Recording information: Breakglass, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Montreal, Canada.

VOLUME I was recorded by the husband-and-wife team Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas in 2004, three years before the Besnard Lakes reanimated the vocal chi of PET SOUNDS-era Beach Boys and dropped their masterpiece, THE BESNARD LAKES ARE THE DARK HORSE. VOLUME I finds a starkly different band: one that emphasizes majestic guitar and organ swells over vocal harmonies (although those lurk in the din), and embraces a decidedly more raw and energetic approach. Surprisingly, it holds up fine, proving that Besnard Lakes were always a great band (and certainly at the forefront of Montreal's mid-'00s indie explosion) capable of devastating guitar rock or feathery four-part harmony, whichever muse caught their collective fancy.