Beast Moans

About

The debut collaborative effort between Destroyer's Dan Bejar, Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug, and Frog Eyes' Carey Mercer, <i>Beast Moans </i> might be the best Canadian indie-rock supergroup recording ever — no mean feat when you consider that the New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene fall under that category. Of course, with such super clever people involved, the obvious worry is navel-gazing verbiosity. But nothing like that occurs; clearly, egos were checked at the door. Vaguely '80s keyboard lines collide with squelchy vocals and spoken lines absolutely sunk in reverb, and while the guitars are strummed and beaten with casual desperation, you wouldn't ever call this "guitar rock." It takes the two-minute Spencer-fronted "Nubile Days" over one minute to reach its hook-y apex, the overdubbed New-Wave-in-space vocals slathered on top of a 64-bit keyboard hook. And when it gets there, it's one of those perfect pop moments that cheers you up instantly. Huzzah! With all the sonic murkiness and strange humor ("Are you swimming in her pools") it's tempting to call this a <i>Basement Tapes </i> for the Ableton Live generation.

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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