Good Laika: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

By Simon Sweetman

Good Laika are my new favourite Wellington band (I stole that line from Age Pryor, but I feel comfortable in my theft). And chiefly because, as with when I first listened to The Phoenix Foundation, Good Laika does not instantly sound like any other Wellington band. Which, with the exception of a few acts (Odessa springs to mind) cannot be said for many of the capital city's musical lovechildren. Kicking off this album sounds like something from the 1970s - my initial thoughts were that I was listening to a rare Crosby, Stills & Nash track - superb. From there the vocals come close to Radiohead in the feel of the delivery, but there are certainly no cloying attempts to replicate lyrical content or melodies of the 'head. A short, sharp shock of an album - post-modern folk-pop or chamber-rock if you need genre names. My only concern is that the album is set in a slow-burning late-night feel. I like that right now, but may go off it with time. Still, I'm sure this is a band that can effortlessly switch gears if and when they feel like it.

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NZ Musician

October/November 2007