Welcome home Car Stereo (Wars)! Saturday night (Aug 30th) will be pretty amazing at the Austin Beauty Bar with Bird Peterson getting the place immediately off the chain the way he always does, the Laughing thematically tearing it up the way they did at their EP release last week and CS(W) doing what he does best the way he did overseas the past 4 months. He has been out of the country for a while so the question on everyone’s mindgrapes is “will he have time to absorb the latest United States Top 40 hits and be able to turn them around into something better?” My guess is yes. Come and see for yourself tomorrow night! We will have a table set up and be selling copies of the BRAND NEW Artifact Workshop release from the Laughing “Jungle” as well as the instant party disc from Car Stereo (Wars) “the Bandit.” Happy Labor Day!
Congrats to the Laughing for being EarFarm’s Band of the Week! After hearing Jungle Matt at EarFarm explains :“I was enthralled… magnetically drawn to the sounds, beats, rhythms, and mindset of the band jumping out of my speakers. Suddenly, here I was confronted with a band who captures the smiling mope of Robert Smith, mixes it with heavy doses of primal thunder, and then turns late-career Talking Heads jungle love inside-out. In fifteen short minutes I’d been thumped in the face by pop songs that got down, and weirded out, while also managing to preserve and cultivate melodies and hooks that were sure to last a little longer. I kept going back for more. The ‘repeat all’ button was even employed (rare).”
The website, who has previously featured the Walkmen, Grizzly Bear, and Takka Takka goes on to conduct a GREAT interview with the Laughing that is a must read. Check it all out HERE.
The Laughing is on the verge of their triumphant return to the Austin music scene and this Friday is when it all goes down. Their last public shows were a string of SXSW performances back in March but with this Friday’s EP release show at Club DeVille the band initiates a new era with a newly formed band, the promotion of new recorded material, and a new genre of music the band calls “jungle smut-core.”
Who: The Laughing with Cari and Jason Band + Magic Surprise
What: EP release party
When: 9 PM August 22, 2008
Where: Club Deville (map)
Expanding on the art rock of the 1970s and adding in the soundscapes of ambient noise and manipulated melody of Animal Collective, the boys have certainly matured from their days of worshiping a mythical tiger and being straight up dance rock. Although the group could still rock a house at the drop of a hat, it would now probably be best if the house were full of people discussing the work of Anton Corbijn. The band’s frontman Logan Middleton explains that “part of the new more sonically varied sound came from a deliberate attempt to distinguish ourselves from being another copycat in the now obsolete dance-rock craze, while still not entirely abandoning the undeniable “funness” and timeless appeal of a dancey drum beat.”
The new EP Jungle is a just that, an EP. It fiercely demonstrates to the listener the band’s raw talent and new direction by cramming in hook riddled, upbeat jams as well as atmospheric layering of clarinets, djembes, chants, glockenspiels and on and on and on. The Laughing is equal parts Q and Not U and Rafter and it somehow REALLY works. After hearing it, there is no doubt that the band is still one of Austin’s most talented and their return to playing live shows is certain to impress anyone who happens upon it not just from the music but come this Friday from the experience as a whole …
The band is putting out this EP in a interesting way: throughout the night of the release show artist Bryan Keplesky will be painting a mural of cd sleeves which will make up the album art. The Laughing playing that night will christen it, as it were. Those who grab an album will have a one of a kind piece of art which will no doubt be much more gratifying that just ripping it from your co-workers iTunes. The one of a kind EPs will also be available at all independent local record stores the next day.
From the Austin American-Statesman:
It’s nice when bands you had written off surprise you. Jungle is such a shocking step forward that you forgive [the Laughing's] lousy debut EP and weird, white tiger-oriented stage show. Logan Middleton’s singing is still of the New Wave fop variety, a little Robert Smith here, a little Virgin Prunes there. Everyone’s mileage varies with that sort of open-face pretension. But being partial to it, it’s a weird thrill to hear it deployed in the service of smart, weird songs that hang together far better than anything they’ve done before, from the melodic violin sawing on the excellent “Canopy” and clapping and smart percussion on “Danger!” to the acoustic riffs on “[ENTER].” An utterly unexpected pleasure. Please tell me the tiger thing is over with.
— Joe Gross
In 2007, Austin pioneers The Laughing took the scene by storm with their Tiger Cry EP. The thematic release centered on a gang finding meaning through worshiping a mythical tiger and earned them shows with Tapes N Tapes, MGMT, Yeasayer, and Tokyo Police Club. With the new EP, Jungle, the former “boys in blue” have evolved into a darker, more sonically diverse sound that is simultaneously softer and heavier than their debut. When asked to explain the sound, the band suggests: “jungle smut core.”
The production quality of the release complements the band’s vision. Recorded by producers Erik Wofford (Explosions in the Sky, Voxtrot, Okkervil River etc) and Martin Crane (Brazos), vintage equipment, echo effects, and the layering upon layering of ambient sounds combine to create a concurrently eerie and danceable gathering of songs. During the recording of Jungle there was continual effort to bring in the sounds of old dub records, elements of hip-hop, psych rock, and yes, a love of Roxy Music.
This often contradictory, always innovative band has once again fashioned an avant album sure to gain attention. Jungle is not one to be missed.
Listen to “Canopy,” one of the more upbeat tracks from the EP:
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download “Canopy” (right-click and select Save As …)
Jungle smut core, yeah.
