Thursday 08/05/08 Post War Years, Laurel Collective @ The Social, London

Tonight the Social plays host to two bands making serious rumbles in the London indie scene right now. Complementing each other perfectly, Post War Years and Laurel Collective make the ideal antidote to a Thursday night at home with the TV. Despite the rather limited dimensions of the venue, whip the crowd up into a flurry of dancefloor action as the bands promote the launch of Post War Years’ debut single The Black Morning.

Laurel Collective are six-piece with two, count ‘em two, lead singers that any writer would struggle to neatly classify. Refusing to be squashed into any boxes, they mix indie sensibilities with wildly veering proggy song structures and even a hint of funk in the basslines that keeps everyone’s feet tapping and heads bobbing. Plus I don’t think I’ve seen such fervent use of a cowbell since The Rapture. The dual vocals come from very different sources – the Nigerian-blooded Martin Sakutu and the bearded cardigan-wearing Bob Tollast – but merge with perfection to create a vocal blast occasionally reminiscent of Mystery Jets. Despite all the self-confessed “genre trashing,” Laurel Collective manage to pull off a convincingly coherent set of tunes. Because for all the experimentation there are enough pop thrills to enthral the audience and enough twists and turns to keep them guessing. Watch out for their upcoming album 'Feel Good Hits Of The Nuclear Winter.'

While Laurel Collective have few sound-alike contemporaries, the opening strains of Post War Years’ set possess the kind of jerky awkward rhythms that bring straight to mind the work of one band du jour: Foals. It would be unfair to write them off as any kind of copycats though – there is too much variety, too much warmth, too much soul here for that – and the comparison soon fades as the music moves well beyond math rock stylings into a heady and hypnotic mix of dance and indie. Swirly synths surround a double pronged bass attack; all backed by some shit-hot incredible drumming that entrances the eyes as well as the ears. What is true, however, is that Post War Years are an ultra modern band. I never thought I’d ever hear any band claim their main influences as Tom Vek and Clor (as they did in a recent Gigwise interview) but by drawing on the sound of 2005 they are creating the sound of 2008.