“Lissom psychedelic folk rock...sumptuous harmonies... gloriously rowdy.”
Q MAGAZINE
“Classy pop melodies...joyous, White Album-style pick’n’mix
mayhem.”
UNCUT MAGAZINE
“We Are The Champ oozes geniality throughout and, at times, becomes positively
majestic...The best thing to come out of St.Helens since the East Lancs Road.”
THE WORD MAGAZINE
“Its always great to hear a band so entwined in its own musical adventure
they sound like they’ve disappeared through the looking glass. 8/10”
TELETEXT
“One can't but help like its gentle madcap/joi de vivre... The Loungs
cook up an interesting and imaginative new music.”
RECORD COLLECTOR
“A joyous debut...brims with sonic playfulness... guaranteed to lift
the spirits. ****”
THE SUN
"Marvellously off-kilter and rich pop songs from the other side...The
Loungs live in a world you want to be in. 'We Are The Champ' is your way in."
SANDMAN MAGAZINE
“Luscious four-part harmonies, intricately layered guitars and innovative
percussion...Insanely catchy.”
MUSIC WEEK
“Pleasurably intoxicating.”
METRO
“A beautifully constructed debut...by now, your love should be unconditional.
4/5”
HIGH VOLTAGE
“Thirteen mighty morphin’ masterpieces. A hirsute beaut!”
SOUNDS XP
“Album of the week. Doubters should sew zips to their mouths, just about...now!
4.5/5”
MANCHESTER MUSIC
“Something pretty special...It is ‘a knockout!’ 4/5”
MUSICOMH.COM
“Catchy, singalong choruses...Great!”
LOUD AND QUIET MAGAZINE
“An impressive debut.”
BOOMKAT
“The Loungs are a barrel of roustabout fun... You’ll be reeling
bopping and swinging your arms.”
STOOLPIGEON MAGAZINE
“A real breath of fresh air...makes you want to give a stranger a hug.”
SUBBA-CULTCHA.COM
“A hotbed of ideas...Fresher than a thousand daisies. 4/5”
KNAVE MAGAZINE
“A very bravura album...refulgent pop harmonies...those among you who
are intrigued by sonic weirdness will find this music to your ears.”
MUSIC MART MAGAZINE
“A refreshingly ambitious debut.”
ZAP BANG MAGAZINE
“Fuzzy, woozy and friendly.”
PENNY BLACK MUSIC
MUSIC WEEK
Feisty debut single from the hairy psych-poppers.
THE FLY
Skewed and lonesome pop guaranteed to get any fanzine disco jumping.
FACT
Dexys, Madness and the Beach Boys collectively cum into a test tube in
St Helens. Years later the grown-up sons gather, smile knowingly and
lift a leg to fart out two brassy blasts of wonky harmonious pop with a
stink of booze, pies and uproar that rarely smelled better.
GLASSWERK
This is a "faint heart never won fair maiden" endorsing, soulful and
jazzy sojourn into the world of a clear and concise St. Helens six piece. A
cosmic feel attaches itself to their debut single to make it elevating and relaxing,
indubitably aided by the diverse accompaniment.
A bubbly and bouncy 90 second offering ‘Seen My Baby Dancing’ possesses
the harmless frivolity of the Beach Boys, to make for a warm and friendly introduction
to this coated outfit. I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of them.
THE SUN
Psychedelic pop newcomers The Loungs are a six-piece sensation whose catchy
upbeat new single is a delight to the ears. 4/5
TELETEXT
Debut by ex PS Demo faves that shows what happened when Gruff Rhys fronted Belle
& Sebastian for a day, pulling Nina Persson on the way home VERDICT 8/10
LOSING TODAY
Been well to long since we had anything by the Akoustik Anarkhy crew to rave
about and hang out the bunting for but just like the London buses wait around
for hours a two turn up at once in quick succession. ‘I’m gonna
take your girl’ is the debut twin pronged offering from a young St Helens
based sextet by the name of the Loungs (pronounced the Lungs). Perhaps best
summed up as the best thing we’ve had the pleasure of hearing since that
‘Brighten Up’ debut by Jumbo from a few years back (whatever happened
to them?) if only for the fact that it’s so unlike anything currently
in our listening range. ’I’m gonna take your girl’ is delicately
drawn, in fact so delicately drawn you’re almost put on a back foot waiting
for the calamitous sucker punch to rear from nowhere and connect with your lughole
sending you into shock induced convulsions. It never happens though. Instead
something quite unassuming emerges almost like a whisper on a soft breeze, a
naked vocal accompanied by a lazily spun guitar deftly plucked and loosely re-arranging
the coda from the Stones’ ’Paint it Black’ or so it initially
seems begins to unfurl softly and tenderly, soon paraded by keyboards, a roving
bass and a gentle percussive flutter. Then when the waiting and patience wears
thin the brass arrives with it’s enviable ‘parp you’ attitude
with all the unfettered charisma and strutting air of Dexy’s ’Dance
Stance’. Top stuff. Flipping over the disc for the brief but kooky jive-tastic
(we missing something here?) ‘Seen my baby dancing’ - kind of an
old school Saturday night TV cabaret routine involving the Rubettes, several
rounds of ale, some twonk in a flat cap, a Beach Boys song book with Elf Power
armed with a big ladle stirring up a strangely wonky brew. A winner of course.
