Singles

Laboratory Noise - Hope is a Waking Dream EP

Matt Harrold 18/02/2008

Rating: 4.5/5

With the potential of the shoegaze scene to rekindle itself with the return of the My Bloody Valentine, Laboratory Noise have picked a good time to bring their own brand of saturated guitar played against the background of an eternity of summer bliss. Melody is the name of the game and with Hope is a Waking Dream EP they've got a good chance of winning over a new generation unfamiliar with the bliss filled sounds of the early 90's shoe gaze scene.

Opening with gentle swirls seemingly taken directly off 'Loveless', 'Here, She is Evergreen' slip comfortably into psychedelia that sweeps you along into the out reaches of space, past the twinkling stars and into the cosmos at large. There's a pervading mellowness that conjures up the idea that the whole affair is effortless, the band being genetically predisposed to a genre that other bands have tried to replicate but seemingly forgot that white noise and reverb is not the be all and end all of a tune.

There's also more then a touch of Explosions in the Skies on tracks like 'Let's Talk About Psychosis' and 'You Can Never Be In Somebody Else's Head' which tend to be much darker affairs then the earlier sun soaked tracks. Guitars sweep in and out, riding on ethereal winds against the backdrop of rattling drums as an air of melancholy settles down to remind you that for every drug fueled high there's always a low.

'You Created A Storm' is the stand out track of the whole EP, showing a band willing to take a risk adding synths and electronica galore to the mix. Re-creating the edge of much harder, rockier Indie it's a beautiful blood soaked brawl between the Cooper Temple Clause and the Brian Jonestown Massacre with The Morning After Girls trying to referee between the two and make sure no one get's kicked in the balls.

All in all it's probably one of the highlights of the year as far as début releases go, and with a little more growth and maturity Laboratory Noise could easily produce and album of breath taking proportions. So Here's to misty eyed reminisces and that old nostalgic hope that along with bands like 'The Loves' and 'Time.Space.Repeat' they can resurrect all that was good with Shoe-gaze without being found lost, staring at the ground.

Release Date: Unknown