Clearlake
Lido
Dusty Company / Domino

Lido starts off with the track, "Clearlake Lido." The song is an abstract instrumental of the song "These Things Are Sent To Try Us." Upon first listen, you won’t know that this is a reference to a song 4 tracks away and you may even think that it’s 1 minute and 6 seconds of filler. Assumably, this track is here for repeated listening of Lido. This is how confident Clearlake is that you will listen to Lido more than once. Not only are they betting that you’ll listen to this album again, they’re betting your going to pay enough attention that at some point, you will recognize this reference. Clearlake have accurately assessed how good their debut album is.

The first few dark, multi-layered bars of "Sunday Evening", Lido’s second track and the real introduction to Clearlake’s sound exemplify their new take on the British indie sound. It’s not until the chorus is reached that you become fully aware of how dynamic this band is. Rather than exploding with a heavy jumpstart to the music, the instruments that are used sparsely in the verses come together to fill in the sound and create a clearer landscape. The heavy English vocals and somewhat typical British themes remain fresh despite themselves.

"Sunday Evening" leads right into "Don’t Let The Cold In", which again harnesses a potent energy and full sound while remaining a slower number. "Don’t Let The Cold In" begins like Revolver era Beatles meet early My Bloody Valentine. The concoction of these two sounds may sound jarring, but Clearlake manage to construct a mellow pop song based around random synthesized beeps, speed strumming that would make the Wedding Present proud and heavy beats.

Many of the tracks recall the pop sensibility of Blur, with the experimental spirit of The Boo Radleys and the sentimentality of The Smiths. Tracks like "I Hang On Every Word You Say" and "Jumble Sailing" recall the familiarity of bands as far apart as The Kinks and Pulp, but Clearlake have a defined style that creates their own brand of Brit-pop.

If Clearlake don’t make a dramatic change to the current Brit-pop landscape, a Clearlake inspired copycat is sure to. Lido is solid from first song to last. Clearlake have managed to pull together the best elements of British indie music and create a spectacular album worth every praise that can be thrown at it.

-Tyler Jacobson

Track Listing:

1. Clearlake Lido
2. Sunday Evening
3. Don’t Let The Cold In
4. Something To Look Forward To
5. These Things Are Sent To Try Us
6. I Hang On Every Word You Say
7. Let Go
8. Daybreaking
9. Jumble Sailing
10. Life Can Be So Cruel
11. I Want To Live In A Dream
12. Winterlight