ROCK MIDGETS
The Loungs are an odd prospect. For a start, what's a loung? They're not, as
I originally thought, named after a number of living rooms (That's Lounge, isn't
it? - Ed.). Secondly, their music is, erm, different to say the least. 'I'm
Gonna Take Your Girl' spans about 17 genres in two and a half minutes. It starts
out as a vaguely psychedelic ramble with echoes of 'Scarborough Fair' and it
meanders along nicely with something that may or may not be a stylophone in
the background. Then about halfway through, the song abandons this direction,
the band shouts 'YOU FOOL!' and it morphs into a mad b*stard mental mariachi
band before briefly going ska, then they throw in a guitar solo, then psychedelic
mumblings resume and it goes full circle again, and the result is oddly compelling.
In the midst of Arctic Monkeys fever, the Loungs are doing something truly different,
and are definitely worth watching. Oh, and the B-side is even more nuts.
NEW NOISE
Considering that the singer of The Loungs sounds like a total dweeb, his repeated
promise that he is going to take my girl from me sounds unlikely. Nonetheless,
he delivers his one line with a modicum of flair, and his psychy, pompy rock
flatters the discerning ear. The B-side, meanwhile, is 85 seconds of drunken
bonkers, and as such portends great things for the band. Yes.
MUSIC REVIEW
I was introduced to The Loungs about a year or so ago now, given a few song
demos of which one of them turned out to be their first single, 'I'm Gonna Take
Your Girl', released on 7" vinyl and download only. Now I get a feeling
from this song, but I can't put my finger on it. The way that the song builds
from start to finish is really well constructed, it has a sound unlike many
other songs like this today. The layering of the different singers gives a really
nice effect to the final outcome. The number of different instruments used give's
The Loungs a unique sound, one that I feel that will get them much credit.
This song is so simple in terms of lyrics with just a few lines throughout the
whole song. The words may not seem nice, but to me they come across beautifully.
A great song accompanied by a B-side that is just totally crazy, quite the opposite
to the main track.
VANITY PROJECT
Cheeky acid pop with an off-kilter Devo ethic, but more in tune with the Coral’s
love of a power-shanty, so be B-side ‘Seen My Baby Dancing.’ A-side
‘I’m Gonna Take Your Girl’ is a softer effort, although remaining
in touch with psychedelia’s foibles.
BOOMKAT
Taking a leaf out of the Def Leppard Book of Song Titles, St Helens six piece
The Loungs have come up with possibly the most lavish production in Akoustik
Anarkhy’s history. ‘Armageddon Outta Here’, though still
lo-fi at heart, is bolstered by some seriously jaunty strings and brass. Melodically
it’s strangely reminiscent of The Housemartins’ ‘Caravan
of Love’, but lyrically it’s a bit darker, doing that thing where
the template of a basic love song is tied to images of war and 9/11. Very
pomo, huh? On the other side, ‘Cats’ is a far more rocking affair
with intrusive, burbling electronics worthy of an Acid Mothers Temple release.
Nice job.
SOUNDS XP
You won't find this hirsute Merseyside band's name in your dictionary and
their musical outlook is refreshingly not by the book too. This, their second
single offers on one side the catchy as herpes romp of Armageddon Outta Here,
all jangle pop guitars and chirpily parped horns but just as you think you
have them labelled as Housemartins wannabes they slip in the bonkers psychedelic
squawl of b-side Cats. Both tracks clock in shy of two and a half minutes
too leaving plenty of time for a whiskers wax should the weirdie beardie Loungs
ever wish to
face the world with a freshly buffed up gleaming chin.
