Modern Architecture by Swimming Pools And Movie Stars

Words & Music by Laurence Macaspac
All vocals and instruments in this album are performed by Laurence Macaspac except "I Dig You", bass performed by Droo Taruc.

This is the first album by Swimming Pools And Movie Stars, a collection of songs with heavy influences from the 80s post-punk New Order, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen to the early 90s shoegaze Ride, Chapterhouse, My Bloody Valentine, Moose, Pale Saints, Catherine Wheel, Adorable, Slowdive and The House of Love. Most of the songs were written during the 2020 pandemic.

"Primarily a solo project (or at least on this, their debut album), SP&MS is the work of a southern Californian named Laurence, who I've actually known of for a few years due to his being a regular at the Jigsaw shop. So since I already knew he had good musical taste, it was a pretty safe bet that I'd like the music he made, ha ha! His songwriting and playing definitely owes a lot to the first few New Order albums & "Darklands" era Jesus And Mary Chain, but also has additional elements of shoegaze - only more in a gentler, indiepop-inflected American style (ie. Aberdeen, Fonda, Brittle Stars) than the louder bands of England's first wave. As such, the songs here tend to feel light and airy, even when they're layered with synths and lightly-distorted guitars. And above this subtle backdrop, you'll find some truly wonderful guitar and/or bass melodies (courtesy of the band's other member, Droo) that add even more beauty to these already idyllic tunes!" -- Jigsaw Records

"Swimming Pools and Movie Stars is the project of California’s, Laurence Macaspac, who shows himself to be one of the finest modern proponents of all that is fuzz and distortion about much of the jangle-pop genre’s modern scene, whilst still being shrouded in a core that is all things late 80s anglophile.

Initially, the most driven and incessant of his Moden Architecture debut, can be heard in One, I Dig You and Stars. All swirling reverb and distortion, with a plethora of melodic riffs just about enabled to bubble their way to the surface, these tracks are the perfect mix of todays Cowboy Dinosaur / Vern Matz fuzz laden freneticism and the dank, darkness of Psychocandy era The Jesus and Mary Chain.

The album becomes incremetally less dank though and as it does, peels away different walls of sound to reveal other nuances of inner beauty. Someone Like You and I Dig You is everything New Order used to be at the start of their tenure, before they started cavorting with footballers and electro-pop. All electro-fuzz, brimful with faux jangled riffs, this is a sound that has tended to be ignored in the various ‘revivals’ that emerge every few years.

Perhaps the best of the album is the most candescent. Here Saturday, Stay and Live Away reduce the fuzz, distortion to something of a subsidary whimper, as the slight, beautiful, gaze laden jangled melodies that are so reminiscent of the recent Happypills sound, offer a caressing ying to the rest of the albums more driven yang.
As a debut album, this is as strong and as accomplished as it is possible to imagine and signals the absolute necessity of ensuring that every possible button is pressed to follow this band !" -- Janglepophub

Swimming Pools and Movie Stars are:
Laurence: Vocals, Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Keyboards
Droo: Bass Guitar

Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by: Laurence

All songs written by Laurence
Artwork & Design: Laurence

Swimming Pools And Movie Stars, an indie/shoegaze band from Los Angeles, CA.