Album Notes

Review By Daniel Sylvester for Exclaim!
Twenty years after post-rock first trickled into indie rock's vernacular, it's become easy to retroactively see how much its style has permeated the sounds of band like Stereolab, Low and Broken Social Scene. Under the name the Lake Vernon Drowning, Andrew Barker (multi-instrumentalist for Toronto, ON indies Bruce Peninsula) creates music that sounds indisputably '90s, if not only for its use of post-rock modes. His debut, Man of Leisure, Man of War, sees anti-anthemic melodies and textural guitar play living in harmony with spiky, terrarium housed instrumentals. Songs like "Sleepwalking Through the American Dream" and "This Spring" unfold infinitely, while "Man of War" and "Before the Horse" work exclusively by their choice of instrumentation, as warm brass and icy idiophones create distinct personalities. Man of Leisure, Man of War finds a musician obsessing over his craft, resulting in a fascinating piece to unite musical and melody purists.