Before Hollywood

Rant in B-Minor

2010-10-22T15:28:00.004+10:00

This past week I've been spending my time in the trendy inner northern suburbs of Melbourne. Last weekend I flew down with some bands I play in for a show at a bar in musical hotspot Fitzroy, and tonight I'll be seeing the second of two shows at The Forum as part of the Melbourne Festival - last night was Low, tonight is The Drones. In between I've been enjoying the city's many cafes, restaurants, record stores and scenery (not to mention the cold weather, God how I love the cold weather). Tomorrow morning I'll be flying back to Brisbane to get ready to return to work on Sunday.

Melbourne is a city that tends to make young Brisbanites go green with envy. Most culturally aware people from Brisbane can expect to have about 20% of their friends leave town for the southern city during their early 20s - it was my own 20% who loaned me their spare beds and couches this past week. Common wisdom has it as an inarguable fact that Melbourne has a far greater array of things for a young creative person to entertain themselves with than Brisbane.

Or does it...?

Superficially, yes, it does. There are about 3 times* as many venues in Melbourne as there are in Brisbane, partly due to a fortuitous set of licensing laws and partly to do with a culture that supports a multitude of small venues. However, if you compare our little city to the rest of Australia we're doing fairly well. We're probably about on par with Sydney, even though that city's population is greater than even Melbourne's. But for argument's sake, let's say that Brisbane suffers from a lack of venues (even though the recent opening of places like Woodland, The Alley and The Nest more than makes up for the upcoming closure of The Hangar). Does this mean we suffer a lack of gigs? As someone who puts together a weekly gig guide** for this very website I say 'absolutely not'. There's rarely a week where I can't find a whole bunch of gigs that I want to attend. Clashes between competing gigs is the norm, not the exception. There always seems to be some interesting art exhibition at Nine Lives or Bleeding Heart or some other gallery. There are young people getting out there putting on events of all shapes and sizes week in and week out. People like the crew from Lofly & The Hangar, people like Lawrence English (Room40), people like The Fans Group, Andrew Tuttle (Peer Pressure), Dan Lewis (Making Hey / Bon Voyage), Ian Rogers (God Hates Brisbane), the Browning St Studios crew, Will from Burst City, Tom Hall (Sonic Boom etc), Nick Smethurst (In Finland), Bedroom Suck. There are more that I've forgotten, many more, and that's just sticking to the indie rock & 'experimental' community that I'm most familiar with. Move outside that and things open up exponentially.

And yet I constantly hear people complaining that there's nothing to do in Brisbane. I hear people complain that there are no shows to go to, no good bands, that Brisbane is a cultural wasteland. These people then often admit that they've never made it out to The Hangar, don't know many Brisbane bands outside of the few that get played on JJJ, have never even heard of Burst City. I'm going to put this bluntly. If you are one of these people, then here's my message for you: You Are Lazy. Yes, you. You are lazy in at least one of two ways. Firstly, you are lazy if you complain about there being nothing to do in this town but have never actually put in the effort to search out the interesting venues / bands / events. This is the most inexcusable form of laziness, and the most common. However, maybe you have actually put in that effort and not been able to find anything that satisfies your interests. Oh no, all hope is lost! Or alternatively, you could get off your arse and do something about it. What, you think that awesomeness is just going to fall into your lap? You think that all of these fantastic, interesting venues and events just happen? No, someone out there thinks of something cool that doesn't exist and then puts in some time and effort (and yes, maybe an amount of money) and makes it happen. Yes, it's often difficult and usually thankless, and definitely disheartening when a bunch of people tell you later on that they didn't come because 'it was on a work night' or 'it was raining' or 'it was too hot' or 'West End is too far away, you should have done it in The Valley'. But so what? It's also fucking awesome. If you ignore all of that bullshit you get a night like God Hates Brisbane back in June of this year, where you could see 8 fantastic local bands in one night, on two stages upstairs at The Step Inn. It was, without any hyperbole, one of the best nights of music I (and a few dozen other people) have ever seen.

Ok, maybe I'm being *slightly* harsh with that second part. Not everyone has the resources required to put on a show, let alone open a venue or art gallery. Still, a lot of people DO. And those that don't shouldn't be allowed to use it as an excuse anyway. Do you think that all of those people I listed before knew exactly what they were doing when they first started out? Of course not! They were stumbling in the dark, figuring out exactly how you book a venue, a bunch of bands, get some promo out, get someone to do sound, run a merch stand, and at the end of it all try to not lose a fortune in the process. But they did it anyway, and now we thank them for all of the effort that they've gone to (or at least those of us who went looking for something interesting to support do). There are so many people doing so many amazing things in Brisbane that I find it personally offensive to hear someone complain of there being nothing interesting to do here. Brisbane doesn't suffer a lack of activities, it suffers a lack of support for those activities.

