NEW ARTIST FINDS: THE LAZY CALM

Well, it seems to be rise of the teenz lately as talented act like The Pods and Lorde (fine, you got me, I like her) are popping up everywhere. Talent and affordable technology are colliding like never before, allowing these silly millennials to just waltz right into deserved stardom without the requisite years in the biz or creepy parents that other generations had to suffer. Hey, I can dig it; I was a Sliverchair fan back in the day, I’m not totally jaded. Sound is sound, and when it’s good, I say join the party, whippersnappers.

Though The Lazy Calm are still teenagers (what is it with Australia), they actually have already had a few “years in the biz,” having operated under the name Tim & Jean since early 2010. They entered Triple J’s Unearthed High School Bands Competition and won a spot to play at the Parklife Festival in the UK. They were signed to Mercury soon after that, and released their first album, Like What, in April 2011. According to Wikipedia, the name change to The Lazy Calm coincided with Jean Capotorto's leaving the group, but since this happened in 2012, it seems that The Lazy Calm are once again Tim & Jean, in body if not in name.

It looks like the name change caused a bit of a stall in production as well, as only three singles have been released by the duo since Like What. All three singles are available for streaming on their SoundCloud page, and they’ve just released a new video for their single, “Where are You Going Now.” The video contains mostly stock tour footage, but it could be an indication that the band are gearing up for more singles to come.

Their newest single is being pretty heavily pushed on their website as well, and it looks like there’s a video for that one too, but the Youtube upload is not yet available in the U.S. You can still check their website for downloads and news.

Sound-wise, The Lazy Calm have been compared most closely to Passion Pit, but I put it to you, our faithful readers, that they correlate more closely with early MGMT, but with even more 80s new wave funk. In fact, I think the band’s name change may have been a nod to The Cocteau Twins’ song of the same name. Aussie teenz do love their Scottish synth rock, after all. Vocally is where the band sound more like MGMT, and so far it seems that the content of the lyircs take a bit of a back seat to the sound, but not everything has to be profound: sometimes rockin’ is good enough.

As is true about any kids these days, the most comprehensive news about The Lazy Calm, including upcoming releases, tour dates, selfies, etc., is on their Facebook Page, so check them out and pick up these funky teen tunez and get ready for the new baby milenials to overtake us. At least they’ll be providing a good soundtrack along the way.

About Layla Marino

Layla Marino is a music and street art blogger with 17 years in the industry. She focuses exclusively on underground music, art, and culture, and loves working with BitCandy to find and bring new artists to a wider audience.