Customer Reviews

Photographs EP

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A tremendous EP full of songs you will want to listen to repeatedly. "Indian Lover" starts it off nicely, and it would be a great fit for major indie airplay. My personal favorite, "Love or Gain," comes next. It's a song that really taps into the ethics of our society. At the end "White Flag" finishes this melodic short set with a chorus that will stick in your mind long after you hear it. Overall, this disc is cleverly written and well constructed, and it will have the listener eagerly awaiting this band's next release.

They have been one of my favorite bands since they went by Watashi Wa. They are so full of energy and happiness and sincere passion for music. I agree with the other review, this is a must have CD. They are inspirational and I can't get enough. When there full release comes out I will quickly get that too!

This is a great EP, everyone should have it. Its melodic songs really grown on you, melodies that keep playing in your head. The message it conveys is upbeat, challenging and refreshing. Lakes is one of the best bands to come along in a long time, offering something new, innovative and great to listen to. I can't wait until they release a full CD. Buy this CD - you won't regret it!

If the songs on the new Lakes EP were photographs, they'd resemble a New England fall shortly before the beginning of winter. A mélange of yellow, orange and green leaves scattered about back roads and revolution-era bridges. Up above, dark brooding clouds escaping the Canadian border streaming over the landscape, threatening snow. Somewhere in the background, you might catch a glimpse of smoke from a crackling chimney fire framed accidentally in the composition of the picture. And for a moment, you feel yourself immersed in the image, holding yourself from the cold and engulfed by the simultaneous aromas of burning spruce and goldenseal.

Each of the five songs on Photographs has this effect. Singer, songwriter Seth Roberts; multi-instrumentalist Jason Russo, drummer Jonathan Russo and bassist Erik offer an album of harmonic convergences that perfectly meshes the diverse elements of Roberts' and Jason Russo's vocals with washes of electric guitars that spray blasts of refreshing melodies amply supporting the bittersweet compositions Roberts presents.

The press release with the EP identifies Lakes as being reminiscent of The Police or Tom Petty. But Photographs is much more a personal album than either Petty or The Police made. At times, the truth of its themes can be difficult to listen to because of their nakedness. Roberts's willingness to be so vulnerable about his marriage and how the relationship changed through a five year period is a brilliant exercise in exposing his own unbearable lightness of being. That Photographs possesses such human depth sets it apart from mainstream rock and in this regard, it's probably closer to the lyrical work of Kurt Cobain.

The drawback is the concept will be understood best by those experiencing deep, lasting relationships. A beautiful record none the less, it will have special meaning for couples who have endured.

Hopefully Lakes will be producing a full length soon. The EP format only gives a taste of Roberts's lyrical and compositional strengths, and makes it difficult for the band to explore other musical terrains. However, it's an album of small gifts that promises great things to come.

Roberts and Lakes have produced a vibrant group of songs which, as photo's, would adorn a beloved family album of snapshots capturing the effervescence of autumn and the ever-affirming spirit of maturing love. You'll find yourself transfixed by the remarkable imagery of the five leaves contained in this volume.