LOSING TODAY
The Loungs "Armageddon Outta here" (Akoustik Anarkhy). Second release
from St Helens based six piece the Loungs following last years highly
acclaimed and deservedly well received debut "I'm gonna take your girl".
With a full length ("We are the Champ") in the can and slated for
record store action in May, "Armageddon outta here" serves as a
neat reminder (as though you needed one) and taster for what"s to come.
"Armageddon outta here" (great title eh - think about it) is an
immediately infectious dusting of summer fried hand clapping jingle jangle
riff happy brass laden power pop that takes its cue from Van Morrison's "Bright
side of the road" and sounds for all the world like a rather frisky Housemartins
spaced out of spiked smarties
Possessing a whistle and hummable factor to the power ten, once inside your
head this deliriously "well parp you then" portion of tongue in
cheek perkiness will claim squatters rights and boogie on hard - removal by
cranial keyhole surgery might be required. Flip over for the quite frankly
warped and wonderful "Cats". A 2 minutes and 12 second frantic and
fried candy coated psychedelic cosmic opera of sorts or perhaps rather more
a
studio fisticuffs with amps and pedals drawn between Magoo, the Beatnik Filmstars,
Sparks, Vivian Stanshall and Cud - still makes for a wonky
rollercoaster ride whichever way you paint it. A must have thing.
HIGH VOLTAGE
Do not be put off by the name of either band or record, for the clumsily titled
The Loungs have a certain something beyond their messy moniker.
Offering a breakneck speed indie-pop with all lights flashing the band seem
to exist purely to send messages of over-the-top tomfoolery for the
benefit of anyone close enough to listen, and for the most part this hyperactive
bounce works very well.
Their title track, is it permissible to smile over the words 'Armageddon Outta
Here'?, is mainstream cute indie-pop, with a drunken orchestra of handclaps
and brass. Vocally and lyrically it works well although the scatter-gun skiffle
guitars have not been mixed to be their most effective. On the back of an
apparent paranoid obsession with matters feline, 'Cats' is an attack of time-signature
changes, vocal switches, and choral abandon. Give The Coral a lot of sugar
to get some approximation of the manic ride here. In common with similar groups
throwing screwballs from the same corner of the pitch, The Fratellis spring
to mind, constant overuse of nursery rhyme melodies can cloy at the patience
but the gang mentality suggests mayhem will remain whilst the sun still shines.
TO HELL WITH
Ok, it sounds a lot like The Housemartins, but apart from that it makes for
good listening. A quirky little indie choon that trips a long, too briefly,
and, despite only having two lines in the whole song, sums up heartbreak in
a cheerfully accurate way.
ROCK FEEDBACK
Infused with Smithsy guitars, glockenspiels and a catchy vocal hook ‘Armageddon...’
is a flawlessly executed slice of Northern pop. B-side ‘Cats’
however, ups the anti considerably. Two minutes of time signature changes,
spazzed out synths and a vocal spiel dedicated entirely to the bands’
love of furry felines. Think ‘Fuzzy Logic’ era Super Furies, with
Brian Eno on the mic (and a cat).
The band’s influences might be fairly easy to trace and the production
could allow their instruments to breath a bit more, but otherwise this is
the perfect pre-summer single – one that sounds great in the sunshine,
and leaves you wanting more.
LINE OF BEST FIT
Anyway, we'll kick off with the The Loungs 'Armageddon Outta Here' which sounds
like The Style Council but with added jangly guitars. A bit retro this and
completely unclassifiable. It's enjoyable though but just completely out of
tune with the current musical climate. Which is great - no sub-Libertines
fodder here, this is something altogether more adventerous. B-Side 'Cats'
is even more surreal with it's space-age guitars and galaxy gazing lyrics
and keyboards.
NEW NOISE
Just because it’s summer there’s no excuse to get all star gazy,
The Loungs appear to live in their own little bonkers universe, it’s
a happy psychedelic place and B side ‘Cats’ samples the sounds
of their own actual real intergalactic conflict. One suspects the Loungs will
have the last laugh; hopefully they’ll have time to let the rest of
us in on the joke.
SUBBA-CULTCHA
Imagine the Housemartins covering Jam songs - not sure where the NME get the
crazed idea from, but great, great stuff regardless!
TELETEXT
Brass, woodwind, handclaps, Sunny Delight and The Coral in Pass It On mood.
Works for us.
