***GREAT LAKES formed around the songs of DAN DONAHUE and BEN CRUM in Athens, Georgia in 1996, but are currently based in Brooklyn. Their history goes back to 1990 when Dan and Ben, high school friends, started writing songs together, and soon after, met JAMEY HUGGINS, with whom they quickly bonded. The three eventually moved to Athens, where they put a band together and began playing live. With their third full-length album, Diamond Times, the band's intention was to make an engaging, varied, and solid record; and to capture the organic feel and sound of a band playing together. That they've progressed and evolved as songwriters and musicians is immediately evident, as it's lyrically more direct and something of a new sound for them. The songs range in style from the synth-heavy and seemingly New Wave-influenced "Farther," to the saxophone-driven rock and roll of "Hot Cosmos," and on to the fiddle and steel guitar-oriented country sound of "Night Hearts" and "The Moon and the Lunatics." It all still sounds like Great Lakes, but they're into new territory here, and sounding better than ever.