Thursday, March 5, 2009

Laughing Through the Jungle


The Laughing first took the Austin scene by storm in 2007 with its Tiger Cry EP. The thematic release centered on a gang finding meaning through worshiping a mythical tiger and earned The Laughing shows with MGMT, Yeasayer, The TING TINGS, Monotonix, The Stills, Tapes N Tapes, and Tokyo Police Club. With JUNGLE, the band evolves into a darker, more sonically diverse sound than their initial inception. When asked to name the sound, the band suggests: “jungle smut core.”

Guitars, bass, drums, sticks, saxophones, keys, flutes, glockenspiels, clarinets, djembes, dulcimers, melodies, bells, harmonies, rhythms, claps and chants (just to name a few) form the sounds of JUNGLE. The Laughing is currently putting the finishing touches on FEVER, its upcoming debut full length record due out this May.

To say this band isn't diverse when it comes to writing songs would be an understatement. It's as if they literally throw all that instrumentation listed above at a wall see what sticks and then cram them into each individual tunes. The results are songs that have more going on around them then most bands have in their entire discography. It makes for very interesting listening as things emerge out of nowhere to assault your senses. JUNGLE is hazy stuff that's aurally exciting and hypnotically strange...in other words, pretty good.

Download: Canopy
Download: Paradise

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