Half Man Half Biscuit memorably bemoaned the fact that certain names have been sadly neglected by songwriters over the years . And they set about addressing the issue by penning ‘Ode To Joyce’ – “Hey Joyce/ Rock and Roll never gave you a voice/It’s never given you so much as a lament/So I went to the store/And I bought a guitar/To bestow this accolade on you”. The name ‘Laura’ on the other hand, seems to have been drawn songwriters to it like musical moths to a flame.
From the words of a dying teenager on Ricky Vallence’s dark as f**k “Tell Laura I Love Her” through to Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Fields of the Nephilim , Lush and more recently artists such as Bat For Lashes, The Scissor Sisters, and Marnie have all taken inspiration from various ‘Lauras.’ Joining that list is Baltimore’s Wildhoney, who may have been tagged as dreamy shoegazers, but actually combine the ethereal with power, noise and burnished pop melodies of depth and substance. This is the point where you’d perhaps expect a dreary fanboy description on the technical challenges of creating such a beautifully layered sound. But let’s face it that would make us sound like utter wankers and besides we’d rather just enjoy the emotional effect of the music rather than wack off about what sort of guitar pedals may or may not have been employed. The band have already released their debut album Sleep Through It earlier this year and ‘Laura’ comes from their new 6 track Ep entitled ‘Your Face Sideways’
