May 12 2008 11:44 am,
The Laurel Collective
‘Feel Good Hits Of A Nuclear Winter’
(Double Six Records)
The debut mini-album from London-based six-piece The Laurel Collective, whittled down from nineteen members this time last year, is a confused rainbow of influences and styles, mixing pop and synth effects with indie guitars. The album establishes itself on relative safe ground with opener ‘International Love Affair’ but from hereon in things start to skew and darken with the percussion and bass explosions of ‘Gun Mouth’ and the gentle kind of Mystery Jets-esque eccentricity in ‘Vuitton Blues’ and ‘Seasick Sailor’. Bear with it - it’s a definite grower, if a little difficult at first.
Jessica Hazel
