Music on a Monday: The Laurels & Alpine

Great news - two new and must-see Australian bands, The Laurels and Alpine, are playing in Brisbane in two weeks! The catch: they're both playing on the same night. This might not bother you, as you might not adore their respective sounds equally. But if you’re like me, you’ll have a painful decision to make... Either way it's (kind of) a win-win!

 

 

 

My first exposure to The Laurels was at last year's Big Sound music conference, where they played a jam-packed Birdee Num Num's upstairs room. Now with the release of their debut album, Plains, I've finally been able to sink my teeth into their recorded work and I've loved every minute of it. 
It seems I'm not the only one, as the album has already been awarded a 4.5 star review from The Age and has been the feature album on Sydney radio stations FBi and 2SER, Perth's RTR and Melbourne's SYN. 
While rooted in shoegaze, the album constantly switches up the tempos and textures to take you from Tidal Wave's classic shoegaze style to Traversing The Universe's sludgy, slow groove, and even to Sway Me Down Gently's psychedelic pop. Fans of Pond and Tame Impala will dig their style.
They are already known as a brilliant live band and this well-rounded album looks set to show the world they have a lot more to offer and will be around for a while to prove it. 

Alpine
Alpine may have had a little more exposure than The Laurels due to their more pop-focused musical approach, but from the numbers at their January gig at The Zoo you wouldn't know it. However, the punters that did make it out on a Thursday night were thoroughly entertained and left wanting more.
You may have heard Gasoline, the first single from their forthcoming debut album being flogged on Triple J over the past week. And for good reason too - it's full of catchy hooks, breathy harmonies and beautifully crystalline rhythms. If The xx were outgoing, wide-eyed and raised in Australia, they might sound a bit like this.
By the time their album A is for Alpine is released in August, I'm sure it will have won many more fans and I expect The Zoo will be packed to capacity this time around.