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Aug 11, 2014 Web Exclusive By Mack Hayden

The appearance of Childhood‘s Lacuna from across the pond in London may be the ultimate proof we needed to instate “Captured Tracksy” as an actual genre of music. From the opening notes of the album’s first song, “Blue Velvet,” you’ll be on the same darkened beachside explored by all sorts of bands on the aforementioned Brooklyn record label. Childhood’s debut is coming out at a time when plenty of Tumblr-obsessed teenagers are worshipping Zach Cole Smith of DIIV like he’s Kurt Cobain, laughing at everything Mac DeMarco says, and soundtracking their drives to and from the coast with bands like Beach Fossils. So, in a way, they’ve already heard Lacuna and so have we.

But it’d be foolish to write off a band for debuting to the tune of a particular zeitgeist. What a shame it would have been if we only got Pavement and not Built to Spill, right? It’s only if a band brings nothing original to the table that charges of copycatting can commence. When it comes to Childhood, their main point of difference from the other bands coming out from Brooklyn is a ceaseless tide of optimism in their music. They’re a bit like Wild Nothing with Mac DeMarco’s gap-toothed grin, expansive in their reverby soundscapes but never really weepy. Captured Tracks songs generally make you want to cry as you dance to their irresistible beats, but Lacuna makes you want to sway and move out of any sad disposition visiting you. “As I Am,” “You Could Be Different,” and “Chiliad” are “glass half-full” songs created with awareness of mood and melancholy.

So if you’ve heard anything from the Captured Tracks catalogue, could you call most of the shots Childhood makes here? Probably, but at least you won’t be as depressed. (www.facebook.com/childhoodband)

Author rating: 7.5/10