11th July 2012: The Laurels & Interview / Playlist

Featured: The Laurels - Plains (Rice Is Nice)

Some years in the making, The Laurels’ debut album 'Plains' was almost washed away in a flash flood during its final stages of completion. Save for the heroics of producer Liam Judson wading across a raging causeway clad only in his underpants and holding the master tapes high above his head, it may never have seen the light of day.

Through years of touring, The Laurels have developed a solid reputation as one of the country’s best live bands and whilst notoriety as a floppy haired sonic assault machine was flattering, it felt incomplete to the band, and instilled the desire to showcase their songs as they were meant to be heard. The Laurels have given new meaning to the words ‘highly anticipated album’, 'Plains' is the album they’ve been wanting to make for years.

Recording took place in two bursts over 10 days: initially over one weekend in an isolated cottage in the imaginatively named ‘Big Hill’ in the misty southern highlands of New South Wales, and then over another eight days outside a town called Wollombi, at the southern tip of the Hunter Valley. A sprawling farmhouse set in a lush valley adjacent to a narrow creek became the studio. Recording was limited to daylight hours after a deceptively polite threat was phoned in from times of cowboy justice to “send my husband over” if the band didn’t turn it down.

Although the recording of Plains began in brilliant sunshine, the remainder was completed in a week where New South Wales experienced its most significant flooding in recent history. As the record slowly took shape, the creek surrounding the makeshift studio began to rise and things started looking a little dire. Predictably though, a band with a name symbolising peace and victory was always going to make it out in the end. The master tapes were transported safely across the flooded causeway, Liam Judson is free to wander the Earth wearing only his underpants for many years to come and The Laurels will finally release their debut album.

The Laurels

Radio Playlist 11th July 2012 (HERE)

Steve Gunn - Dusted Mind [Boerum Palace]
Seth Martin & The Menders - Putting The Sky To Sleep [Putting The Sky To Sleep]
The Laurels - This City Is Coming Down [Plains]
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Cult Of Dom Keller - Painted Skulls [Shooting Guns split 7"]
The Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound - Mars [S/T]
The Chemistry Set - The World Is Hollow & I Touched It [This Day Will Never Happen Again]
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The Laurels - Traversing The Universe [Plains]
The Laurels - Mesozoic [Plains]
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Fleeting Joys - All Release [Occult Radiance]
Exlovers - Unlovable [Moth]
White Manna - Mirror Sky [S/T]
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The Laurels - Sway Me Down Gently [Plains]
Tall Firs - Waiting On A Friend [Out Of It & Into It]
Moccasin - Last Leaf [Last Leaf]
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The Laurels – One Step Forward [Plains]