Once upon a time, there was a label called Whatever We Want. As well as releasing vital, uncompromising records by Gareth “Godsy” Goddard and French prog-rock sampling delights from Quiet Village, in 2008 a 12” called The Rose saw the light of day. It was by The Laughing Light of Plenty and it was a nothing short of a revelation.
The perfect marriage of live feel and dance sensibility, it was pretty much the record that everyone wished the Stone Roses had released after their hiatus, instead of descending into heavy riffing cock rock. An album followed, but seemingly only in Japan or for the sort of money that’s currently backing a bewildered hairpiece with designs on the American Presidency.
Now, thanks to Emotional Response label head Stuart Leath and band members Eddie Ruscha and Thomas Bullock, the album – or at least an early version of it – is being given the release it deserved more than half a decade ago. Spread over seven songs, this is an album that is as every bit consistent as it is successful. Blending psych, rock, dance, Balearic and almost folk sensibilities while retaining an overall tone and voice, it's a remarkable achievement. It starts with “Blazin’ Sun” which carries us, as if on horseback, through a rising and falling groove, into “Brilliant Light” – like a version of Talking Heads you’d be happy to go down the pub with. “The Rose” is here, too, in all its shuffling, mid-paced glory, followed by the tempered, tip-toe stomp of “Oranges and Blues”, exhibiting all the hallmarks of another classic.
There is a tendency to use the word “epic” where “long” would suffice, but at 16-minutes, closer “The Pulse” deserves the former adjective. Earns it, in fact. As the bass underpins with clock-like efficiency, the song is allowed to sprawl, but with a backbone keeping the keyboard, guitar, sax and piano tethered to a cohesive column. It is delicately and cleverly psychedelic stuff, and brings to a close an extraordinary album – one that was almost lost but has been rescued before it became an anachronistic antiquity. The hope must be that a wider release will follow.
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