Childhood
Lacuna
MARATHON
6/10
South London four-piece Childhood are clearly most comfortable in the role of guitar-pop festival rockers. Their singles “Blue Velvet” and “Solemn Skies” have already earned the group a fair amount of attention, including the praise of Spacemen 3 founder Sonic Boom, but what their debut Lacuna reveals is that they are perhaps most interesting when pushing the boundaries of that indie-pop pigeonhole. Slow jams “Right Beneath Me” and “Tides” showcase the band’s inventive guitar work over subdued R&B grooves, and it’s during these moments—when fervent fist-pumping is replaced by a slow head-bob—that singer Ben Romans-Hopcraft’s creamy falsetto really shines. The rest of the record is comprised of carefully crafted pop-rock: songs that grab your attention quickly and don’t give you many chances to tune out. But what sets this band apart from their peers is their success in making nostalgic rock that doesn’t lean too heavily on the past.
