Wednesday 10 October 2012

Childhood - Blue Velvet

Single review by KevW


Not the song recently covered by Lana Del Rey and not, despite the serious look, baseball cap and hoodie, a hip-hop track. You wouldn't think it, looking at that Americanised, concrete and cigarette cover, but Childhood are four young guys from London who deal in woozy, dreamy guitar-pop inspired by their shared love of early Creation records and shoegaze bands. The press shots showing them sitting in short sleeves, basking in the sunshine of a blossoming garden paint a better picture of the music they make. They say you should never judge a book by it's cover, but we shouldn't generalise and assume that dreampop is the product of sun sea and surf. The UK's capital has just about every section of the musical spectrum covered and although the trebley, shimmering sound of their debut single suggests otherwise, it's born of an urban environment.

Childhood have already captured the attention of many without even releasing a record. Support slots with current media darlings Palma Violets and acclaimed sister act 2:54 prove that, and their first offering doesn't do their cause any harm. 'Blue Velvet' captures summery sounds within its layers of reverb and isn't a million miles away from The Drums' retro indie aesthetic, only with less snap and more echo. Cymbal crashes and chiming guitars blend into one wall of metallic noise and the distant vocals weave a soothing melody between them. There's an awful lot of this sort of thing doing the rounds at the moment and time will tell if Childhood have enough substance to go the distance. By way of an introduction though, 'Blue Velvet' is more than satisfactory.



Childhood's website

'Blue Velvet' will be available on 17th November from House Anxiety Records





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