Bubblegum Lemonade
Doubleplusgood
Matinee
The year 2008 was a productive one for Laz, the mastermind behind Scotland’s fuzz-pop outfit Bubblegum Lemonade. Having released two solid sticky-sweet EPs on Matinee Recordings in the year’s first two-thirds, Doubleplusgood, his first LP is an appropriate year-end summation.
Laz’s songwriting and production template doesn’t vary much here from what he’s put forth before. His rhythm section is simplistic and minimal, his guitars are coated in layers of cotton candy fluff which make the obvious chord progressions gooey, unpretentious fun.
Bubblegum Lemonade taps into the vein of C86, when British pop comfortably wrapped itself shambling musicianship and hazy vocals. It’s not a reinvention of any means – and the formula becomes a little too limiting to sustain interest for the album’s 12 tracks – but the inherent familiarity of tracks like “Susan’s in the Sky,” “I’ll Never Be Yours” and “Penny Fountain” are primed to explode out of pop lovers’ open car windows this spring.
Matinee Recordings: http://www.indiepages.com/matinee
