Laguna Meth - 'Laguna The Puma' (Island) Released 03/12/07

Meth is a highly addictive central nervous system stimulant that can be used in various ways Michael Laguna is probably not small enough to put up your nose, but nevertheless this quite addictive stuff. From the opener ‘Nuclear Snowcone’ to the closing notes of ‘ Children Of The Garden Unicorn’ there’s a sense of psychedelic unrest and a darkness underpinning the silliness. It sets the scene for an unlikely meeting between the Beach Boys and Mika with Brian Wilson force feeding the curly haired one lots of illegal substances until he rips off his super tight trousers and runs screaming down Brighton pier.
 
‘Laguna The Puma’ is jam packed full of lush harmonies and attention to detail and although it may at first appear to be rather schizophrenic after a few listens it all melts together to grow into an interesting journey. The longest track on the album ‘Lucifer O’ starts off a bit like Beck’s ‘Loser’ but the song develops in phases and the clever use of bongos combined with the guitar and harmonies soothe you into a false sense of security then all of a sudden it twists to become societal comment that could have been made by Jello Biafra. So don’t think its going to all be “It’s 1976 I still can’t get my fix by the swimming pools in Pasadena “ and lose patience.
 
In slower moments, there are echoes of The Flaming Lips because of the use of ambient electrical sounds think ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ but strangely there are also touches of Jake Spears about the vocals. His lower register is quite soothing though and works well with the slices of guitar and dialogue. Laguna has a crisp voice and a colourful mind. ‘Sunday Morning’ is bound to get comparisons with Mika largely due to it’s short happy chorus, use of piano and Michael using the higher part of his vocal range but that’s about where the comparisons end. Firstly this album was recorded in 1996 long before ‘Grace Kelly’ and so no bandwagon is being jumped on. Secondly it’s about taking acid.
 
If you particularly enjoy the unbridled to the point of silly funky energy of ‘Crazy Like The Werewolf ‘then you do yourself a favour and discover the unsigned Lyons and Tigers. The saddest thing about ‘Laguna The Puma’ is that it took so long to actually be released. But at least we have it now. Michael Laguna may consider himself a traveller, but if there’s anybody willing to open their ears to this 12 track gem, ‘Laguna The Puma’ is here to stay.