Laura Amelia Smith - Waistdeep In Popcorn

Hear The Track Here

I first came across this 12 year old (honest, I kid you not) Australian musician when I reviewed Laura's Bop (February 2007) and finding that I really liked its simplicity. Considering her age, Laura is a bit of a rocker at heart and Laura's Bop shows that although she may be young, she should be taken seriously. Yeah, for sure it is true that your music will be a little unformed - as indeed Laura's Bop is - but it still packs a punch and that is what counts. After all, how many of us could carry of a tune as quick and (fairly) complex as this one on our axes when we were twelve? Me, I was to busy getting into fights and hooking off school to even think about practising my guitar - or anything else that smacked of patience, discipline and hard work. Although Laura's Bop does show that Laura has a way to go instrumentally, I defy you to find another 12 year old to match it or better it.

Why do I have a feeling I may have to eat those words?

Where Laura's Bop was pure, unadulterated straight ahead rock, Waist-deep In Popcorn bills itself as instrumental: smooth. Yes, you may very well be repeating uh oh along with me at this stage, particularly if you view those two words with intense suspicion. Waist-deep prove to have much of the uh oh factor about it too, a fact only helped if you read what Laura says about the concept that created it: This is like film credits music. When you wake up and find that you are waist-deep in popcorn and your mobile phone is missing and there are a hundred million people who managed to get listed in film credits, and you like wonder why the credit music is so different to the film's mood and what these people do when they aren't holding someone's cup on a film set.

Sorry, gotta love that attitude :D

In light of that, don't expect too much from this track, other than a nice likkle dabble in the musak department. I think it would be wrong to say that this track has anything much going for it because IMO it doesn't. Yes, it's a nice little exercise and - again because of her age - Laura acquits herself reasonably well performing it but yes Laura, your intonation does suck but I have heard lots worse. It's the track itself that I'm having problems with because a) I dislike this kind of music anyway and b) as good as Laura might be with it, it is still a lame track - unless of course you take the ironic view expressed so well by Laura that this stuff is essentially lame anyway. The only thing I'm coming away from this track with is that each track she makes will improve yet another aspect of what she does - and she has plenty of time and room to develop yet.