Most bands make a big deal about having “eclectic influences” and of “making music that doesn’t sit easily in one genre.” And that is fine, that is as it should be. But I defy any band to do so with anything close to the diversity and spirit of sonic adventure that Deep Dark Lake exhibits on their excellently named, tenth album A Mountain of Anger and a Deep Dark Lake of Tears.
Just take the opening brace of songs. “The Zona Rosa” is a song that rises out of a scratchy indie-scape before cocooning itself in scuzzy-buzzy-fuzzy guitars and heading for the finish line. “Knock Off Version” takes this growling sound and takes it for a spin around the block, sounding like The Pixies playing a gig in the back of a classic muscle car being pushed to its limits. You can almost smell the burning oil and red-hot amp valves!
By contrast, “Loopy” is a strange, lysergic, psych-pop groove that heads more into the sort of territory that Mercury Rev made their own, which can never be a bad thing, and, alongside more squalling guitar pieces, such as “Mountain” and “Snowmobile,” you find strange sonic gems like “Psilocybin and Aphex Twin,” a ticking time bomb blend of ambient dance-rock and techno-acid trip, space and anticipation.
Never has the music world felt more like the post-genre place that people like me have been banging on about for years. The future is arriving all the time, but rarely does it leave such an unmissable impact crater in the musical landscape!
