What happens when the powers of three Canadian indie gods unite? Swan Lake endeavors to test the equation, though the resulting Beast Moans falls short of its superhuman expectations.
Beast Moans is, in a nutshell, a series of eccentricities from the collaborative force of Spencer Krug (Sunset Rubdown/Wolf Parade), Dan Bejar (Destroyer/New Pornographers) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). Though the trio veritably pushes the boundaries of indie rock, its members often veer off into their own territory and fail to define the collective sound of Swan Lake.
Nevertheless, the sheer chaos of many of the tracks creates some high points that set Beast Moans apart from its predecessors. “Widow’s Walk” establishes the icy mood of the album, replete with resounding organs and shadowy, wailing vocals. “A Venue Called Rubella” follows suit, proving to be one of the few songs that finds its place comfortably within the arctic echelons of the album. “Are You Swimming in Her Pools?” is another exceptional track; though jarring acoustics and sporadic pauses undermine any sort of structure, its deliberate disjointedness creates the experimental ramblings that Swan Lake rarely harness with success throughout Moans.
The pitfalls of the album are most notable in tracks like “All Fires,” which belongs more to Krug’s Sunset Rubdown canon than to that of Swan Lake. Likewise, “The Freedom” ventures too far into Destroyer territory and only exacerbates the album’s unbalanced hodge-podge. “Bluebird” is, alternatively, an example of collaboration gone awry. Krug’s vocals are exhausted within nightmarishly intense instrumentals awkwardly spliced with dreamlike bells, creating an incoherency that ironically unifies most of Swan Lake’s tracks, to no avail.
Though the album’s mesmerizing chill will undoubtedly lure listeners to the unique sound of Swan Lake, Beast Moans ultimately fails to mark its territory in an experimental tundra.
