THE LAUNDRONAUTS
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THE LAUNDRONAUTS

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Band Alternative Punk

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Review for Come Clean"

DISCORDER MAGAZINE, 2010

Review for "The Laundronauts Come Clean" (Spincycle Records) by Douglas Mackenzie:

"Imagine, if you will, standing on a black background, three men in spotless white suits, eyes round and black in white-rimmed sunglasses, faces forbiddingly expressionless like those of soldiers or gangsters. These are the Laundronauts. The music is garage-rock, full of fuzzy guitars, ‘50s style backup vocals and dirty bass. It is raucous but focused, especially on those instrumental surf-rock tracks that showcases the band’s musical presence, making sure you know they can rock out even without their chosen lyrical theme, which is laundry.

Yup, laundry. Their songs are about the lonely spin cycle of love, the charms of lovely Launder-Annette and trying to keep clean in such a dirty world. With some bands of this ilk, things get gimmicky, but listening to the album, it’s easy to just enjoy the rock ‘n’ roll and have the occasional chuckle at the lyrics. Really, they’re like a giant washing machine of kickassery whomping and rattling around the stage, and one wouldn’t hesitate to witness their fury live!" - Discorder Magazine


Discography

"Hard Water" 7-inch white vinyl EP - 2008
"The Laundronauts Come Clean" 13 song LP/CD/iTunes - 2009

Photos

Bio

From Wikipedia.com;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laundronauts

The Laundronauts are a Canadian rock music trio from Victoria, British Columbia, formed in late 2007. Founded by Gareth Wynne and Stephen J. Horak, The Laundronauts release their material on their own label, Spincycle Records.

Prior to the formation of The Laundronauts, bassist Wynne and guitarist Horak played in the seven-piece sixties garage-rock band, Captain Cook and the Nootka Sound, which broke up in 1998 and who performed at Fuzz Fest ’98 and toured with El Vez. The collaboration ended when Wynne left Canada for South America in 1998.
On a return visit to Victoria in 2007, Wynne reunited with Horak and the two decided to form The Laundronauts. They recruited Gordon Marshall, with whom Wynne played in the Edmonton garage-rock band, The Drastics, to join as the drummer.
The inspiration for the band name came after learning of the fad from Patrick Sheehy, a laundronaut of the 1960s. The name was chosen as both homage to Sheehy, who had since passed away, and as a reference to the youthful craze he described.
The Laundronauts played shows throughout North America in their first two years as a band. They were selected as "Band of the Month" by commercial modern rock radio station, The Zone 91.3 FM[4][5], receiving regular airplay. Horak's guitar solo for the song Stain[6] was featured in a Vancouver Island Brewery beer commercial starting in November 2009.
MuchMusic began airing The Laundronauts' music video[7] for Stain[6] in December of 2009 on The Wedge[8], the same month that The Laundronauts album The Laundronauts Come Clean[2] arrived at the number one position on the national campus and community radio report, Earshot.[9]

The idea of using laundry as a metaphor become a creative writing project for Wynne and Horak, influencing their style and musical direction. The lyrics appear on the surface to be concerned with laundry, however, “The songs are heavy on double entendres [and] each song is couched in reality: Come Clean is about love while Lint Trap is about lying.”[10] Other critics agree, “With some bands of this ilk, things get gimmicky, but listening to the album, it’s just easy to enjoy the rock ’n’ roll and have the occasional chuckle at the lyrics.”[11]

Branding itself as laundrock, a combination of garage-rock, mod, beat, psych, punk, and doo-wop, The Laundronauts sought to create a new sound from what they considered were the best elements of various genres. The Laundronauts' songs seldom run longer than three minutes and the arrangements are designed to be tight and punchy. Vocal harmonies are a key element of the sound and every band member has vocal duties. Horak's guitar effects are also a characteristic element of The Laundronauts' sound. An electronics expert, Horak has created a broad range of sounds through use of upwards of ten guitar pedals—several of which he created—and extra amplifiers that make the trio sound more like a five-piece.

After releasing a three-song 45 rpm EP in May of 2008[12], recorded locally, the band decided to look for a studio that would better realize the sound that Wynne and Horak had in mind for their full-length album. They found Detroit producer, Jim Diamond, known for his work with The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, The Romantics and other notables.
“The band’s first [album], Come Clean, a fuzz-bomb of bubbly garage rock, was recorded in Detroit with producer and one-time Dirtbombs bassist Jim Diamond (the White Stripes, Mooney Suzuki, Electric Six), a producer of note in the garage-rock revival community.”[10]
The Laundronauts chose to work with Diamond in Detroit at his analog studio, Ghetto Recorders, to get the gritty sound they were looking for, “the sound of broken glass, spilled beer, hot rod engines, and burning pork.[13]

The Laundronauts’ signature look is white-on-white uniforms with white-rimmed sunglasses. Live shows are bathed in blinding white light, smoke, bubbles, strobe effects, and a pneumatic laundry cannon that fires socks, undergarments, and the occasional Laundronauts T-shirt into the audience. The Laundronauts address audience members as Earthlings and end their shows holding out hand signals—one a "V" and the other an "L"—for, "peace and laundry."
A critic from a Vancouver monthly music magazine says, “Really, they’re a giant washing machine of kick-assery whomping and rattling around the stage, and one wouldn’t hesitate to witness their fury live.”[11] The Laundronauts have had their live performances highlighted as a tourist attraction in their home town of Victoria, BC.[14]