The Laurel Collective - Feel Good Hits Of A Nuclear Winter

by Mike Haydock

A debut mini-album to welcome the sunshine from the thinking man's Kooks

"And it holds the key to why The Laurel Collective are so likeable: their music is optimistic and full of beans, lifting your mood as it lifts off."

Just as the sun comes out, The Laurel Collective release their debut mini-album through Domino offshoot Double Six (also home to Eugene McGuinness). The timing couldn’t be better. Because as much as the band like to chat about the genres they blend - soul, indie, rock, dancehall rhythms - the overall result can be categorised as gorgeous sunshine pop.

What those different influences do bring is plenty of variety: there’s a heavy Smiths and Cure influence on opener ‘International Love Affair’, which is a heady rush of melody; ‘Gun Mouth’ morphs into a riotous pirate chant over an afro-beat; ‘Sick Sailor’ is a tad mod; and there are a few trendy Klaxons moments when the synths leap to the foreground - check ‘Billion Planets’, for example.

Best of all is ‘Vuitton Blues’, a lush indie pop tune that shifts through various tempos and bursts into colour as it crescendos into the chorus. There’s even a hint of the Divine Comedy about it. And it holds the key to why The Laurel Collective are so likeable: their music is optimistic and full of beans, lifting your mood as it lifts off, and it hasn’t been overproduced and suffocated in the studio. It feels decidedly raw.

There’s plenty to dig through; plenty to keep you coming back for repeated listens - these choruses take a good few listens to wriggle under your skin. All of this, of course, could hinder The Laurel Collective’s push for mainstream recognition, since they don’t blindside you straightaway, and the charm comes from the fact that you have to put some effort in. They may remain in the shadows a while longer, but that just makes them a more tantalising prospect: a secret to cherish.

Be the first to comment on this article