SOUNDS XP
Our hirsute heroes have made a glorious surf-pop classic. Despite the madcap
title it’s just a love song using the finest ingredients: from hairy-faced
harmonies as good as the Beach Boys to a spacey middle eight and the sort
of soulful pop chorus that will make you cream. ‘Johnny Two Shoes’
on the flip can’t quite compete but it’s still a good listen with
its slinky 50s rhythms that would fill floors in scruffy nightclubs on grab-a-granny
night. The mayor of St Helen’s calls them “a really terrific Beat
outfit” and you can’t argue with His Worship’s indie assessment.
TELETEXT
So unashamedly twee it's mildy heroic, their mix of close harmonies, folk
and singing 'Googly Moogly I love you' is like a learner version of SFA.
GET READY TO ROCK
Where the humourless Magic Numbers took offence at Richard Bacon’s description
of them as a “big, fat melting pot of talent”, St. Helens band
The Loungs would receive such a remark as a compliment, seeing as they label
themselves as “fat lads make noise”. On this single, they appear
to have become The Wombles’ barber-shop quartet taking on 4 Non Blondes’
‘What’s Up’. Great Googly Moogly, indeed. (4/5)
GLASSWERK
The Loungs latest single is complete gobbledygook, an apparently meaningless
happy ramble. Taken from their debut album, 'We Are The Champs' this is however
such an infectiously joyous single it means everything as the weather closes
in for winter. ‘Googly Moogly’ wraps you up like the Horlicks
hugger; “Googly Moogly, I love you, happiness…” An English
Magic Numbers with much more to keep the ears twiching!
The song turns from the Brian Wilson, alt surf intro into a fast jingly jangle
of a Googly Moogly. When Loung JTL sings above the harmonies it recalls a
strange male version of 4 Long Blondes’ ‘What’s Up’…
“And so I wake in the morning and I step outside, I scream from the
top of my lungs, What's goin' on, And I say, hey hey hey hey, I say hey, what's
going on?!” What the hell is this about: “Googly Moogly is someone
great! It’s the girl who you can lie in bed with all day and talk to,
laugh with, look at, have a ball with, drink with. It’s a simple love
song. If we were a band in the ‘50s we could have used ‘My Little
Baby Doll’…but that’s just weird!”
B-side ‘Jimmy Two Shoes’ is no less conventional, sounding like
The Coral in their very early days. It’s one that gets you grooving
and that alone makes these special. The Loungs - St Helens best - have so
much more to offer than the multitude of modern bands. The album also out
this Monday - to great critical acclaim - offers more of the above allowing
the inspiration to create unique, barmy ditties that may not be completely
original but certainly take you on a weird and wonderful ride. By the time
you’re through you’ll be ready for hibernation but there’ll
be a wild smile on your face.
MUSIC NEWS
Mixing the Hollies, Shazaam, Beach Boys & a little bit of swing, The Loungs
are a smorgasbord of wonderfulness…
SUBBA-CULTCHA
This strange single begins with spaceship bleeping, followed by a couple guys
passionately singing "Googly Moogly, I love you" and then guitars
crash onto the scene like a wave and we're surfing in the surreal landscape
painted by The Loungs.
Hailing from St Helens, the band has a fun feel about them. I mean with a
song title like that you'd hope so; otherwise the only other alternative is
to be a sour moody prog-rock act. The rock 'n' rolling B side 'Jimmy Two Shoes'
show that The Loungs are most certainly not moody, but have the ultimate aim
in getting you dancing away without a care in the world.
LOSING TODAY
The Loungs ‘Googly Moogly’ (Akoustik Anarkhy). They make it seem
so easy these whippersnappers from St Helens that frankly you’d be forgiven
for thinking they were taking the piss. Culled from their debut full length
’We are the Champ’ - ’googly moogly’ their third single
is a potent two and a half minute mainlining of frighteningly happy sun drenched
smile pop that manages in the blink of an eye to shoe horn warming wafts of
west coast montages, mid 60’s Beach Boys styled harmonies, chorus’
of angels, 50’s bubblegum wraps and heap loads of nuzzling effervescence
the type of which fills your insides with an unmistakable fuzzy glow. If I
was more mercenary in these kind of things I’d suggest a business partnership
whereby they bottle up the stuff and sell it over the counter at high street
chemists - my idea of course - we could wipe out depression, misery and Morrissey
over night - how about it lads 50/50 split we could retire in a week. Rooted
with a smoky jazz joint 30’s styled Chicago mindset the frantic ‘Jimmy
Two Shoes’ over on the flip is a previously unreleased nugget that makes
for a skanking big band sounding spot of quick on the feet toe tapping bar
room boogie. Well tasty if you ask me.