This isn't just for the arty, outsider crowd too. I'm not just talking about experimental noise shows (actually, I don't need to because the people involved in that community tend to be pretty great at self-organising, since they're not likely to get booked at The Zoo or The Troubadour any time soon - no criticism of those venues, either). I'm talking everything. I'm talking slick pop bands through to weird little folk things. Just get out there and do it. Ask people who've done it for advice if you want. They will give it to you. They're the people who want to see interesting stuff happen, after all.

Basically, this whole post could be summed up with 'stop being lame retards, start being awesome!'. There you go Brisbane residents, there's a challenge for you. Be awesome. I freaking dare you.

* Ok, so I just pulled that figure out of the air. You get the idea.
** Sorry for not doing one up this past fortnight, but being out of town made it a bit more difficult than usual.

Review: BigStrongBrute - We Can Sleep Under Trees In The Morning

2010-09-21T14:38:00.003+10:00

Paul Donoughue (aka the man behind indie-folk 'band' BigStrongBrute) is a son of a bitch. He makes things look so easy. First off, he was part of the great band Tragic/Athletic, a band that started out as a snot-nosed noise-punk band seemingly highly indebted to Turnpike (no bad thing) before maturing into something much more 'adult' and yet somehow just as - if not more - interesting. Now he's continued that musical growth even without the help of his old band. BigStrongBrute has existed in some form for many years now, but its original incarnation as a mid-naughties electro-clash performance piece has now been completely replaced by exquisite folk-pop songcraft. Donoughue takes the same simple song structures and basic open guitar chords that thousands of people have used to create a million songs, and yet manages to create songs that are not only memorable, but somehow unique and individual. Paul Donoghue is a son of a bitch.

I suppose a large part of the reason for the success of We Can Sleep Under Trees In The Morning is the maturation of Donoughue's voice. It's always been a rough instrument, straining for pitch and range, but these days it's managed to strike that wonderful balance between roughness and musicality. The notes might be slightly off, but it's always in a way that makes things sound better, not worse. Donoughue's voice is full and rich and warm and contains a weariness beyond his years. It's the same kind of perfectly flawed voice that makes people fall in love with singers like Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum or Okkervil River's Will Sheff, acts that BigStrongBrute are often compared to. Those are comparisons that are understandable: all three bands feature strong frontmen with 'rough' voices surrounded by a slightly tweaked and modernised version of traditional folk instrumentation. The passing similarity is just that though, there's no simple aping of a somewhat popular sound. Even if there was, there are worse musical ideas to steal; thank God that Donoughue didn't attempt to create yet another over-rehearsed, bloodless 'folk' act like the Mumford & Sons of the world (as an aside, I must have heard that band's hit song - whatever it was called - a bunch of times, and each time it's ended I've been completely unable to remember a single thing about it). We already have too many dudes who thought it would be a cool idea to grow a beard, strap on an acoustic guitar and get half-a-dozen other musicians to fill out the sound with a bunch of 'obscure' instruments. I'm sick of supposed 'folk' bands who are all slick, filled with multi-part harmonies and super fast finger-picking. Be raw! Be out of tune! Stop trying to be Grizzly Bear or Fleet Foxes! Anyway...

Of course, the songs are what make any record. My personal favourite here is the closing title track, a 3-minute song that feels as though it's a 1-and-a-half-minute song. When it finishes I find myself wishing it were a 6-minute song that felt as though it were a 3-minute song. The final wordless refrain leaves me completely devastated in a way that few local acts can manage (the dearly missed Ambitious Lovers being the only other that immediately springs to mind). 'Supply & Demand' is the obvious radio single (well, obvious to me. My friend thinks that the upbeat penultimate track 'You Were Always Right' holds that title), but even it can create a lump in the throat in its final, solo bridge before the band kicks back in for the rocking outro. Then there's the beautiful build of opener 'Hands', the minimal 'In My Own Mind' and the epic centrepiece 'Industrial Town'. As you'd hope from a 6-song record, there's not much fat on here.

Engineer Todd Dixon has given the record a somewhat timeless quality, doing a commendable job of mixing together the wide array of instrumentation; flute, trumpet, piano, organs, guitars ranging from nylon stringed through to distorted electrics, all manner of vocals. Some might call it lo-fi. It's not, but neither is it a modern, polished stitch-job. Like many things with this record, it's wonderfully balanced but not hyped. I wonder if this balance might actually end up being to its detriment, as the record's lack of immediacy in both sonics and songwriting gimmicks might mean that it doesn't grab ears in the same way that, say, The Middle East did last year. BigStrongBrute just don't have that show-off element that the more hyped 'folk' acts do (which isn't to say that they lack a sense of drama). It's a shame, because Donoughue's songs are as good (I'd say better, in fact) than those of that band; they're just simpler, rougher and more subtle. Hopefully this means that they'll have more staying power.

I want to say something vaguely negative about the record so that this isn't a glowing puff piece, but I can't really think of much. It's the best local record I've heard in some time, certainly the best folk record to come out of Brisbane for a while (right up there with McKisko's debut and the previously mentioned Ambitious Lovers' farewell EP, Winter Got Warmer). It's not perfect, but anything I can think of to criticise sounds exceptionally petty (eg: sometimes the backing vocals are mixed higher than Donoghue's lead vocals). I know it's a cliche to say this when reviewing an EP, but I really hope we don't have to wait too long for a full-length. Actually screw the rest of you, I just hope *I* don't have to wait too long for a full-length.

Update

2010-06-15T12:47:00.002+10:00

I thought that I should perhaps post an update on what's happening with Before Hollywood, as I've recently received a few questions about the future of the blog since posts have been fairly sparse as of late (ok, non-existent for the last few months).

Late last year / early this year I became rather busy with a recording studio that I run, and didn't have the time to sit down to write a review each week. I'm now doing that as a full-time business (instead of something I did in my spare time from my 'real' job), so I now have the time to write again. Therefore I might start updating the blog again. There were lots of good releases that we missed in the downtime (Slug Guts' debut, Ambitious Lovers' Winter Got Warmer EP, heaps more), so maybe we'll start with a retrospective of the best releases from the last six months.

Oh, and we still have lots of Strandeds, so feel free to get one from the link on the top right.

Tragic/Athletic video clip

2010-01-11T15:04:00.005+10:00

To celebrate a new year, here's something that doesn't require much effort from me to share. It's a video clip for Tragic Athletic's 'We Set Sail When The Wind Came', from their rather awesome 2008 10" EP Brakes. Apparently they have a new EP in the works.

I have a whole stack of records I'd like to talk about sitting next to my computer, so if I can motivate myself I might do a big roundup of a heap of newish releases from the latter part of 2009.

Gigs of the Week - December 3rd

2009-12-03T17:45:00.009+10:00

Thursday 3rd:
Ernest Ellis (NSW), Carry Nation @ The Clubhouse
Skinny Jean @ Musgrave Park (10:30pm) - Free & All Ages (with guardian)

Friday 4th:
Incremental Records Xmas Show: Velociraptor, No Anchor, Lion Island, Mt Augustus, Ambitious Lovers (EP Launch & final show), Monster Monster @ The Clubhouse - Free, with Little Scout and Running Gun Sound DJs
Hits, Giants of Science, Sweet Dreams, Daddy Long Legs (Vic), Lords of Wong, Mercy Beat, Pretty Boys @ Step Inn
Anonymeye (Tape Launch), Thankless Plum (Vic) Nova Scotia, Ambrose Chapel, Brutal Hate Mosh @ Book Nook (West End)
Loomer, Kitchen's Floor @ Ric's Bar
Texas Tea @ The Powerhouse
Tara Simmons, Scott Spark @ The Powerhouse Visy Theatre
Scott Matthew, Heinz Riegler @ X&Y Bar

Saturday 5th:
Idle Cranes, Carry Nation, Mr Rascal, Moon Jog, Restream Vs Aheadphonehome @ Jugglers Art Space (4pm)
The John Steel Singers @ Gossip (Club 299)
Mt Augustus @ Borders CBD (1pm)
Browning St Garage & Bake Sale @ Browning St Studios - Raising funds for Browning St Studios to take their music education program to remote areas.
The Boat People, The Paper Scissors (NSW), Dan Parsons & Band @ The Clubhouse
Ball Park Music, Sweet Fawn @ Ric's Bar

Sunday 6th:
DIY Turnstyle #2: Ghost Notes @ 10 Laura St, Highgate Hill
Andrew Morris, Timothy Carroll, The Sunburys, Scott Spark, Georgia Potter, Lucie Thorne, Sean Sennett, Jody Haines, Madeleine Paige, Chloe Turner, PJ Weston, Steve Grady @ The Powerhouse (3:30pm)

To farewell the (imo amazing but somewhat divisive) Ambitious Lovers, here's the full set from their show last month. They're playing for the final time at 8:30pm on Friday at The Clubhouse for free:

Gigs of the Week - November 27th

2009-11-27T12:26:00.003+10:00

I wasn't go to do one of these up, but there's so many great gigs on this weekend that I thought that perhaps I should. I think I'll only do one more this year, since things tend to die down in December.

Friday 27th:
No Anchor, The Rational Academy, Yout Dem, Whyte Lighting @ The Step Inn (Front Bar)
The Swamplords (Album Launch), Sulphur Lights, Velociraptor, Running Guns @ The Troubadour
Fergus Brown (NSW), McKisko, Mr Maps, Cowper @ Lofly Hangar
The Gin Club, Edward Guglielmino, Mexico City, Lion Island @ The Zoo
Toy Balloon, Cardhouses @ Ric's Bar
Real Bad Music Convention @ 1145 Ipswich Rd MOOROOKA - Three day DIY convention.

Saturday 28th:
At Sea, Lion Island, Smokestack Orchestra, The Videomatics @ The Troubadour
4zzz's Dub Day Afternoon: Kingfisha, Rhythm Collision Sound System, Darky Roots & lots more @ The Jubilee Hotel
Real Bad Music Convention @ 1145 Ipswich Rd MOOROOKA - Three day DIY convention.

Sunday 29th:
Lion Island, Pensive Penguin, Hello Yoko, Tom Eggert @ Ithaca Pool - just in case you thought there weren't enough opportunities to see Lion Island this weekend.
Real Bad Music Convention @ 1145 Ipswich Rd MOOROOKA - Three day DIY convention.
Assassins 88, Kitchen's Floor, Sleepwalks, Loomer @ Browning St Studios (6pm)

Wednesday 2nd:
Browning St Goes Bush Benefit: The Rooftops, Stop It I Love It Cabaret, Kay Orchison, Peter B & The Homeless Souls, Sarah Gall & more @ Brisbane Arts Theatre (Petrie Terrace) - a benefit for the music teachers from Browning St Studios to take their music education to remote areas. There's also a student recital occuring at the venue at 6pm.

Turnpike @ Mere Noise Meltdown, Step Inn (14.11.2009)

2009-11-17T14:34:00.006+10:00

I saw a lot of local bands play over the last weekend. The sounds coming from these bands included cool garage pop (Running Guns), overwrought radio-rock (The Gallant), awesome Bardo Pond-esque drone-pop (Loomer), K-Records-meets-SST sludge (Manic Eyes), affected yet entertaining noise punk (White Cop), the gradual evolution and coming of age of an already pretty great new band (Slug Guts), the farewell of a local phenomenon (Secret Birds' final show), a beautiful yet far too brief set of quiet folk (McKisko), and an experience of a band I missed during their heyday (El Borracho). Most of it was actually pretty damn great, a somewhat rare run of consistently quality music. Some of it was not so good. All of it was worth writing about in some form. However, when the time came there was only one band I really wanted to write about, and they're a band I've written about (and fawned over) before: Turnpike.

Turnpike, for me, are that band you go and see at every opportunity that presents itself, where you stand in the front row with a handful of people and wonder why so many others seem to pay so little attention. They've been one of my favourite bands (note: favourite bands, not just favourite local bands) almost since the first time I saw them. Their music is simultaneously clever, boneheaded, technical, lacking in technique, ear-splitting and aurally orgasmic. Song structures are merely loose recommendations on where a particular piece of music should lead - each player is free to head off on a whim at a moment's notice, or to attempt to play a particular part completely differently to how they've played it previously. And yet the songs are complex, twisting journeys that are unpredictable and yet always hit their marks.

In the last year or so there have been rumours that Turnpike would break up and transform into some other band. Thankfully that plan seems to have been abandoned, but the idea of changing direction somewhat seems to have been retained. New songs have been introduced recently: the first one was introduced a few months ago and is by far the most schizophrenic song the band have yet written. Starting with a bubbling bass riff in 5/4, it eventually builds up and explodes into a rudimentary sort of thrash metal before falling back to where it began. The second new song was unveiled at the Mere Noise Meltdown on Saturday evening, and was in huge contrast to the retro-tinged garage rock performed by most of the other bands on the bill. Featuring more twists and turns than... well, something very twisty and turny, it displayed guitarist Adam King adding a bit of Ian Williams to his usual Steve Albini meets Ash Bowie guitar stylings. Individual notes and melody lines are clearer than they have been for years in Turnpike's music, although still delivered in a highly twisted, clanging fashion. Meanwhile, the rhythm section of Chris Bryant and Tim Evans provide their usual mix of solid anchorage mixed with appropriate levels of chaos, except now with double the number of 90 degree turns in the music and greater flow than ever before. The total effect is mind blowing, throughout the song I found myself being more and more astounded with every newly introduced riff.

