Image by Tom Wilkinson //

Now we’re really getting excited for The Laurels new album.

If you’ve been anywhere near the Sydney live music scene over the past decade, you’ll be familiar with psych outfit The Laurels. Their reputation as one of the (if not the) finest purveyors of hypnotic and heavy shoegaze around town is well-deserved, with their records Plains (2012) and Sonicology (2016) championed by critics and their peers alike. Now we have ‘Sound System’, the second taste of their forthcoming third album, and safe to say they aren’t slowing down.

With dreamy vocals drifting over a groovy beat and stuttering bassline, the group lure us in melodically, whilst the lyrics painti a dark picture of a cultural wasteland that has been overrun by yuppies. It’s commentary that The Laurels are well-positioned to make, having been active members of the Sydney music scene pre and post lockout laws, and seen the havoc that it has reaped on a once vibrant nightlife.

“High rise apartments and rent prices loom large over this paean to a future dystopian city, the inhabitants of which are doomed to a lifetime of evenings spent in queues waiting to eat at fine dining restaurants after a round of putt putt golf,” vocalist Luke O’Farrell say about the track’s meaning. “‘Sound System’ finds this group of part-time disc jockeys loading up their van with generators and loudspeakers as they seek to reignite the street party.”

Thankfully we have The Laurels to remind us why we love getting out and going to shows, and you can catch them launching ‘Sound System’ at The Lansdowne July 20th (info here) and The Gasometer July 27th (info here).