Send "Lucky Soul " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 "There's always a friendly, easygoing atmosphere at the club, but this one feels extra special for some reason-- like a secret gathering of like-minded people, hidden away from reality." That's the from the liner notes to The Kids at the Club, a 2006 compilation that features one of the earliest tracks from the London sextet led by songwriter/guitarist Andrew Laidlaw and singer Ali Howard. The image is pure Lucky Soul: a party where the nice kids are also the outcasts.It's also pure indie pop, but Lucky Soul were always out of step even among the Bowlie set. Their 2007 debut, The Great Unwanted, was not only meticulously crafted and emotionally overflowing, but also polished for a popular appeal it could never realistically attain. Not that it did poorly: Despite being self-released and receiving little attention from big U.S. print publications, the record boasts worldwide sales of 50,000 copies. Three years later, sophomore album A Coming of Age is that much further removed from prevailing trends, and it's not quite as immediately endearing, but it's a little more grown-up. And it's still pretty easy to like. The state of pop influenced by 1960s girl groups, Motown, and soul has changed a lot since the indie boomlet that gave us Lucky Soul, the Pipettes, and so many others. From Sharon Jones to Duffy, pre-Beatles throwbacks are on the rise. Younger acts like Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, and Best Coast inherit from early girl-group singers the shambling "feel" as much as the emotional directness, adding their own reverb and lo-fi scuzz. As for the Pipettes, on the basis of at least one new song, they've skipped straight to the 70s-- and lost much of the human tenderness that made them special in the first place....full text |
| Guardian |
| When Lucky Soul released their debut album, The Great Unwanted, in 2007, their breezy soul-pop earned swooning comparisons to Dusty Springfield and Motown, but made so little impact on the pop market that frontman Andrew Laidlaw was subsequently reduced to sleeping rough in the band's studio. A year later, Duffy trod similar ground with her debut album, Rockferry, but she became a worldwide phenomenon and sold by the million. A Coming of Age isn't likely to redress this injustice – but that's no reflection on the album's verve and ambition. Laidlaw is of the melancholy-lyrics/joyously-uplifting-music school of songwriting, with Woah Billy! and Up in Flames swathing a "maudlin soul" in bouncy piano, Stax-styled strings and snappy rhythms. And he has a radiant singer in Ali Howard, although her girlish sweetness becomes problematic when the musical mood darkens: lacking emotional heft in the vocals, Warm Water and Southern Melancholy slide into caramelised sentimentality. Not that the Duffy fanbase would mind, if only they would pay attention....full text |
| Themusicfix |
| Another gem. Lucky Soul’s follow-up to their 2007 debut takes up where that artful, elegant record left off and offers faint hope that one day all music will be made this way. Those who were looking the other way need slapping but, in a nutshell, the London six piece do soul pop with a deliciously outré slant and they do it so well you wouldn’t believe. ‘The Great Unwanted’ was such a fiery calling card not least because, after a clutch of lovely 7” releases that gave every indication of a smartly styled pop sensibility, no-one expected an album of real might to appear. Where it seemed that Lucky Soul were merely charming and sweet, they blitzed doubts with a long player that shone. A Coming of Age strays not so far from the footsteps of its predecessor. Huh. Like that’s a problem. We’re talking refining, not dismantling of an entire oeuvre, people. Still present are the soaring strings (often driving, rather than merely supporting, the melodies), the gymnastic interplay between band members, Ali Howard’s sweet rasp of a voice and, most importantly, head honcho Andrew Laidlaw’s peerless way with a song. One of these days Lucky Soul’s ‘people’ will send a tape to, ooh, Robbie, Kylie, a proper pop star who does their best when they have someone to offer good and proper direction. When that happens and he goes living on Guy Chalmers Boulevard, we’ll lose him to the sun and the swimming pools. Until then, offer thanks....full text |
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