If The Cure did electro-pop, they might end up sounding something like Letting Up Despite Great Faults. Maybe Robert Smith could get a haircut while he was at it, although I guess that would just be a nicety. Also, I heard that that’s where he gets his power. He’s like a really miserable, weedy version of Samson, with Fridays as his Delilah.
Hailing from Los Angeles, five-piece LUDGF grew up listening to rock heavyweights like The Smiths, Sonic Youth and Joy Division, but they’ve translated those influences into something very different. Their self-titled debut sounds far more closely related to early-Naughties (I can’t be the only one who hates that phrase, can I?) indietronica than anything that’s come within a barge-pole’s-worth of a guitar. Well, there is some lead guitar, but it’s very understated.
I’m reminded of my heroes Figurine, and their effortlessly wonderful deployment of really rubbish synths in the pursuit of really good music; or the minimal ministrations of Fax. Also, like I say, those lead lines could be straight off a Cure record. Seriously.
Admittedly, this year’s “Paper Crush” EP has a more obvious rock bent. They cite the likes of M83, The Radio Dept., and My Bloody Valentine (not that old chestnut again, eh?) as influences, and they shine through. Don’t get me wrong, though: it hasn’t lost the electronic touches. “Sophia In Gold” sits somewhere between Made In Japan’s “Oxford Decor” and Cassettes Won’t Listen‘s “Cutting Balloons”; “Teenage Tide” has an air of Reading Rainbow about it.
However you want to describe their sound, the basic point is that LUDGF sound good. “Paper Crush” has just dropped – you can check out single “Teenage Tide” below – and all going to plan something longer should be on it’s way in the not-too-distant future…
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