The set starts off with the same muffled radio vocals that opened Dark Horse. This time, however, they are barely audible behind a Doppler of whirs and reverberated scratches. Once “Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean” sets the scene, we’re reacquainted with Lasek’s Mike Love-esque falsetto in “Pt. 2: The Innocent”. It’s more Floyd than it is Beach Boys, with a vocal melody that briefly recalls “Goodbye Blue Sky”, but both influences are certainly along for the ride. And as the record progresses, it becomes clear that the raucous beauty of Loveless has also seeped into the Lakes’ sound. From the get-go, the album rocks along on a sea of catchy but lethargic guitar riffs, explosive drum work, shoegazy distortion, high pitched harmonies, and pristine production. Perhaps this crisp-meets-gritty production has something to do with the band’s use of a 1968 Neve Germanium mixing console, rumored to be the same one Zeppelin used on Physical Graffiti. Even if these rumors all false, the record’s sound speaks for itself. It’s smooth at the core and rough around the edges.

With this production, almost every track builds up from low-key texture to full capacity. The Besnard lakes are a full-grown man dipping his hairy toe into the water a few times before ultimately taking the plunge. Despite their musical competence, they’re incapable of diving right in. Everything has to be in order before they pull the trigger, and when they do, it’s a perfect shot.  But lucky for us, the build-up is as fascinating as its culmination. These slow build ups pound and crash with beauty. Take, “Chicago Train”, which utilizes warm strings as a pathway for Lasek’s howl, until crunchy strums and building drums eventually make for pysch-pop perfection. Then there’s “Albatross”, which sounds like My Bloody Valentine at their softest, with Olga Goreas’ whispery voice rubbing up against a flurry of distorted strums and husband Jason Lacek’s cooing falsetto. They’ve got setting the mood down to a science, and even with that at their discretion, nothing’s feels too expected.

What’s interesting is how well the band manages to contain these build-ups and keep the album to a digestible length. Where slow-building contemporaries like Sigur Ros end up putting out film-length records, the Besnard Lakes keep things short. At around 47 minutes, the record feels a lot more epic than its length would argue. Like a short family vacation, this record provides just enough of a getaway to feel refreshed and, thankfully, not enough to make you sick of your siblings.

Though the record is cohesive in every sense, there seems to be much more of a dichotomy in the songwriting than on prior releases. In an almost Sonic Youth fashion, the songs are split between Lasek and Goreas on lead. The vocal variation makes for a slight dynamic, but it’s clear these two have been writing together for a long time.  Apparently Lasek’s tracks center on the story of a retired WWII spy turned lousy musician, while Goreas’ are more biographical in nature, but it’s pretty hard to tell what any of the songs are actually about. It’s clear that there are some decent lyrics here, but it’s hard to make them out or even pay attention to them with everything else that’s going on.

But regardless of the subject matter, this collection makes the bold case that the Besnard Lakes can take any form, so long as it aligns with their infectious blend of grandiosity. The Roaring Night is another triumph, and it lasts just long enough to want to stick around and see what happens the next morning.

I hadn’t really formed a complete thought of what a movie co-created by Animal Collective would be like. I guess I would say I had some preconceived notions (lots of strangeness, not much plot, plenty of excitement); Oddsac lived up to those guesses, but added a heap of creepy. That might have something to do with director/friend Danny Perez, whose work on videos for “Who Could Win A Rabbit?” (with its eerily painted, forest-dwelling humanimals) and “Summertime Clothes” (with its swirling abstracts and surreal dancers) was the only logical choice for such a project.

To be frank, this ain’t “Summertime Clothes”. There were many more hints, thematically and structurally, to earlier records Danse Manatee and Campfire Songs than to Merriweather Post Pavilion (though there were plenty of those MPP sub-bass and synth sounds). MPP, compared to both early Animal Collective and this movie, is an easy listen; There are plenty of fun songs, not much tension or chaos (at least not long in the primary place where your attention sticks).

With only one listen/viewing, it’ll be extremely tough to do the music/visuals justice (particularly for a project so rooted in obscuring an easy understanding), but I’ll give it a shot. There were characters played by each of the band members, with accompanying sonic motifs. Panda Bear seemed to be some sort of androgynous wandering drummer; Geologist a howling, sling-bearing warrior; Deakin a sad vampire; But, easily the most intriguing, Avey Tare a manic, red-painted man in a large, white, toga-esque wrapping.

Altogether, the visual aspect of the film had elements of horror and experimental film. I’m no expert, but I was immediately reminded of Un Chien Andalou (with distorted closeups of blood and eyes) and David Lynch (perhaps more in tone and use of distorted identities than of specific images). Maybe even David Cronenberg (there’s plenty of unidentifiable matter flowing).

I suppose picking out moments (both visually and audibly) that have stuck in my mind would be the most fruitful “review.” The film opened with a woman attempting to stop a wall from spewing a black, tarry substance while a deep, pounding drum and humming synths crescendoed into destruction. A while later, acoustic guitar plucks, reverberated wind sounds and a serene Panda Bear-led vocal harmony set the scene as Deakin’s vampire crossed a lake in a canoe. Later, a minor relative of that same set up was accentuated by rhythmic blasts of super-loud feedback as Panda roamed across a field of stones.

One of the downright tensest moments of the film had little to do with music, per se. A person (face obscured) leaned over a creek, washing some sort of organic-looking stones while emitting an anxious, guttural sound in a hectic rhythm. The scene would be obscured by blasts of noise and flashes of some sort of bloody-mouthed monster speaking in a sub-bass voice. The alternations got quicker and quicker, producing an extremely intense, anxious feeling. That wasn’t the only tense moment (oh, no). A family roasting marshmallows begins to realize the marshmallows are bursting back outwards and consuming them, all while the vampire creeps around in the woods and an eerie, “Moo Rah Rah Rain”-esque echoed vocal kicks around quietly.

The lyrics that end the film sounded a lot like “I’m happy” being repeated over and over again. But, considering the visuals, it was a bit of a mixed message. Perez called the final scene a “foodfight” in the post-screening Q&A, but the quick-changing shots, knives and suspicious grins paired with the manic, screaming Avey Tare character were nothing like a foodfight I’d ever seen before.

Once I’ve seen it a good fifteen more times, I’m guessing I’ll have a lot more of substance to say about the film. A few “songs” from the film would be great to listen to on their own, I’d guess, but Geologist (also present for the Q&A) said there won’t be a separate, music-only release. The film, in its mixture of sound and visual is certainly something you react to. It would be impossible, it seems, to see this without having a changed outlook for a while. It’s a supremely unique experience you will not get anywhere else. This kind of music combined with these images don’t get released all that often in congruence. See it.

Up until then, Williams was a well known, well decorated figure skater who did things the highly trained and expected way, creating routines around overly dramatic classical music. One day, something snapped in the man that made him want radical change. Perhaps not change in the way the sport was performed, but in the music that was used. He didn’t want to just flail around in between triple axels, acting over the top to something he had done a thousand times.  So what’s a frustrated man on skates supposed to do? For Williams at least, it was to pick up some “Teen Spirit” and ice-mosh his heart out.

There aren’t many words that describe the scene of an ice dancer interpreting what is, probably, the most famous grunge song ever, for serious judges at a national competition. Awkward, hilarious, and fashion-forward are just a few ways to describe it, but I think the best word would have to be genius. Even the commentators know how “innovative” Mr. Williams was as he spun and jumped across the ice.

Wearing the 90’s redneck uniform of ripped jeans, sleeveless flannel, and a bandana to hold back those long locks, Williams is quick into the triple axel soon after the song kicks off. He head bangs and air drums before transitioning from one jump to the next. The commentators are basically rendered speechless. But, they stayed surprisingly positive through the barrel-rolling end.

Think what you will, but Williams is the only man I know of with the balls to do what he did. For a sport that’s only innovative move has been to put one more spin in a jump, using a popular rock song runs the risk of being a kiss of death. Either way, he did it, and he gave it all he had, actually being technically precise making it look so easy. You like them apples Evan Lysacek?

Male Bonding has been DIY since day one. First playing in 2008 at house parties in London, they quickly realized their potential and started the record label Paradise Vendors Inc, where Male Bonding and friends could release music as well as provide publicity for themselves. A few releases later, Male Bonding put out Nothing Hurts, their first full-length. Male Bonding plays by one rule- play fast. At only a half hour, Nothing Hurts eats you up and spits you out in the most satisfying of ways, and Sub Pop took notice. They bought the album, and signed Male Bonding within months. Now touring the world with Vivian Girls and No Age, Male Bonding is growing in both their fan base and their sound.

