Utopia (LP) - Kid Lazuras (Alt Rock) Bristol based duo Kid Lazuras stepped onto the scene in 2021 with debut LP, Utopia. As displayed by the album, the band has crafted a unique sound, infusing influences of electronica, new-wave, and post-punk scenes. A vocal duet of reedy baritone and lilting soprano, backed by electric live instrumentation, this team is greater than the sum of their parts, with the songs truly soaring when the two come together to just rock out.
The album starts on a somber note with “Fall For The Break”, preparing us for an introspective affair with a melancholy piano and organ. There’s a folk sensibility to the track, as it lets each singer have a moment to themselves before coming beautifully together, as if taking each other’s hands and readying themselves to dive into the depths of the album. Most ear catching about Fall For The Break are the lyrics. “My thoughts say I’m dead but I don’t trust my thoughts cuz I don’t trust my head.” Oof.
With “Men of God” we start to get our punk influence, with a thrum of energy that evokes that classic beginning of “9 to 5” before the two just…well, rock out. The vocals here are explarary and we would put our money on this track being the single. If “Fall For The Break” was the intro, this is our first big number.
The album continues to swerve, with “In The Ether” feeling like it’s coming right off of the soundtrack to “The Matrix” . Late 90s emo, in “Ether” our female vocalist transforms into a chorus of sirens. Tension abound and thrumming with danger, this track takes us to a dark cathedral. Title track “Utopia” continues the swirling miasma as our male vocalist takes the spotlight with his Johnny Cash level graveliness that cuts through the thick atmosphere of the instrumentation. We like these two as a “turn off the lights, lay in the dark and close your eyes” kinda listen.
“All Over Again” breaks the moodiness in favor of an upbeat little bop which is our personally favorite. We’ve got some retro R&B and funk on this one, where we hear guitar elements reminiscent of Prince’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover.” Much like “Men of God”, it has a real pop sensibility and escalates into a big jam session. We’d like to hear this one in concert.
The instrumental takes over in “You Find”, where the jam session infuses some reggae and funk, taking center stage over the vocals, which entirely disappear in “Run On Out”, which transports us into the back half of the album. It’s almost a post-intermission overture. What we realized later is that it was preparing us for a far more instrumental focused and abstract conclusion to the record.
“Refuge” follows, taking us to India with its far east instruments, cutting into a track that otherwise feels very 90s British rock, making for a unique combination. “Weaponised” picks up the pace with another instrumental, but stays in that rock lane, feeling like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, boasting an earworm of a melodic guitar riff.
“Capital” brings back our male vocal in an almost Pink Floyd style fever dream. Dark and broody, like other tracks on the album, this one feels the most dangerous, until “Immaterial” begins. Of all of the more abstract works on the album, this one is our favorite, and plays the most with song structure. It’s an incantation of a song. We’re not in Kansas anymore with this back half of the album.
Finally, we end as we begin, with piano ballad “Words Are Just Another Way To Hide” which is just so beautifully sad. It’s a narrative song, a character study of an man, which is a point of view we don’t hear much in pop anymore. It’s a perfect bookend to the experience that is “Utopia.”
Overall, with “Utopia”, Kid Lazuras serves up a perfect mix of abstract and pop rock to make for an eclectic album with a consistent, yet unique, sound. We fervently believe this is an act you want to see live.