Swan Lake

Beast Moans (Jagjaguwar)

By Matt Siblo
Published: January 4th, 2007 | 8:23pm

There's a scene in one of Kevin Smith’s ill-fated animated Clerks cartoons where a character is shown cross-examining George Lucas. Burnt by the lackluster output of Star Wars: Episode One, he inquires whether he wrote the entire movie during one weekend. Anyone who remembers Jar Jar Binks understood wholeheartedly.

While expectations for Swan Lake, the collaboration between members of Wolf Parade, Destroyer, and Frog Eyes, were not quite on par with those of a sci-fi blockbuster, its impressive pedigree set the bar pretty high in select circles. And although Beast Moans has its shambolic charms, it is hard not to get the same impression that what we’re given isn’t quite the fleshed out masterpiece some had come to expect.

Dan Bejar of Destroyer provides the album with its strongest moments if only because his unmistakable laments are so distinct. All he has to do is sing “la la la” ad nauseum and a gorgeous melody is born. “Widow’s Walk” and “The Freedom” are among Beast Moan’s most memorable but they don’t seem to benefit from the company Bejar is keeping. They simply sound like great Destroyer songs. Frog Eyes’ Carey Mercer provides Swan Lake with its most difficult tunes but also its most unsuccessful. Undoubtedly a master of his own craft, his tense vocal delivery sounds out of place between such two melodic talents such as Bejar and Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug. But even Krug sounds like he’s phoning it in, providing tracks, which are quirky but unremarkable. Great expectations bog down Beast Moans a problem that has more to do with its listener than the end result. So even if Swan Lake’s debut was created in the span of three days, there are worse ways to spend a weekend.