Support |
songs
album review
The Great Lake Swimmers' blend of catchy, rural indie pop and brooding north country folk with Low-inspired tempos is like a shot of non-adrenaline. The Toronto outfit's third full-length album, Ongiara, breaks little ground for the Canadian pine-gazers, but somewhere between bandleader Tony Dekker's sonorous tenor and cavernous banjo there is a sweet spot that, when engaged, like on the lovely "Backstage with the Modern Dancers," "Catcher Son," and "I Became Awake," could melt the thin ice of Lake Ontario's shoreline in January. Like fellow sepia-toned Chicago collective the Pinetop Seven, GLS have a gift for melody and atmosphere that is nearly hypnotic, but where the Pinetop gang often shifts the dynamic and runs screaming into the forest, the Swimmers just kind of tread water, resulting in an audio experience that can just as easily infect the listener with drooping eyelids as it can repeated bouts of cathartic Sunday morning contemplation. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
See all-
-
-
- Bodies And Minds
- Released 2005
-
-
-
-
- Great Lake Swimmers
- Released 2005
-
-
-
-
- Lost Channels
- Released 2009
-
-
-
-
- Hands In Dirty Ground EP
- Released 2008
-
listener reviews
-
-
-
-
Best of '07: Great Lake Swimme
-
- By Aimz54901
- 3/31/2009 04:50:38
- I wish I could remember who turned me on to this trio from Toronto. It's a very mellow, mid to low tempo record, perfect for a rainy or snowy Sunday afternoon. The opening track, "Your Rocky Spine," displays beautiful banjo picking, along with backing vocals from Sarah Harmer. There's a feeling of deep longing and melancholy throughout this record, but there is also a feeling of hope. The songs are recorded using minimal instrumentation - mostly acoustic guitar, banjo, double bass, and drums played with brushes. People categorize this as "indie pop" and compare it a lot to the work of Elliott Smith and Iron & Wine, but I believe that, like the other two artists, this record has large crossover appeal to many genres and age groups. Very consistently gorgeous throughout the record.
Standout Tracks: "Changing Colours," "Put There by the Land," "I am a Part of a Large Family" - Be the first person to rate this review!
-
-
 |
