The Laurels are one of those bands that in a relatively short life have amassed a good share of acclaim without having released so much as an EP. What may come as a surprise is that they deserve the acclaim. The Laurels could easily be lumped into the psychedelic shoegaze (or nu-gaze) category, however their sound is a little more diversified than the average band of this type. From song to song they channel varying influences from the expected (Spacemen 3) to the not so (Nirvana.) The diversity of the music is mirrored in the appearance of the band who range from singer guitarist Luke O’Farrell who resembles Kurt Cobain with unkempt sandy blonde/brown hair and a flannelette shirt to his counterpart Piers Cornelius with his short neat hair and jacket bringing forth images of nineties Britpop. Whilst bass player Conor Hannan looks like Paul Simonon from The Clash, lanky with ripped jeans and T shirt. The members attitudes reflects their images, with O’Farrell frequently letting loose with energy more akin to Children Collide than Ride, meanwhile Piers is the epitome of chilled cool.

You would not think this divergence in the members would work but somehow they manage to play off each others strengths and weaknesses perfectly. Drummer Kate Wilson’s left handed style is slightly strange to watch at first but it belies her talent which comes to emerge as the set continues. She never overplays, always and foremost maintaining the steady rhythm which holds the songs together, unleashing neatly timed flourishes at key points. They play through the obligatory tracks from their new 7 inch release ( Art School Girl and Wandering Star ) with aplomb. However it is the more abstract tunes that get the fire burning. What She Does To Me plays on My Bloody Valentine style distortion loops while tempering it with a more raucous pace. I Think My Heart Just Stopped has a distinct resemblance to Souvlaki Space Station by Slowdive. But the real highlight is the more overt mashing of grunge and shoegaze in Soul Arising, recalling Love Battery or contemporaries The Sky Drops. The alternation of lead vocals, as well as dreamlike harmonies and accompaniments of the two singers serves to keep the set alive and the crowd enthusiastic. Their long overdue debut release will no doubt be well received when it comes.

For some reason I was led to believe that Jonathan Boulet was an acoustic folk troubadour of some description. Instead I find a full band who play in their own words, “music both poignant and intelligent, but with a beauty so sincere it feels like a crime not to embrace… anthemic folk-pop born out of a world of endless campfires and tribal jam sessions”. While I’m sure the songs sound great around a campy fire with a group of exuberantly happy environmentalists at the Corner I can not claim the same. While the jungle influences are evident, it comes off more like the Baha Men than a Tony Allen inspired Afro beat. Just watching their overly camp performance I can not get the image out of my head that Jonathan Boulet is some sort of love child of Peter Allen and Peter Andre. With songs like Ones Who Fly Twos Who Die drilling continually into my brain with simplistic repetitive verses I am lead to wonder why Tame Impala who would seem to be a reaction against this kind of music would bring such a band on tour. Closing with the insipid A Community Service Announcement I am just thankful it is over.

Tame Impala bravely open with a new track, getting a splendiferous response simply for showing up. Following this down with the tour’s title track, Sundown Syndrome, which contains possibly the best use of a Kazoo since Jimi Hendrix’s Cross Town Traffic. The band push through a bunch of new tracks which generally well received by the audience as well as Desire Be Desire Go, Skeleton Tiger and of course the national treasure Half Glass Full of Wine. Splicing their trademark Creamesque psychedelia with Can style experimental jams. However while the song craft remains beyond question I can not help feeling that the boys are a little sloppy in the execution.

Perhaps the exhaustion has finally caught up to them at the end of the tour. Having seen them twice before they have always been untouchable in their execution however tonight the only one who seems as steady as ever is drummer Jay Watson. Unofficial member and second guitarist Paisley Adams in particular seems to often loose his sense of timing, throwing the others off. Frontman Kevin Parker seems well aware of this often shooting questioning looks in his direction. However they plough on through and one new instrumental track, Jeremy’s Storm, seems to bring them back into the groove for a minute with its lilting melody line reminiscent of Air. However this is contrasted by a horrible track which seems like a bad attempt at a Black Sabbath track, and really what we don’t want is for Tame Impala to take the Wolfmother Path. The crowd although receptive and enthusiastic contains a group of four who decide to ruin in it for the rest of us by acting like it is a Slayer gig. The band finished on a high note pulling out all the stops for an excellent tripping rock version of Blue Boy’s Remember Me.

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