Lakes capped the night off with a bit of the surreal. Prepping their live performance with colored strobe boxes placed on top of their amp cabinets, the light show to follow after their opening song felt a little out of place in a space like Great Scott. In a struggle to meld with the present, the band ended up showing their age a bit lining up a bit more with musical norms, featuring more cut-and-dry song structures and a dependence on those good ol’ blistering guitar solos. That being said, The Besnard Lakes rooted themselves squarely in the middle of the two openers, providing a solid bridge upon which to tread. They also played an incredibly tight set, showing off the professional attitude that only really comes with years of experience. As they sailed off into the night after playing a two-song encore, The Besnard Lakes felt akin to that classic tale that you harken to return to on a cold night wrapped in blankets.
More pictures from that winter story to follow, my dear children.