Lake Ruth/Listening Center warn of “Law & Disorder”

From its opening moments this collabiration between Lake Ruth and Listening Centerreleased over the summer with proceeds benefitting the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fundimmerses the listener in a gauzily seductive yet apprehensive vortex of sound: "Don’t sit and wait / there’s no hiding here / unsubtle acts / rule the landscape that you know." Here is a song that acknowledges Law and Order are not the synonyms they’re often assumed to be (Allison Brice’s lyrics are clever enough to apply either to relationships or to politics even if the latter is to the fore). In the familiar music-crit parlance of “If You Like X, Why Not Try Y,” fans of Weyes Blood will likely respond to the layers of chiming guitars, wavering synths, and Grimms’ Fairy Tales vocals. But Lake Ruth conjure up a dark cloud of psych-pop perfection all their own. (Jason Lee)