Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse

Most indie rock bands with a serious Beach Boys jones usually get the band's sunny confection element, but fail when it comes to nailing the unique character of the Wilson harmonies. Not the Besnard Lakes, whose worn-on-the-sleeve Wilson adoration is backed up by a quartet of vocalists who can sing and harmonize very well and very high (no small accomplishment). On THE BESNARD LAKES ARE THE DARK HORSE, the Montreal band blends their love with a disjointed riffs-and-soundscape approach that starts with an epic pretense and succeeds in execution. The results are a thrill, simultaneously familiar and wholly new.