Band of The Week #289 - Laundromat Chicks
This week's Band of the Week is Viennese jangle-pop quartet Laundromat Chicks, who have just share third studio album 'Sometimes Possessed'.
Marrying the rickety guitar-rushing flowerbursts of the 80s ‘Dunedin Sound’ classics, with the free-spirited contemplations of Wim Wenders road movies, Laundromat Chicks operate in that rare pleasure zone where humour, swagger and vulnerability overlap; moving without a fixed destination mind, but still with a burning sense of vital purpose. Featuring members from across Vienna’s collaborative independent scene, and driven by the prolific creative force of band founder Tobias Hammermüller, Laundromat Chicks wear their fragility on their sleeve.
They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey there Laundromat Chicks, how are you? So your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?
Feels like a huge relief somehow. We worked on this album for over a year and I have a lot of feelings attached to it, feels good to let it all go.
It is called ‘Sometimes Possessed’ – what is the meaning behind that?
Writing songs around the word possession was just a way to get more fantastical, as well as dramatic in a way that felt fun, when writing about relationships to other people. I’m not sure what Sometimes Possessed means, the words just feel right next to each other.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
It was recorded in Martin Rupp’s (our producer) recording attic in the countryside. Initially the record could have had an even more sentimental and personal feeling, but then I had sort of a revelation that I don’t wanna make songs that I can’t relate to further down the line, and tried to make new songs that to me seem 'wiser‘. I think there’s a history of artists putting everything out there and immediately regretting it, like Bob Dylan with Street Legal. So there’s five or six songs I dropped from the record.
What are the key influences behind the album?
With some songs I really tried to write songs that have a sort of timeless dramatic feeling lyrically, and The Go-Betweens really inspired me to go into that direction. Arthur Russell’s 'Love Is Overtaking Me‘ compilation is also always on my mind when I make music.
If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
Maybe to a Xavier Dolan movie, like 'Matthias et Maxime'. His movies have a lot of big transcending needle drop moments, I feel like a song like „Catch It“ could fit something like that.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
I feel a bit put on the spot to praise my own writing haha. I would use this opportunity to praise someone else’s lyrics. This is the first album where I didn’t write all the songs, since our guitarist Theresa wrote 'How Do You Know‘: From that song I think 'You live off my boring problems‘ is a great line.
Now the album is out there – what next for you?
Right now I’m really taking a break from writing songs, in hopes of coming back a few months down the line with a completely new approach. I feel like there’s so much I can still learn and try to understand. Until then we’re really looking forward to playing all the new songs live, and we’re especially excited to play in the UK for the first time.
