News Happyness

: Happyness
Based: South London
Listen: ‘EP 1’ on Soundcloud
Similar to: Yo La Tengo, Sparklehorse, Oliver Wilde

Amidst the current stampede of lo-fi grunge and branches of shoegaze diving into nonsensical genre depths (nu-gaze, lush-gaze, jangle-gaze, jangle-pop), Happyness really are a diamond in the rough.

The South London three piece - Jonny Allan, Benji Compston and Ashley Cooper – have only been an outfit for just over a year but their output so far has been of astonishing sophistication. Holed up in their moth-ridden loft-slash-recording space – aka Jelly Boy Studios – they’ve been perfecting their self-titled EP; a selection of saturated melodies and sleepy vocals all tinged with a strangely charming sense of melancholy.

First release ‘It’s On You’ toys with gushing guitars, playfully youthful lyrics and a vocal which initially leans towards Room On Fire- era Strokes, whereas ‘Orange Luz’ drifts on a balmy, organ-led melody, its lethargic vocals never sinking beneath the simmering percussion until it billows and spills at 2:07. Elsewhere, the largely instrumental ‘Lascascadas’ wallows into murkier depths and ‘Montreal Rock Band Somewhere’ offers up lax, beachy chords and whispery vocals which meld together to create something simultaneously sad yet beautiful.

There’s something refreshing about the EP’s clarity, the lack of fuzz - which can all too easily drown a track’s depth- which grants Happyness with a unique sound, hinting at a range of influences from Yo La Tengo’s spoken vocals to the woozy jangles of Pavement. With Ed Harcourt on production duties and Adam Lasus (PJ Harvey, Yo La Tengo) mastering the EP, its fair to say this will be a happy new year for the trio.