Lonsdale Linesounds oddly familiar but distant at the same time, like the soundtrack to a sleepy road trip. Mashing a variety of jangling sounds together, Brooklyn-based New Zealand expats Streets Of Laredo have created a fun travelling band style and provide a short taster of their potential here.

The entire EP paints a neat picture of young people living in New York: “25, trying to stay alive / Trying to pay rent, trying to survive”. Where ‘Lonsdale Line’ looks to escape these cares via travel across the American landscape, ‘Girlfriend’ describes escape by means of a carefree relationship, all the while maintaining a light atmosphere with strong melodies.

But this theme takes a turn with ‘I’m Living’, when the upbeat rhythms exhibited in the first tracks become a slow contemplation of existence itself. This meshes into ‘Need A Little Help’, which is pretty, but feels very similar musically. Though Lonsdale Line is mostly a jolly, light-hearted exploration of young people’s struggle to make it in the real world, the release feels unfinished and loses its steam too quickly.

Streets Of Laredo make for a sweet listening experience in this recording, and can only get bigger and better from here.

3/5.

Lonsdale Lineis out now through Cooking Vinyl / Dine Alone.

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