I Heart Lake Trout
Photo by Laura Germida
If i had to pick the most underrated band of the last decade, I would probably go with Lake Trout. I first got exposed to them near the end of my short raver phase. I was getting bored with the way most electronic music held so rigidly to sub-genre definitions, and I wanted to find people who were taking those sounds, especially the rhythms of Drum ‘n’ Bass, and applying them in more dynamic music. I stumbled across this Baltimore, Maryland outfit who combined DMB dance music with a free-jazz jamband sort of approach, and loved what I heard. I picked up their live record, featuring DJ WHO called Alone At Last, saw some live shows, and became a fan.
After a while i moved on to new music and forgot all about Lake Trout until I caught them at Voodoo Fest in 2004. During the time I wasn’t paying attention to them, they completely retooled their sound from their previous primarily instrumental, long songs, to a Radiohead influenced brand of indie rock. This stark departure seemed to alienate their hippie/raver-centric fanbase, but the change of direction helped them go from a good band to a truly great band. Their last two albums, Another One Lost (2003) and Not Them, You (2005) are two of the best records to come out in their respective years. Had they released these instant classics in today’s super-hype-blog days, they would probably have blown up, but they were a band just a few years before their time and have remained a hidden gem for lucky listeners like myself. For those of you not familiar, jump on the bandwagon:
Lake Trout : Not Them, You : Riddle
Lake Trout : Not Them, You : King
Lake Trout : Another One Lost : Another One Lost
Lake Trout : Another One Lost : Bliss
Without a recent album or tour, I had sort of forgotten about these guys again, but I just learned they have been rather busy. They have all been working on side projects, and three of the members have been part of UK based UNKLE’s touring band. Lake Trout’s James Griffith actually co-wrote most of UNKLE’s last album, End Titles…Stories For Film.
Also, coming early next year, Lake Trout will be a releasing a live album complete with unreleased songs and golden oldies. They will be releasing the album through an experimental distribution method via The Biggest Label Ever. It is a record label centered around a website consisting of free music supported by advertising, and Lake Trout’s record will be the first they release when they launch next year. Until then, they have other free music available on their website, including a new song, and they are streaming both of their most recent albums there as well, so go soak it up:
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 19, 2008 at 3:19 am
