Austin Sound

Despite their frequent label of jungle-pop, the Laughing has all the makings of a progressive rock band. At their core, there is heavy percussion passively aided by keyboard and able bass, and, most importantly, a strong lead guitar that frequently digresses into guitar rants typical of the genre. Separated from this often doomed-from-the-start formula of normalcy is the jungle elements that throw them loosely under the label of “tropical”. Although it can be taken too far at times, the local quartet’s first full-length album, Fever, is a jungle playground that is neatly executed with a dangerously typical backing.

Remember The Laughing? Yeah, the awesome dudes who would throw down some spazzy grooves onstage with a stuffed tiger mascot and rocking out in face paint and white denim (no really, for some reason they wore white denim. That’s Austin music synergy, kids!). We thought they were hilarious and great. Some people didn’t. The band seemed to take the criticism kinda personally, and dropped off the map for a while, but have reemerged this summer, just to spite Mr. Powell, we think. They do seem to be taking their shows a bit more seriously in aesthetic these days, but still unload some fevered, arty hooks with trembling vocals. They finally have a new album coming out, aptly titled Fever, that they will be releasing this Thursday at Red 7 with a pretty sweet local bill of the Corto Maltese and the Gospel Truth. They’re also scheduled for a little Fun Fun Fun Fest action next month. Perhaps you’ve heard? Anyway, check out the lead single from Fever below with “Running.”

After bursting onto the Austin music scene in early 2007 with their fevered and quirky explosion of sax stacked jittery dance rock, the Laughing seemed to all but disappear. Perhaps part of the problem for the quartet was the extremely polarizing response to their debut EP, Tiger Cry, and even more, the antics of their live shows. Most reviews of the band focused less on the music and more on their image, which was either fantastic or absurd (or fantastically absurd) depending on your viewpoint. Their powderblue shirts and white denim gang vests and facepaint, and their stuffed animal white tiger mascot, overshadowed what the band was actually delivering musically. To be fair, it was an effect largely of their own making and accentuated by the tiger-themed EP, but something that audiences or crtics couldn’t seem to get past.

So how have the Laughing, returning with their sophomore EP, taken on that critical distraction?

There’s something about The Laughing’s new Tiger Cry EP that reminds me of 2005. What is it? The layered vocals a la Devendra Banhart? the tintinnabulation of Arcade Fire? the delightfully disorienting production of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? the frenetic growls of Wolf Parade? the big-cat nod to Neko Case? What?

All of the above, natch, but Tiger Cry does more than allude to the some of the most heady debuts to streak across the indie rock sky of that banner year before last: It stands should-to-shoulder. With their carnivalesque vocals in the manner of contemporary snake-oil salesmen wielding digital megaphones and full-to-bursting enthusiasms, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is the closest comparison. The Laughing, however, are more laid back and prone to in-jokes: Their myspace labels them “ghettotech” and “tropical,” an inaccuracy that is a joke – and a funny one - on the substitution of appellation for analysis and appreciation, signaling just how serious (not very) the Laughing takes itself. Another example: According to their website, Tiger Cry tells the clearly tongue-in-cheek story of Svän, a “mythical beast” and expert instructor on “how to survive and grow,” and indeed the songs circle and circle back to the tiger motif (”Show Your Stripes,” “Lions Can’t Fight,” “Wait Until He Roars,” the title track) without any apparent connection to deeper meaning or meanings. It’s all just good dirty fun.

We first got turned on to the Laughing thanks to the guys over at Party Ends, who are always on top of things and have written about the group several times. And like the Party Ends lads, the Laughing is more than just a little perplexing, irreverent and crazy. So naturally, we love them. While the Laughing can probably only be fully appreciated live, their answers below do offer a sense of the group’s hysteria. First, there’s their infatuation with white tigers, which they seem to have adopted as the group’s power animal and muse. And then there are the outfits of teal shirts with white denim vests complete with a tiger shedding a tear on the back. We tried to ask below. But musically the Laughing throw a mix of heavy mix of synth and drums into a den of theremins, glockenspiels and a killer baritone sax that offsets Logan Middleton’s quivering Kasher-esque howls. The group drops their debut ep Tiger Cry, from which they’ve shared a couple of downloads with us, on Feburary 10. The Laughing perform this Thursday, January 25 at Stubb’s with Bello Ragazzo and Shapes Have Fangs.