In this week’s record report: new releases from Olympia’s LAKE and Portland’s Boy Eats Drum Machine. We’ve also got a couple bonus reviews from the October issue of Sound of To the Waves and Paul Fischer.

10-21-08
Lake
Oh, The Places We’ll Go (K Records)
4 stars
To describe LAKE, a lake metaphor. Oh, The Places We’ll Go teems with schools of shimmering melodies: blippy keyboards swim alongside glassy guitars, darting through murky layers of vocals; thumping bass lines and blasts of horns lend a rhythmic ebb and flow. On its K Records debut, Olympia’s LAKE shows that lo-fi doesn’t have to mean spare or simple; though home-recorded, Oh, The Places We’ll Go is filled with captivatingly complex pop songs that seamlessly blend a variety of acoustic, amplified and electronic instruments. Dense layers of melodies (both vocal and instrumental) are supported by a playful, but rock-solid rhythm section. And the variety—LAKE bounces from the “Minor Trip,” a somber Caribbean groove with a mournful keyboard melody, to “Dead Beat,” which alternates between minor-key synth tension and sunny, Camera Oscura-style female vocal interludes. Though these tracks delight with their fleeting beauty, LAKE shines brightest when it takes time to showcase its full breadth. In “Bad Dream,” it takes a single, bouncy bass line and a stacatto, six-step beat and shrouds it with layer upon layer of resplendent melodies—sweet female vocals echoed by a gently bending, wavering guitar; ascending synth arpeggios; steady, low blasts from the horn section—that build to a joyous, gleaming instrumental climax. MICHAEL CONNELLY
Standout tracks: “Bad Dream,” “Heaven”

Boy Eats Drum Machine
Booomboxxx (Tender Loving Empire)
3 1/2 stars
Clocking in at 32 minutes, this 10-track album is the third full-length from Portland’s Boy Eats Drum Machine, a hybrid of DJ, musician, producer, songwriter and all around noise maestro. The one-man show is driven by Jon Ragel who impressively mashes it all together to create an album full of music to move to. The saxophone is effortlessly thrown into the mix, adding depth to tracks such as “Demonic with Horns” and “The Crack in the Sea,” among others. The beats are borrowed and adapted from Portland’s Bridgetown Breaks Vol. 1 & 2, featuring drummers such as Danny Seim from Menomena and Kevin O’Connor from Talkdemonic. Every piece of music here serves a purpose, with never an unintentional lull or pause. “I’m Alive Don’t Bury Me” gives listeners a melodic chorus and straightforward lyrics repeating phrases like “I’m alive under here,” which creates vivid imagery through simplicity. Ragel’s skills, as both a DJ and composer, impressively creates the illusion of a full band performance making Booomboxxx a work of art, even when you aren’t dancing to it. JESSICA HARBERT
Standout tracks: “Planets & Stars,” “I’m Alive Don’t Bury Me”

Also reviewed…

To the Waves
Self-titled (Burning Buildings)
4 stars
If this was truly a fair world, music journalists would stop using this tired cliché’ and To The Waves would be all over FM radio. The band’s style of melodic rock is crafted perfectly for it, and that’s no insult. Though it would probably gain them a few listeners to mention this is the new project from Jesse Fox (Polecat, Leuko, Seaweed), the band doesn’t need it, as the music truly stands on its own. Fox’s sometimes delicate, sometimes powerful voice provides perfectly executed hooks alongside the band’s catchy riffage. Former Botch vocalist Dave Verellan makes an explosive cameo on “Rule of Nines,” providing a nice anti-break with his signature hardcore scream that’s been so sorely missed. While there’s certainly not much innovation shining through these 10 tracks, and at times they even feel oddly familiar, To The Waves showcase a talent for writing hauntingly catchy songs good enough that they don’t need to reinvent the wheel. KEVIN DIERS
Standout tracks: “Rule of Nines,” “Arrhythmia”

Paul Fischer
Paul Fischer Writes Songs
3 stars
If some filmmaker were to make a hybrid of Willy Wonka and James Bond, Paul Fischer Writes Songs would be that film’s soundtrack. Fischer’s dreamy electric guitar is reminiscent of Jonathan Richman’s so-honest early albums. His dark lyrical patterns about feeling “weary and defeated, losing who I was and who I am” are backed by warbling keys and trotting canned drums. The musical saw in “Winter Tree” has perfect timing, like some sudden winter wind blowing through a haunted forest, helping to spin the record even deeper into its mysterious dreamscape. While the lyrics continue down the same dark road, Fischer’s instrumentation slowly pulls you back to the surface after the halfway point. “The Reds and Blues,” with its vaguely smooth-jazz guitar solos and monotonous vocals, is somehow impossible not to groove along with. They may not always make perfect sense, but Paul Fischer’s Songs are just dreamy and dangerous enough to hold on to. KIM RUEHL
Standout tracks: “Winter Tree,” “The Reds and Blues”