Laika: I had heard Laika playing on the in-store stereo of a favorite vinyl haunt and
inquired. I think I already had other items in my arms and left without it. I should have let
sleeping dogs lie. (Laika being the name of the first creature in space, the Soviet German
shepherd. Losing early points with this former Russian lit major, the album includes a cutesy
font that "Cyrillic-izes" English letters throughout the packaging.)
Good Looking Blues (Too Pure)
Laika want to fall somewhere between the ambient Future Sound of London vibe
and the Bristol sound, but they fall massively short in that tack. The beats and tones are
mildly interesting, not ominous or enveloping and only occasionally expansive. The affected
(to these ears) sultry vocals of Margaret Murphy Fiedler are best when mixed low, encouraging
myteriousness. When her track is more prominent in the song, the tune sinks. She's not ingenue
enough (be that the wide range from Lætitia Sadier to Tracy Thorn) to carry the band.
When it comes together in rare moments like the tracks "T. Street" or the Orb-esque
"Uneasy," Laika travel in the same trajectory as Sputnik. When the band decides to
use the text of the oft-forwarded e-mail message warning about the "Good Times" virus
from a few years back, I can barely keep from cringing. Rating: 4
- Tim Frommer
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