aaamusic | On 13, Aug 2010

Montreal based trio Plants and Animals return with their momentous debut UK album, ‘La La Land’, the follow up last year’s ‘with/avec’ EP. ‘La La Land’ is the band’s second studio album (debut LP ‘Parc Avenue’ was only available in North America), and will be released in the UK on September 13th through Secret City.

Plants and Animals’ records sound like they could have been made in 1972, but for all their analogue warmth, it’s also impossible to deny how raw and contemporary the songs sound. New single ‘The Mama Papa’, is a case in point. With a nod to the motorik inspired rhythms of Remain in Light-era Talking Heads, the sound is undeniably that of a guitar band, but the tautness of the rhythms that drive the song nod as much to the band’s own love of afro beat as ruby in the dust, AM 70s rock.

‘La La Land’ builds on the eclecticism of the ‘with/avec’ EP, with the psychedelia now more brooding than pastoral (‘Fake It’), the guitars louder (‘Jeans Jeans Jeans’), the grooves smoother (‘Kon Tiki’), and the sonic subtleties ever more nuanced. Inspired by a rediscovery of electric guitars, amplification and fuzz pedals, the album was recorded at the band’s hometown go-to studio, The Treatment Room and also at Studio La Frette, a dilapidated old mansion just outside of Paris, filled with vintage equipment in the cellar.

More than anything La La Land showcases Plants and Animals as a band that’s capable of not only crafting haunting epic anthems (‘Undone Melody’, ‘Celebration’) as strong as any of their Montreal contemporaries, but who are also completely at home in re-imagining the best of 1970’s—and even 80s—rock and roll. The one-two punch of ‘Swinging Bells’ and ‘American Idol’ for example, almost play-out like tributes to Bowie’s Hunky Dory and Young Americans, respectively. It’s that uncanny ability to juxtapose and then transcend genres that somehow defines Plants and Animals and also ties La La Land together as a musical work to be reckoned with from the first to last note.

Plants and Animals are Warren C. Spicer, Matthew ‘the Woodman’ Woodley and Nicolas Basque, two boyhood friends from Canada’s East Coast and a French Canadian they met at music school in Montreal. The band received thunderous applause worldwide for their debut full length album Parc Avenue in 2008, which was nominated for Canada’s prestigious Polaris Prize.

UK live dates:
Sep 9 – London, Bush Hall
Sep 10 – Dorset, End of the Road Festival
Sep 20 – Southampton, Joiners
Sep 22 – Brighton,Coalition
Sep 23 – Manchester, The Ruby Lounge
Sep 24 – Glasgow, King Tut’s
Sep 25 – Leeds, The Brudenell Social Club