The opening track ‘Yuppy Flu’ immediately demands the full attention of the audience. Strong simple drums and catchy guitar riffs throughout, matched by a voice full of woes and yet strangely attractive; perhaps not a hit single, but certainly one strong enough to encourage an audience to continue listening. Unfortunately you face listening to a couple of pitifully dull songs before getting to anything worth a second listen; with tracks such as ‘Death By Fire’ and ‘The Man Who Breaks Things’ have clearly been put in for the sole purpose of plumping the album up.
Elizabeth Powell really begins to let loose with her talents in the track after which the album is named – Some Are Lakes. Her beautiful folky voice juxtaposes distorted guitar melodies to give off a fantastic and unique sound. The chorus really exploits how deep and meaningful Powell’s voice is, as even at times when the lyrics are undistinguishable you know exactly what she means. Drummer Eric Thibodeau also plays his part providing continuity throughout the album, as well as bassist Chris McCarron writing and performing interesting and diverse bass lines. ‘Give Me Back My Heart Attack’ proves just how versatile Land of Talk are, with their ability to write fantastic songs; each sounding entirely different to the last. However this versatility is matched by their inconsistency with half of the album sounding like little more than background music written for a tragic romance film.
One thing that is evident about this band is that each member is a great musician in their own right and they manage to produce instantly likeable songs with a unique sound; A quality that I find refreshing in a time full of fame whores and copy cats. However, this album is incredibly frustrating as it comes about half way to meeting their true potential. Songs like ‘Young Bridge’ and ‘Corner Phone’ are packed with melodies and hooks that either make you want to dance or weep. Other seemingly rushed songs on the album fail to impress with a lack of emotion and melody.
As a debut album, ‘Some Are Lakes’ is impressive and will certainly do the band’s popularity no harm. However, I would hope that Powell and co have learned from the experience of producing an album and are already under way in writing the next – perhaps leaving them with a little more time to produce a finished article.
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Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes
