Name: The Besnard Lakes are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
Brand: The Besnard Lakes

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

FTH382LPA

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Colour

Purple

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: Yes

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Housed in Gatefold Sleeve with Lyric Sheet. Side D Features a Locked Groove for Maximum Psychedelic Wonder

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2021-03-19

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

5060626463059

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Total Cap

2 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / purple

Artist

The Besnard Lakes

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Full Time Hobby

Full Time Hobby is an independent music label based in London, England. Established in 2004 by Nigel Adams and Wez Westley, the label has been a platform for showcasing diverse and talented artists from various genres. With a focus on quality music production, Full Time Hobby has gained recognition as a leading authority in the industry.

Since its inception, Full Time Hobby has consistently delivered exceptional music releases that have captivated audiences worldwide. The label's commitment to nurturing emerging talent and supporting established artists has earned them a reputation for being at the forefront of cutting-edge music.

With *Nigel Adams* and *Wez Westley* at the helm, Full Time Hobby continues to push boundaries and explore new musical territories. Their passion for discovering unique sounds ensures that every release from the label is a testament to their unwavering dedication to artistic excellence.

The Besnard Lakes is a Canadian indie rock band hailing from Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 2003, the band has gained recognition for their unique sound and captivating performances. Drawing inspiration from various genres, their music combines elements of indie rock, shoegaze, and psychedelic rock.
With a discography that spans over several albums, The Besnard Lakes have established themselves as a prominent force in the Canadian music scene. Their distinct sound and thought-provoking lyrics have garnered them a dedicated fan base.
Influenced by artists such as *Handsome Furs*, *Plants and Animals*, and *Wolf Parade*, The Besnard Lakes have carved out their own niche within the indie rock genre. Their atmospheric compositions and powerful vocals create an immersive listening experience that leaves a lasting impression on audiences.

Back In Stock

The Besnard Lakes have passed through death and they’r e here to tell the tale. Nearly five years after their last lightning-tinted volley, the magisterial Montreal psych-rock band have sworn off compromise, split with their long-standing label, and completed a searing, 72-minute suite about the darkness of dying and the light on the other side. 

The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is the group's sixth album and the first in more than 15 years to be released away from a certain midwestern American indie record company. After 2016's A Coliseum Complex Museum - which saw Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas attempting shorter, less sprawling songs - the Besnards and their label decided it was time to go their separate ways; with that decision came a question of whether to even continue the project at all. What use is a band with an instinct for long, tectonic tunes - rock songs with chthonic heft and ethereal grace, five or 10 or 18 minutes long? How do you sell that in an age of bite-sized streaming? How do you make it relevant?

"Who gives a shit!" the Besnard Lakes realized. Ignited by their love for each other, for playing music together, the sextet found themselves unspooling the most uncompromising recording of their career. Despite all its grandeur, ...The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings honours the very essence of punk rock: the notion that a band need only be relevant to itself. At last the Besnard Lakes have crafted a continuous long-form suite: nine tracks that could be listened together as one, like Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies or even Dark Side of the Moon, overflowing with melody and harmony, drone and dazzle, the group's own unique weather.

Here now, the Besnard Lakes finally dispensed with the two/three-year album cycle, taking all the time they needed to conceive, compose, record and mix their opus. Some of its songs were old, resurrected from demos cast aside years ago. Others were literally wood shedded in the cabanon behind Lasek and Goreas's Rigaud Ranch - invented and reinvented, relishing this rougher sound. Some of that distortion makes its way into the final mix: an incandescent crackle that had receded from the Besnards' more recent output.

Rightly - nay, definitively! - The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is a double LP. Near Death is the title of the first side. Death, After Death, and Life follow next. It's literally a journey into (and back from) the brink: the story of the Besnard Lakes' own odyssey but also a remembrance of others', especially the death of Lasek's father in 2019. Being on your deathbed is perhaps the most psychedelic trip you can go on: in Lasek's father's case, he surfaced from a morphine dream to talk about "a window" on his blanket, with "a carpenter inside, making intricate objects." That experience pervades the album, catching fire on the song Christmas Can Wait; elsewhere the band pays tribute to the late Mark Hollis and, on The Father of Time Wakes Up, they mourn the death of Prince.

In these scorched and pitted times, as the world smoulders, there might be nothing less trendy than an hour-long psych-rock epic by a band of Canadian grandmasters. Then again, there might be nothing we need more. ...The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is a bright-blazing requiem: nine tunes that are one tune and six musicians who make one band - unleashed and unconstrained, piercing and technicolour. At the end of the golden day, the Besnard Lakes are right where they should be.