Wellington band Good Laika play Auckland on 28 September to celebrate the release of debut album Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.Wellington band Good Laika play Auckland on 28 September to celebrate the release of debut album Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.The live show at Whammy Bar is a rare chance to experience Good Laika's infectious and soulful music, a sound that the band's been developing for years in secret backrooms.

While the groundwork for the album was a five-year process, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose was recorded by Nic McGowan at Island Bay Studios in just three days.

The band wanted to capture the idyllic atmosphere of their practice sessions at Waitarere Beach, and chose to record the album together in one room, and almost entirely without overdubbing. As a result, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose imparts a feeling of warmth, but one that is tinged with melancholy.

This mood is in keeping with the band's name. Laika, the first dog in space and Russian national hero, had her suspicions when the men with beards and fluffy hats started dressing her up in a spacesuit, but she adored the attention. Like the ill-fated canine, Good Laika the band invokes pictures of bitter irony, grim humour and passionate ambition.

Good Laika features Robin Hinkley, vocals and guitar; Jason Fa'afoi, vocals and guitar; Matthew Armitage, bass and vocals; Ricky Boyd, drums and percussion; and Nic Marshall, rhodes and organ.

"Unusually mature and well formed" - Nick Bollinger, Radio New Zealand

When: Friday 28 September 2007, from 9.30pm
Where" Whammy Bar, Basement of St Kevin's Arcade, 183 Karangahape Road
Newton, Auckland
Tickets: $10

20/9/07