A disastrous journey lends sparks to Good Laika's second album writes SCOTT KARA
It was supposed to be a fun musical jaunt into the remote wilds of Wairarapa but ended up being the weekend from hell for Wellington soul-rock band Good Laika.
It all started when one of the two cars they were travelling in blew a head gasket on the way over
the Rimutaka Hill. This kick-started a chain of events that meant they never got to the hunting lodge they had hired until the early hours of Saturday morning, and when they arrived they were locked out so had to break in.
The second car, which was laden with recording gear, was in similarly bad shape and every time it bounced over undulations in the road, fiery bright sparks would fly up from underneath the chassis.
"It took us five hours to do a two-hour trip," laughs songwriter and drummer Ricky Boyd.
Come the next day, and perhaps still suffering from their traumatic journey, they forgot to push record during a crucial part of the sessions.
Still, the band got an album out of it and called it - rather fittingly - Followed By A Trail of Sparks.
"We were sitting in one car worrying about the head gasket and watching the other car spraying sparks," remembers Boyd fondly.
"The whole weekend turned into a disaster but it shaped the album," he says.
The haunting Patuna Chasm - a taut and foreboding Nick Cave-inspired tune - tells the story of their fraught trip to the hunting lodge. And the song sums up the deliciously dark tone of the album, which came out this week.
It's Good Laika's second album following 2007's Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, a stunningly slow and dreamy debut offering that got a five star review in TimeOut.
This time round there are a few more up-tempo songs, like the sprightly and folky first single, All's Well (It's Summer), and the laid-back Earth Wind and Fire-groove of Hats Off, written by bass player Matthew Armitage who used to be in Wellington funk-soul outfit Odessa ("He brings a bit more of that Stevie Wonder vibe.").
"I think of the first album being almost 2D," says Boyd. "It's got depth to it, but it's quite similar in the way we approach the songs. On this one we have managed to upgrade our ideas and our references and the songs have expanded in all directions. There are bits where we're more raw. Bits where we are more quiet. We've just expanded the horizons of our music."
Good Laika formed in 2002 but all the members had other bands and commitments that took priority. Armitage was busy in Odessa; Boyd was in garage rockers the Accelerants; guitarist Jason Fa'afoi is a well-known TV presenter, who was also a member of Stereo Bus in the 90s; Hinkley fronted moody and temperamental rockers Bleakhouse; and keyboardist Nic Marshal was a member of arty music collective Verona.
"We were just a group of friends first and a band second. It took a long time for it to become a number one project, and the first four years was just a lot of mucking round jamming, slowly crafting the songs and having fun."
But they came up with something unique. Most striking is Hinkley's piercing and slightly Nasal voice and Boyd's dynamic and poised drumming encircling the music and bringing it together rather than simply keeping time.
"It's all subtle stuff, but good stuff," says Boyd. "We approach the songs with a musicianship but not necessarily with an exact 'how to' for each song. And we set off each other a lot too. It's the idea taken from jazz, that you don't have to play these notes, at this volume, at this tempo."
Followed By A Trail Of Sparks is a turning point for Good Laika because it's no longer "a hobby".
"It's like a big tree - it's taken a while to grow, but now it stretches over the backyard," he laughs. "We take our time, have fun and we're all best friends. And that comes across in the music. There's no rush, it's all relaxed, and anyone with a glass of red wine in their hand will get a lot out of it."
LOWDOWN
Who:Good Laika
What:Dark folk soul rock from Wellington
Line-up:Robin Hinkley (vocals, guitar); Nic Marshall (keyboards); Ricky Boyd (drums); Jason Fa'afoi (guitar, vocals); and Matthew Armitage (bass, vocals)
New album: Followed By A Trail Of Sparks, out now
Debut album: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (2007)
Playing: Monte Cristo Room, tomorrow night