Could this year be the year of indie with a twist? Moving away from the sound epitomised by The Libertines and every indie band that seemed to follow, there seems be a resurgence in bands that can be described as 'collectives,' and not just in their name. Collective alludes to the freedom to be more than five white guys with guitars, and the sound can vary from the euphoric orchestral whirls of Arcade Fire, to the slightly subverted indie sound of Cajun Dance Party.
THE LAUREL COLLECTIVE fall towards the latter. It's an effective song; jaunty, catchy in an understated way, and doesn't just stick to a simple pop format. There are lots of ideas and lots of instruments, but we appear to be in something of a deluge of this sort of band at the moment and I can't imagine remembering this song in two months time.
It could be argued that layering your songs with instruments is a good way to disguise how normal they are underneath. There is nothing special about the arrangements, and it's hard to say whether any song ever again needs to built around a repetitive 'ba-ba-ba' noise. It's enjoyable, but no more than that. B-side 'The Krypton Factor' relies on quirky lyrics ("In another life, pick you up in my tractor... You and me were on The Krypton Factor") and da-da-da's. You've heard it before, just with a slightly different delivery. So whilst it's competently arranged, there's not a moment in my future that I can see myself craving this song again. When did trying to be different start to sound so normal?
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