User:Donkeykongrap/sandbox

The Laurels are a neo-psychedelia four piece based in Lewisham, a suburb in Sydney's inner west. They formed in 2006 after the members met through mutual friends at a silly hat party, each of them originally living in disparate parts of the East Coast of Australia. The band garnered critical acclaim in the Sydney live music scene after playing extensively throughout the latter 00's in both headline and international support slots before releasing their first 7" single Art School Girl/Wandering Star in 2009 and their full length Plains LP in 2012.

Musical Style
The Laurels developed a live sound that differs somewhat to that of their recorded works. The band uses shoegazing guitar techniques and understated vocals to emulate the loud and heavily distorted sound of 90's artists such as Ride and My Bloody Valentine when playing live. The band cites that their live wall of sound style arose from the fact that their recorded works relied on layered guitar recordings, the best way to emulate this live with only two guitars being to play at a greatly increased volume.

Shoegaze influences also feature strongly on the group's recorded works, many of their songs using multiple guitar layers and reverberation to achieve complex musical textures. However, while many shoegaze groups intentionally use lower recording quality to add texture to their recordings, the Laurels' works are notably cleaner and of higher fidelity than the bands from which they take influence. This is especially true of the works that appear on Plains, which feature cleaner guitars than those on Mesozoic EP or on their singles. Liam Judson, who worked with Australian acts Cloud Control and Belles Will Ring, produced both the Mesozoic EP and Plains.

Reception and Critical Success
The Laurels' extensive live headline shows and support slots for international artists throughout the late 2000's and early 2010's in Sydney and Melbourne were well received by the Australian music media. They have won and gained nominations for several awards for their live shows. In 2011 they were nominated Best Live Music Act in FBi Radio's Sydney Music, Arts & Culture Awards, voted Best New Talent in Age EG Awards and were voted the 4th Best Live Band in the Mess + Noise Readers Poll.

Studio Albums
Plains (2012) - Rice is Nice

Singles and EP's
Mesozoic EP (2011) - Other Tongues

Art School Girl/Wandering Star (2009) - Magnetic Recording Council