Friday, January 13, 2012

New Sounds of Scotland: Laurence and the Slab Boys


Alright, I'll admit that a key factor in my decision to check out the music of Laurence and the Slab Boys was the name. Another factor was commentary by persons whose musical opinion I value. But neither of those factors would have been enough to result in a profile here. As always, it comes down to the music. Try "Space Dream #2" --
Space Dream #2 by Laurence and the SlabBoys

Laurence and the Slab Boys consists of Larry Reid, Josh Brady, Matt Smithson and Lee Walsh. They are based in Glasgow, although Reid spends his time shuttling between Glasgow and Berlin, where he DJs. They describe their music as a noisy form of dream-pop and "post-apocalyptic folk". I don't have any problem with those descriptions, but I will point out that there is a very dance-oriented aspect to the demos to which I've listened. I'll also note that the band seems to eschew loops, laptops and other technical wizardry, and just relies on its core instruments and Larry's voice to paint the picture. What a concept!

"Ballroom Killer"
Ballroom Killer by Laurence and the SlabBoys

Larry has advised me that the group is assembling an album, so I'll leave more detailed discussion of the music to a proper review of the album. However, I wanted our readers to get a chance to listen to a few tracks and, I hope, look forward to the album.

"Chinese Burns"
Chinese Burns by Laurence and the SlabBoys


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2 comments:

Jim said...

I think the band is based in Manchester now, though Larry is from Glasgow and recorded the album in Berlin.

Rocksteady74 (Scott) said...

Thanks. I was using the web for my comments on location.