CoS had a chance to catch up with singer and bass player Kevin Hendricks before the first show of their American tour, which will feature a Consequence of Sound sponsored appearance at a “Lo-Fi Friday” party during SXSW.

Welcome to America. What are your first impressions, and what was it like visiting Sub Pop in Seattle?

Seattle was amazing. It was really good to be in the offices there, and meeting the label reinforced our ideas of how cool it is. We flew into New York yesterday and now were playing our first show in Boston. Were itching to play- we need to work, we just need to justify our existence.

This tour is going to be huge- from Boston to LA to Europe- who are you most excited to play with during the next couple of months?

We’re playing with so many cool bands, and we’re already good friends with Vivian girls, but we’ve never played with them in America. Sharing a van should be exciting. I’m excited to play with Soft Pack and with Dum Dum Girls. We’re really lucky to be playing with the people were touring with. Of course we’re playing the thing in Mexico which will be mindblowing.

Whats this festival in Mexico? I’ve heard various rumors about it.

All we know is that it’s in Monterey at a drive in movie theatre, and should be amazing.

With coming to America, what have you seen as the biggest difference between the US and the UK?

All your doors pull, all ours push. Its really weird, and it’s hard loading equipment (laughs) all the doors in England push! It’s a struggle to deal with.

What about musically?

For us, we get a chance to breathe out. England’s great, but it’s a tiny place. It becomes a bit of a scramble. Here you can drive town to town and see different scenes that are all connected.

Congratulations on your new record deal. How did you get noticed by Sub Pop?

We have our own label, Paradise Vendors, where we put ourselves and our friends out. We put out a 7-inch with some friends and Sub Pop bought it, talked to us, and then signed us. It really is mindblowing. Just being there last weekend,  our drummer robin felt like we won a competition to visit Sub Pop– and then we realized this is our record label. There’s some exciting things going on at the label, and we are very willing to work.

Now that you have a contract, is your sound different from before?

In our heads we’re writing pop music, but it’s really basic as the way we write is all together. We value each instrument- guitar, bass, drums ,and bad vocals. (laughs) We mix it up and create our own sound. Its simple.

If you had to have a listener take a look at one album, which one most captivates your sound and message?

We did a split with our friends Pens, which was our first release. I would start there, as it captures the spirit of what our band is about. Some kind of connecting spirit among us in the UK.

I’ve noticed that your merchandise and albums are covered with the logo “Ride the Dreamcatcher”. Where does this fascination come from?

Were just really into that- when we found out about Sub Pop, we started listening to this old band called Green River. They had a shirt that said ride the fucking six-pack. So we thought- let’s make it ride the dreamcatcher. We thought we’d offend Sub Pop, but it actually sealed the deal. I even wanted to make a ride the dreamcatcher Frisbee, but I was outvoted by the band.

That album, Option Paralysis, is one of true emotion. It’s filled with anger and fear and violence, yet an odd sense of beauty is found underneath it all. Having taken the talent from past albums and expanding it in almost every way, Ben Weinman and his bandmates have created material of near perfection. It’s quite apparent that the band has a major message to portray, and that the translated product is one of the most unique experiences in music today.

“Farewell, Mona Lisa”, the disc’s first single, opens the album with an onslaught reminiscent of 2004’s “Sunshine the Werewolf”. It seems that the song was placed at the forefront because it leads to an open impression. It almost asks where the band is going with all of this. It becomes apparent quite quickly, though, that the band doesn’t even begin to think of retracing old steps. Instead, what follows is a brand new experience, one that places the band at the pinnacle of their career.

The rest of the album is pure, unpredictable insanity. The short two-minute tracks like “Good Neighbor” and “Crystal Morning” seem to be short interludes that lead listeners to whats waiting around the corner. Don’t get me wrong, the songs are good. Screeching guitars and screams that tell of suicide fill the ears but provide a type of relief in between the major chunks of songs. “Endless Endings” is one such filler that consists of skillful, proggy breakdowns that even Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart of Rush would be proud of.

“Widower” is the one song that will truly surprise new and old fans alike. Its one of the most unique songs the band has crafted so far, which is no small feat. It begins with a wash of beautiful piano that engulfs and surrounds and leaves no room for escape. Rolling drums soon kick in and begin a slow ascent of pain rarely seen. The band may leave you thinking they have gone soft, but two minutes before it’s over the entire song explodes with an all-out mind-numbing assault on the ears. The track finally comes full circle and ends with the same beautiful, contemporary Jazz piano that opened it, all proving that true progression is present within the music.

The second half of Option Paralysis contains, in my opinion, some of the best material the band has ever produced (next to Irony is a Dead Scene, of course). “Room Full of Eyes” gets groovy at certain points, and finally ends with a grungy drone in the same vein as old Alice In Chains. “Chinese Whispers”, one of the album’s strongest tracks, is almost psychedelic in its atmosphere. Screams of chemical weapons made out of broken dreams and the prog-fueled guitar riff truly impress by the end of it all. “I Wouldn’t If You Didn’t” is the last storm before the calm. “Parasitic Twins” closes out the record with eerie synths, cellos, and violins. The vocals and harmonizations reverberate off of time and space creating an atmosphere that seems to almost pay homage to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. Mechanical drumbeats and space-induced soundscapes offer up the perfect way to end an oddly beautiful album.

The atmosphere and tone on this album are unmatched. Option Paralysis never strays from what it truly is: a progressive-hardcore masterpiece. With perfectly executed time changes and strange auditory oddities, this is the one album of the year that will leave you with jaw agape, listen after listen. While expanding on the best from Calculating Infinity and Ire Works, the boys of Dillinger Escape Plan have created their most unique and versatile record to date. Refusing to give into trends and mainstream ideals seem to play into the outcome of Option Paralysis, and it really shows (maybe starting their own “record label”, Party Smasher Inc., had something to do with it?). The album is one of pain, sorrow and brutality, but it is composed in a very elegant fashion. It sounds as if the album was created for the band members, and for themselves only. The listeners are just passengers on this schizophrenic adventure, forced to go where the music takes them. And, well, in the music world, that will never be a bad thing.

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Oddly enough, Chilton had been scheduled to perform this weekend at SXSW, on Saturday, with his reunited act, Big Star. He was also scheduled to perform in Memphis on May 15th.

More as this unfolds…

You guys have certainly been one of the most lauded acts of the past year, and your debut Why There Are Mountains has been well received by fans and critics alike. What was the writing process going into that album?

Well our music is very lyrically driven so in the writing process a lot of thought goes into the subject matter of the lyrics. I typically get the lyrics first and get an acoustic guitar in my hands and go from there.

And where do you draw those lyrics from typically?

Well, I read a lot. So I draw from literature in general. I read a lot of poetry: John Ashbery, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, all kinds of stuff. I like to read short stories when we’re on the road; I find them more digestible. At the time we were writing the bulk of the album I was living at a place in South Jersey, so nature also played a part in the writing process of Mountains.

So you used Jersey as an inspiration. One can only draw the comparison to Bruce Springsteen. Like 90% of what The Boss writes is either about Jersey or “Leaving Jersey”(See: “Born To Run” or “Thunder Road”). Would you say Springsteen is a big influence? Or even just Jersey for that matter?

Well, I mean, obviously we pay our respects to the big man. I’m a fan, I grew up with my parents listening to him, but no. I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s an inspiration. (laughs) And there will definitely never be a saxophone in Cymbals Eat Guitars. Except from the scenery of South Jersey that was around at the time we were writing, not a lot comes from Jersey. Like I said, it comes from what I read.

Well then, musically, from whom do you draw inspiration?

We all kind of listen to different stuff. I know Matt [Whipple] listens to the more Indie stuff. I’ll hear Broken Social Scene or like, Pavement coming out of his headphones a lot, he’s more into the current music. Brian [Hamilton] is into the more dream-pop stuff. We all kinda listen to shoegaze. My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, that kind of stuff. Whenever we’re on the road we always have an album playing in the van while we drive so we all kind of agree on music.

While I have you, I just wanted to compliment you on the incredible cover you did of Elliott Smith’s “Ballad of Big Nothing”. Those are some big shoes to fill.

(laughs) Oh, thanks! Yeah. That one was kind of risky because Elliott Smith is sacred to a lot of people. But the song is pretty straightforward and we felt like we could do it justice.

Well you certainly did. So, today you’re kicking off your tour in Philly and doing a pretty extensive North American tour, are you going to be playing stuff off Mountains? Any new material?

Oh yeah. That’s what this tour is kind of about. We’ve toured a lot with just our Mountains material. That can get old. The first two weeks of the road can kind of be a mindless drone. But once we get acclimated, it ends up being very enjoyable. But yeah, we’ve got 5 new songs written for a new record and we’ve got them incorporated into our sets already. We’re planning on debuting them and polishing them as we go. We want to write about four more for a new album.

New album? That’s the best news I’ve heard all day! When might we expect that to drop?

About this time next year is the plan for now. And we understand the risk of trying to record the follow-up to a successful debut, but we aren’t worried about that. We’ve got a pretty solid idea of what we want to do and I think we’ll be able to avoid that sophomore slump.

Frontman Christopher Owens sat down with Drowned in Sound early this week and revealed the news. The new EP will contain six tracks, including one of the first songs Owens ever wrote.

“We played it at our first couple of shows, and then stopped playing it live,” Owens said of the track. “It’s called ‘Carolina’ – there’s a version of it on the internet – and it hasn’t really been done justice yet….It’s written about this girl who was ‘Miss Teen South Carolina’…[who] said something really silly about wanting to teach people in Iraq how to read, and I thought to myself ‘Did she really just say that?’” So did we all, by the way.

Girls aren’t just recycling old songs for the EP, however. Owens has apparently written 70 new ones (“I started writing songs three years ago and that’s been my life ever since”) and is using six for this release. And true to form, the guy whose band released a very adult video for its single “Lust for Life” has some choice ideas for the new EP.

“I want to call the a-side ‘Fucking A’ and the b-side ‘Fucking B’, and I want it to be the best EP of all time!” Okay, male nudity and the “F” word aren’t really the same thing, but still.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, the deal “guarantees the estate at least $200 million,” which comes in handy since the estate will “likely pay off about $125 million in debt by the end of this year, including $35 million owed to AEG Live.” With some refinancing, the estate finds itself breathing again, as the $300 million dollar loan, which was backed by Sony/ATV, had been a surmounting problem for Jackson prior to his death.

The new deal, however, gives Sony the right to distribute Jackson’s recordings through 2017. In addition to extending the deal by two years (originally, they had it ’til 2015), Sony now owns rights to Jackson’s recordings since the original contract signed in the ’80s, this includes even more recent material such as the soundtrack Is This It and the latest re-issues.

What’s exciting, though, is what Sony has planned. Some speculation has led insiders to believe a Cirque de Soleil show is in the cards, and as Rolling Stone reports, “an album of unreleased material culled from Jackson’s personal musical vaults, which reportedly house as much as three albums’ worth of unheard material,” will hit stores before Christmas.

Does anyone else feel dirty about all this?

If you have to choose between this and other high-profile reunions happening this spring, keep the following message from Chapterhouse’s MySpace in mind: “…due to individual commitments, this is likely to be the full extent of their tour plans other than a couple of European festival appearances to be confirmed.” Get the gettin’ while the gettin’ is good, right?

But there’s always that question, at least after the Smashing Pumpkins “reunion” came about: original lineup? Speaking with Under the Radar, vocalist Stephen Patman says, “It is the original lineup except for Greg Moore, who is filling in for Russell Barrett on bass.” Eh, close enough.

And there’s more — a certain ambient techno musician by the name of Ulrich Schnauss will be opening, and even joining the band for part of the performances. Schnauss is known to have been influenced by Chapterhouse and other early 90’s shoegazers, like Ride, Lush, and Slowdive.

Get the tickets at Ticketmaster, and watch this preview, from the November London performance, below. Full dates after the jump.

Chapterhouse 2010 Tour Dates:
03/18 – London, UK @ The Scala
04/06 – Tokyo, JP @ Liquid Room Ebisu
04/08 – Osaka, JP @ Live & Bar 11
04/09 – Tokyo, JP @ Super Deluxe
05/01 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
05/03 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
05/05 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
05/06 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern, Seattle
05/07 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
05/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine