Unknown support acts either bore me senseless or rock my world. The Laurels are currently performing a four week residency at The Hopetoun and this week were supported by The Late-Night Sound.

Believe me, it was serendipity on a Sunday evening. Recently formed and most appropriately named, this unique four-piece were a delight to behold. Think late smoky nights, roadhouse blues and melancholy at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. Think Sandy Shaw meets Scott Walker with a hint of early Belle and Sebastian and a touch of Mazzy Star. A glorious melting pot indeed. Their nostalgic and at times, mellow early ‘60s sound was enhanced by the beauty of a flute and then souped up with some filthy big bass. They define categorisation really – I just suggest you watch out for them in 2008. They deserve big fat love.

The Laurels didn’t say a word to the small and intimate crowd during their ten-song set. Maybe they were aiming to live up to the aloof, enigmatic stereotype of the shoe-wah-wah pedal-gazer of times past, characterised by moody, sullen bands using distortion and buried melodies. I always find ignoring the audience disappointing in a band. In fact, it really bugs me. Despite this, The Laurels certainly made up for it by transporting me back to Manchester in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s – countless teenage nights illegally spent in small sweaty underground clubs where my head was filled with the hazy, ethereal, ambient sounds of Chapterhouse, Catherine Wheel, Curve, Lush, MBV, Ride, Slowdive, Swervedriver …oh, the list is endless.

Okay, so I have always loved shoegazer music but not just because ‘I was there’. Or because John Peel was such a relentless supporter of this particular genre. Or because I was obsessed with the floppy hair, the stripy t-shirts and Mark Gardiner from Ride. Beneath the wall of noise, the textured distortion and the droning riffs of noisy guitars there is the sheer raw beauty of the heartbreaking, the aching, the pleading melodies that are deeply funereal yet also so uplifting in their audacious, soaring, exit-music sort of way.

It takes big talent to deliver this music because it requires such an excellent structure and tight execution. The Laurels do fast, dirty, big sound well. Very well indeed. This is gorgeous, powerful, beautiful music and I am swept away. Ride on speed could very well be on stage right now. I have no idea about The Laurels song titles or the content of their lyrics – but then again, who ever knew what on earth The Cocteau Twins were singing about?