North Lakes - Grand Prix

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 25 / 7 / 2012

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Earning a Music PEI (Prince Edward Island, Canada) award for their debut album, 2011’s ‘Cobra’ has obviously spurred five-piece band North Lakes on to produce a short collection of ultra-catchy pop/rock that they perform expertly. The dense wall of guitars that follows the opening seconds of a solitary organ and the words “My head is swinging like a chandelier” kind of sums up what this band is all about. The chorus of “I don’t need no fucks telling me how to listen to a record”, which is incidentally as catchy as a common cold before the song descends into a melee of drums and guitars, might be a sly dig at folks like the one currently writing this review but the song is such a punchy, catchy slice of garage pop that we can’t hold that against them. In those opening four minutes of ‘Crumbling Dice’ North Lakes sets out its stall very nicely indeed. Heavily indebted to the melodic sounds of the sixties and with distorted Jesus And The Mary Chain guitars all over the song, it’s a stomping way to start the album. The band don’t let up either. The following song, ‘Grab Me By the Lapel’, simply wipes the floor with all the wannabe newish garage bands. Quite simply this is how it should be done. There is so much energy generated just by those opening two songs, and the interspersions of organ on ‘Grab Me By The Lapel’ are touches of genius that you expect the band to take off at any second. Not a song that you will sit still to. That’s for sure. By the third song, ‘Copernicus, Copernicus’, which follows much the same pattern as the previous two tracks, you might think that a change of pace would be welcome. Well, you don’t get that and the collaboration between the wall of guitars, keyboards and a drummer who must have arms the size of a builder’s, is so solid that you can’t help but be taken along for the breathtaking ride. ‘Hands-Off Director’ adds a 50s rock ‘n’ roll feel in places. It’s possibly the grittiest sounding song on the album but like the following song, the also slightly 50's-influenced, ‘Avalanche’, despite the superb cheesy organ that is so seldom heard these days, there is so much fresh energy injected into the songs to keep them interesting and to stand repeated plays. Even the weakest song on the album, ‘The Holy Water’, soon eats its way into your brain with the cascading guitars and treated, distorted vocals finally winning you over. ‘Vixen’ closes the album and features the prettiest melody on the album, while never losing any of the power of the previous seven songs for one second. Despite this dense wall of sound that covers all the songs on ‘Grand Prix’ the melodies always shine through, the guitar playing is simply superb throughout and the it’s remarkable how the drummer keeps up, but he does. It could have all been such a muddy mess but it’s brilliantly produced to bring out the best in each member of the band. At 24 minutes short it’s an almost perfect collection of garage rock, the likes of which we don’t hear so often these days, especially when as much thought and care has gone into each and every sound. Make a space on that mantelpiece for another award, boys.

Track Listing:-

1 Crumbling Dice
2 Grab Me By the Lapel
3 Copernicus, Copernicus
4 Baptism in Burgundy
5 Hands-Off Director
6 Avalanche
7 The Holy Water
8 Vixen

Band Links:-

http://northlakes.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/thenorthlakes
https://www.facebook.com/thenorthlakes

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