Lake Trout

After 40 years of rock ‘n roll, some would argue the setup of guitar-bass-drums is old hat. Some have turned to electronic music for fresh ideas, others have embraced rap and hip-hop. Baltimore-based Lake Trout seem determined to prove that rock is not dead and, moreover, that just about every musical style has a valid place in a traditional band arrangement. It’s as if they’ve concluded, “If it’s all been done before, why not just do it all together, all at once?” Incorporating elements of ’70s stoner rock, Krautrock, dub, electronica and Grateful Dead style jams, Lake Trout sound like a crazy mix CD put on random. This creates a heady brew of genres and reference points, but the band seems so determined to not be pigeonholed that their eclecticism is somewhat overwhelming, the end result being incredibly interesting on a theoretical level but at the expense of any emotional impact. Still, this is made up for by infectious, slippery grooves created from complex chord changes and quirky time changes. They might not move your heart, but they do their best to move your body. Lake Trout augments its guitar-based setup with a multi-instrumentalist, who often plays keyboards or a Moog, providing added layers of texture. But rather than rely on keyboards or a drum machine to incorporate elements of electronic music and hip-hop, the band’s drummer Mike Lowry is capable of providing hip-hop style breakbeats or a manic drum and bass backing. Other times he chiefly supplies percussion, leaving the guitars to keep time. And the other players are just as unconventional: Ed Harris plays one song as if he’s forgetting every other bar, Woody Ranere frequently plucks at his Gibson as if it were a bass guitar, and James Griffith’s pulsating bass lines take the lead on several tunes. Songs start in one place and then veer off in a totally different direction to conventional expectation. One track starts off with a flute playing a delicate Asian melody, only to have a thunderous bass crash in, and the tune diverts into heavy rock territory, topped by Robert Plant-style vocal histrionics. But by the song’s finale, the repeated refrain “you couldn’t stop me if you wanted to” is accompanied by that same flute melody, taking the song full circle and giving it unlikely cohesion. Another song starts with very fast drums, sounding like early D.C. hardcore, but the band then puts a slow guitar repetition over it. Halfway through, the ornate guitar instrumentation pulls back, creating these loose open spaces. Then all of a sudden what can only be described as a flying saucer crash landing occurs. The two guitars come crashing in surf guitar-style, while the drums speed up even faster trying to keep pace with the absurd thrash metal vocals. Has anyone ever tried to meld surf and thrash before? Lake Trout confound conventional wisdom, pulling off every bizarre genre splice one might imagine, making each resultant tune sound like it makes total sense.