Lake - Review

Lake – Oh, the Places we’ll go (2008)

K Records

I know, as a general rule one should not judge an album by it’s cover, let alone from it’s title, but when a band references the legendary Dr. Seuss you just have this gut feeling that the album will be, frankly, awesome.

To the uninitiated Lake are a floating collective of musicians, who group up every few years or so. Oh, the Places we’ll go is the band’s third album and first for K Records. To be honest I can’t imagine a better label for a group such as this and they fit K Recs aesthetic like a glove (albeit a fluffy pink one).

One of the best feelings in the world is pressing play and liking the music instantly and when listening to the album’s title track I felt the urge to sway and dance along to the track shuffling beats and fey vocals (and it’s reprised later on!) Fortunately this isn’t a one off track and the other eight cuts on this all too brief album hit at the right areas, that is the feet and the brain. Oh…. Is filled with whimsy and hope, but funnily enough never descends into the sticky and drippy. It’s also worth nothing that this instant catchiness is far from throw away. There are twisting entwining melodies, that show a part of themselves throughout several listens.

I, generally, like a good optimistic sounding album that makes the world shinier and better and because of this I cannot get enough of ‘oh….’ Like the author this wonderful little record is named after, there is oodles of charm and happiness which belies a certain complexity.