Childhood - Lacuna

This decade has witnessed two (amongst others) trends in rock music; one is the otherworldly rock-psyche and the other is beach-rock, often associated with Sub Pop Records. Both strands have produced some good albums but have rarely united the people, which is hardly surprising considering the politics of divide and conquer are in full swing. Nothing lasts forever however and Childhood, a Nottingham via South London four piece, are the first step towards uniting fans, their feelings and guitar music. Here’s why: 

Their debut album ‘Lacuna’ is littered with many influences. For many, this is detrimental to what they are trying to achieve or the sign of a bad producer. For Childhood though, it’s part of the appeal and they should be lauded for incorporating the varying strands of indie into their vision. There are several occasions where Real Estate and Primal Scream circa ‘Sonic Flower Groove’ jingle jangle guitars comes to the fore, as does the beach-rock sounds of Two Wounded Birds and Wavves. Furthermore, there is a lot of dreamy psyche music filtering its way through a-la Tame Impala and Pond with a smidge of the stoner guitar playing of Nick McCabe circa ‘Storm In Heaven’. You must be frothing at the gums knowing this now, right?

The guitars on this record reveal an awful lot about Childhood. Ben and Leo have the talent to turn to any strand of indie music it would appear. ‘Pay For Cool’ is an anomaly on the album because of its immediacy. It has an early Stokes-esque riff and changes pace often, which really draws you in.

‘You Could Be Different’ moves away from the more radio friendly sound and delivers a Tame Impala psyche affair but to the classic ‘verse, chorus’ formula and the solo is deranged and yet inherently catchy, like Doves at their best.  ‘When You Rise’ is another signifier of their ability. ‘When You Rise’ has an explosion of guitars two thirds in which have the band on the cusp of something magical but begs the question ‘will they produce it?’

Two songs answer this question, ‘Solemn Skies’ and ‘As I Am’. ‘Solemn Skies’ is a stomping 60s psyche number which is taken to the next level by Hopcraft’s angelic vocals. He has the fragility of Bobby Gillespie which will endear you to him but, before you know it, he is driving the melody forward with his great ability to be powerful yet understated at the same time. This is replicated beautifully by the guitars. At several points they conjure a desperate need of release and when it arrives is ecstasy. For the first time in a long time, a band appear to be connecting the dots between the mire going on around ordinary people and giving them an escape route in guitar music.

‘As I Am’ for TT, is the standout track on this fine debut. Musically it is so blissful we are not sure Bipolar Sunshine didn’t write it for them. It is quite a gear change for the band musically where the guitars are supplementing the beat and dreamy synths rather than the other way round. Hopcraft again excels vocally. He sounds like Arthur Lee on MDMA, floating around a festival without a care in the world. The real beauty of this song is that lyrically, it’s really dark. It’s a tale of a lover who is begging their partner to understand them and join them in love, and the pain of this is like no other as I’m sure all readers are aware.

TT thinks that ‘Definitely Maybe’ is the greatest album of all time and probably always will do. However, part of its legacy has been for people to expect the world from a debut album. In this review we have pondered whether Childhood wants to make it to the top. Is this unfair pressure to put on a band? We have to lean towards yes, as so many bands are cut loose after their first album. This album is a terrific debut album. It’s never going to feature in people’s top 10s, but if Childhood is given space and time to develop, we can envisage them making albums which can threaten people’s top 10s. They have already displayed a great array of style and have been on the cusp of some magical guitar moments on ‘Lacuna’. Importantly, they, along with Peace, appear to be taking guitar music back to a popular consciousness which can only be a good thing.