Land of Talk-Some Are Lakes
[2008, Secret City Records and Saddle Creek Records]
Release Date: October 7th, 2008
Land of Talk is one of the twenty or so bands to have ties to Broken Social Scene. Lead singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell took up touring responsibilities with the Canadian behemoth of indie rock last year having already been involved in Land of Talk in 2006. She’s that other girl, not Feist, not Emily or Amy Haines, who sings on “7/4 (Shoreline)” when Broken Social Scene hits the road. After guest appearances with Brendan Canning on his last album, and the semi-recent cover of Patti Smith’s “Horses” for the The Tracy Fragments, Elizabeth Powell has finally made the time to put out a full-length with her main band Land of Talk.
After the well-received Applause Cheers Boo Hiss, the group began getting noticed by radio outlets and music blogs, touring with various Broken Social Scene members didn’t hurt either. Broken Social Scene aside, there are lots of other good bands from Canada currently making noise here in the states. Land of Talk will have to avoid the comparisons if they hope to become their own musical entity in the world of Canadian indie rock.
Land Of Talk’s Some Are Lakes fails to find the same melodic footing that is so easily attained by the band’s big brothers and as for female singers doesn’t match up with Feist’s past two works. Before things get ugly, let me remind the reader that Justin Vernon, formally of Bon Iver fame, produced the album. While I don’t know how much of personal touch he had on the album, his sparse style does come through in songs like “It’s Okay” and “Troubled”. Oddly enough, those are the only two down-tempo songs on the album of mainly straightforward rockers.
They’ll be around for another decade, that’s plenty of time to mature into a butterfly or an indie rock music machine. Relative newcomers Wolf Parade also spent two years before putting out a full-length and we saw what happened to them. Perhaps it will take Land of Talk a few more EP’s and tours to figure it out. Let’s just hope that “Some are Lakes” doesn’t wind up in the finale of Grey’s Anatomy…
This is what Rilo Kiley always wanted to sound like…
Fabakis Rating: 7.4 (Shoreline)
Buy the album via Saddle Creek
Land of Talk – Remaining 2008 Tour Dates
10/8 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Calvin College *
10/11 – Madison, WI @ Union Theatre/Univ. of Wisconsin *
10/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
10/14 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown *
10/16 – Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont *
10/17 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note *
10/18 – St. Louis, MO @ The Gargoyle *
10/19 – Urbana, IL @ Foellinger Auditorium/Univ. of Illinois *
10/21 – Richmond, VA @ Toad’s Place *
10/22 – Falls Church, VA @ State Theatre *
10/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Masonic Temple *
10/25 – Brunswick, ME @ Bowdoin College *
10/26 – Boston, MA @ Wilburt Theatre *
* w/ Broken Social Scene
Fabakis 