The Laughing Chimes
WISH 33 » released November 2022
DIGITAL » Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon Music1. | Ice Cream Skies | 4. | Airplane Underwater |
2. | Laurel Heights | 5. | Zoo Avenue |
3. | Cats Go Car Watching | 6. | King with the Hawthorne Crown |
The Laughing Chimes is a band formed by teenage brothers Evan and Quinn Seurkamp. Living in a small, crumbling coal town in southeast Ohio, Evan and Quinn wanted to shine a light some on their particular place and time. Drawing inspiration from American and British jangle pop from the 80s and 90s, the brothers write tunes that update those classic sounds with infectious youthful flair. Their debut album "In This Town" drew attention worldwide for its brilliantly timeless songs that could just as easily have originated in Athens, GA or Dunedin, NZ in 1985 as eastern Ohio in 2020. The overwhelmingly positive reception of "In This Town" inspired the brothers as they set to work on their next set of tunes. Evan wrote "Laurel Heights" upon seeing a sign in West Virginia with those words and from there the idea of an EP started to take shape. More songs were written (some were discarded) and finally the brothers settled on the 6 tracks that comprise the "Zoo Avenue EP," including the first song written by Quinn.
From the deliciously paisley-tinged opener "Ice Cream Skies" through future anthem "Laurel Heights," the pastoral "Cats Go Car Watching" and the gorgeously melodic jangle of "Zoo Avenue" we can hear that Evan and Quinn have crafted a terrifically assured follow-up to "In This Town," one that sharpens their sound and broadens their musical palette while retaining all of the considerable charm of their debut. They're already working on their next record and have recently expanded to a trio and started playing live shows, so we're beyond excited to see where they go next.
Notes:
see also » Laurel Heights 7" EP