VINYL SOLD OUT

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Lauds’ debut full-length Imitation Life is a lush, aural tapestry of blissed-out guitars against a backdrop of rhythmic tension woven by the five-piece, Wilmington, NC-based band. The lyrics of the 10 tracks ping-pong between anxious introspection and the search for fleeting bits of contentment in life, like the best empathetic, reflective autumnal rock of the second Brit invasion era. On songs like Wasted Hours, 24 and Rust, the elegantly anguished vocals wash over the listener like the waters of Cape Fear and the Atlantic Ocean that dominate the Wilmington landscape, evoking the “post-surf stupor” that songwriters J. Holt Evans lll and Mckay Glasgow feel after a day riding its waves.

Yet, Imitation Life is no beach record, not directly anyway. The ten songs don’t lean into surf rock, for example, but instead take sonic and thematic inspiration from acts across the pond. It’s a blend of the brooding melodicism of The Cure, the shoegaze of Ride or Slowdive, the atmospherics of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the wall of sound created by two lead guitars that features most prominently in work by the likes of The Chameleons. And this debut LP from Lauds stands on the shoulders of those giants, channeling a certain dark-edged slice of life and adding notably rich compositions to the jangly dreampop branch of the musical lexicon.

Lauds formed in the late 2010s not as a musical kinship of longtime friends, though the collaboration has grown into one during its short tenure. Instead, it was a chance meeting – or meetings, really – that brought Evans and Glasgow together in the humble home studio operated by Evans’ father. It was there at Plugpoint Studios in Wilmington, where Glasgow’s folk band recorded its album, that the two were introduced while Glasgow was working on some demos. Thereafter, Evans and Glasgow shared demos – Glasgow, stuff that didn’t mesh well with his other band and Evans, material he had noodled around with since grad school – and bonded over a shared affinity for upbeat, catchy guitar indie rock. Lauds was born as a vehicle for that, a playground for experimenting with soundscapes that included reverb-heavy guitars, echoey vocals and a pulsing rhythm section.

Thus far, that work has made Lauds a staple of the Port City live music scene and produced three singles and two EPs over the last three years. Imitation Life is half an amalgam of the heavy hitters from those previous releases and half new material. Together, they make an album that is an escape into a guitar-focused creation of Evans’ and Glasgow’s design. The opener, Parallel, kicks off the LP with a sparse jangle and propulsive drum beat like a clattering roller coaster car clicking up its initial ascent before the big drop. It is bookended at the end of the flipside with Misplace a Night, a cathartic exhale of an outro to the record. “I think it’s about feeling warm and safe holding someone you care about the next morning,” says Evans. “You still have the feelings of anxiety and regret but they’re overwhelmed by a feeling of peace and belonging.” In between, songs like Wasted Hours draw a direct line back to The Cure. Somehow features some of the most up-front vocals on the record and interspersed with a guitar part that moves up the fretboard and back again. “It’s about the beginning of a relationship when you are infatuated with someone,” Glasgow describes. “The lyric ‘blinded’ refers to that sort of willful fog that covers you when attraction and reciprocated feelings flood you.” Another new cut, 24, showcases a haunting keyboard line that chases along throughout the song like the long shadow of self doubt that Evans describes overcoming in the vocal track.

In the end, it is that dichotomy that drives Imitation Life; an upbeat melange of shimmery vocals, multiple interlocking guitar parts, jaunty basslines and motorik-laden drums with a flourish of keys on the side set against themes touching on the anxiety of growing into your own. That may seem like a mismatch of component parts, but it works here. Lauds clearly nod to their British forebears, but carve a niche all their own on this, their debut.