giving and receiving

check this record out you won't regret it

    I haven't had a new favorite band in quite some time, well really since Nirvana.  So it's been about eighteen years since there was a band in my life that had me impatiently waiting for their next album release.  It's been an equally long amount of time since I found a band so enjoyable to listen to an entire album from start to finish in one sitting as a pure singular experience for just enjoying.

LAKE was born (like so many bands on the k-records label) along the I-5 corridor but known mostly as an Olympia band.  Though I would not say that it is glaringly obvious there is no mistaking that their sound is a product of the region.  To date they have four records easily available on Amazon.com and itunes.  Their most recent release Giving and Receiving was released on Tuesday by k-records and was well worth the wait.

I am not a record reviewer and have nothing similar that would even qualify me as such, in writing this post I wanted only to share an incredible band and an incredible record with my fellow internauts.
I don't know if this is the right term to use but it seems to fit, LAKE is indie pop at its absolute best.  Not intending to turn anyone off if you either love or loathe, but picture them as what the Mamas and the Papas would have sounded like if they were from Olympia.

Giving and Receiving does not quite live up to their first K release Oh, the places we'll go but it is unquestionably better than anything else I've heard in the last eighteen years.  Hip swinging bass lines, simple and soft guitar riffs, subtle brass that fades in and out, foot tapping drum beats, and an omnipresent keyboard that swirls from 80's electronic synthesizer to an early 70's jazz organ to piano.  Their lyrics are soft and beautiful, the album is split between male and female voices occasionally both together.

The sounds form less of an urban sound scape than that of something natural, it belongs in the wilderness.  This is probably why they so strongly remind me of my second apartment in Los Angeles, warm summer evenings in Griffith park with my wife and dog.  If I was to create a camping playlist this would be it.

    I can't urge you strongly enough to check them out.  Their easy to find on itunes and amazon there are two spectacular songs available for free download at rcrdlbl.com.  If you find that you love them as much as I do then you may want to see them live, they are currently touring for the release of Giving and Receiving and if you live in the Seattle area they will be performing at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard on May 15th.  I'll be there for what is sure to be a truly memorable experience.