Now We’re Rebuilding by Laurel Canyons (EP)

Orchestral indie with a psych-pop tinge, Laurel Canyons offer much to enjoy

Sheffield four-piece Laurel Canyons announce themselves as an indie act of great promise on their debut EP ‘Now We’re Rebuilding’

ailing from Sheffield, orchestral indie four-piece Laurel Canyons release their debut EP Now We’re Rebuilding. The fittingly named opener Introduction is a track that draws more from post-rock than it does indie, with rolling and dipping melodies that recall Explosions In The Sky. Cry Hard, Cry Fast quickly brings indie into the fray, with Jake Cope’s vocals full of delicate yelps and the music bringing to mind the superb Grizzly Bear. This kinship with the Brooklyn psych-pop four-piece is followed through on Owe Nothing.

Love In The Wine though brings to mind Amnesiac-era Radiohead with its fragile and beautiful piano melodies. It’s the standout track on Now We’re Rebuilding and betrays a songwriting approach steeped in classic, early noughties indie sensibility. Never Said A Word ends the EP with a hybrid of Band Of Horses alt-country and Department Of Eagles-ish considered pop.

Now We’re Rebuilding is a remarkably composed EP that fans of late noughties indie will find much to enjoy in. Its title might be more fittingly captured as ‘Now We’re Building’, for it is the work of a collection of musicians who are putting in place the foundations to grow into a very interesting band.

Verdict: Finely crafted debut of psych-inflected indie

Damien Girling

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