Older songs were also performed on the night, both released and unreleased (though familiar to anyone who has seen the band since their debut full length dropped in 2006). They were similarly impressive, and performed as well as I've ever seen them (despite some occasional problem with guitar leads being disconnected due to the Step Inn Front Bar's limited stage space). Although the set was a short one at only five songs, it was packed to the brim of explosive, exciting music. Turnpike may well fall within the confines of 'math rock', but they also display a vitality and energy that bands in that genre often lack, who instead getting lost in studiousness and the search for perfection in performance. Turnpike dismiss that aspect of the genre, and hence are able to comfortably fit into a night such as the Mere Noise Meltdown, where attitude and perceived authenticity reign supreme.

Gigs of the Week - November 12th

2009-11-12T15:58:00.007+10:00

Thursday 12th:
Secret Birds (Album Launch), Slug Guts, White Cop, Manic Eyes @ The Clubhouse
Doch Gypsy Orchestra @ The Powerhouse

Friday 13th:
2high Festival: Tin Can Radio, Villains of Wilhelm, Sunflower, My Fiction, Running Guns and more @ The Powerhouse - see www.2highfestival.com for the full list of bands and times. Free entry.
The Stabs (Vic), Witch Hats (Vic), Loomer, The Deadnotes @ The Clubhouse - Free entry.
Mr Rascal, At Sea @ Ric's Bar
Princess Rodeo, Blue Trial Records, The Bloodpoets, Boss Level Monster @ The Globe
Doch Gypsy Orchestra @ The Powerhouse
Wagons (NSW), Texas Tea @ X&Y Bar
Illage @ Checocho Cafe, West End

Saturday 14th:
Mere Noise Meltdown: The Horrortones, Turnpike, El Borracho, Vegas Kings, Butcher Birds, The Sips, The Hymies, The Dangermen, The Keep On Dancins @ The Step Inn
Texas Tea @ The Troubadour (1am Late Show)
2high Festival: Black Market Rhythm Company, Richard In Your Mind (NSW), Mr Maps, McKisko, Dot.AY, Mt Augustus and more @ The Powerhouse - see www.2highfestival.com for the full list of bands and times. Free entry.
Little Lovers, Extra Foxx, Feathers @ 4zzz Carpark (2pm) - All ages, donation entry.
Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers (NSW), Little Lovers, Oh Ye Denver Birds @ X&Y Bar
Hungry Kids of Hungary, Deep Sea Arcade (NSW), Ball Park Music @ The Zoo
Doch Gypsy Orchestra @ The Powerhouse

Sunday 15th:
Shit Life: White Cop, Blank Realm, Tidy Kid, No Guru Trio, Extra Foxx, Loomer, Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Sounds From The Ward, Cured Pink Radio, Swamplords, Loose Grip, Science, Kitten Party, Baglady & Walter P. Cronwiegn, Brutal Hate Mosh, The Harpy Choir @ Dutton Park Cemetary (or somewhere near it, 3pm)
Hungry Kids of Hungary, Deep Sea Arcade (NSW), Ball Park Music @ The Hive
Live Spark: Steve Grady, Crystal Radios @ The Powerhouse
Doch Gypsy Orchestra @ The Powerhouse

Gigs of the Week - October 29th

2009-10-29T12:57:00.004+10:00

Thursday 29th:
Heinz Riegler, Microflora (Vic) @ Jamie's Espresso Bar (7:30pm) - Releasing a new cassette of various recordings from the past few years, limited to 60 copies (featuring hand-printed artwork from Alex Gillies).
Luluc (Vic), McKisko, Lion Island @ The Troubadour
Toy Balloon (Album Re-Launch), Tin Can Radio, Moon Jog, Doom Doom @ The Zoo

Friday 30th:
Gig-Antics: Skinny Jean (Album Re-Launch), Megastick Fanfare (NSW), The Parking Lot Experiments (Vic) @ Uber
The Estates, The Oyster Murders, Plastic Palace Alice @ The Troubadour

Saturday 31st:
Tigermoth, Sweet Dreams, Purity Device, Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Big Dead @ Lofly Hangar
Monday Heart, Grids/Units/Planes, Music For Slow Dancing @ Blackstar Coffee (West End)
Wind & Brackets, The James Wright Experience @ The Clubhouse
Finders Keepers Markets: Pikelet (Vic), Mr Rascal, Kate Jacobson, The Cardboard Kids, The Fox And The River, Erin-Louise @ Old Museum (12pm - 9pm)

Sunday 1st:
Finders Keepers Markets: The Bell Divers, Lion Island, JuliaWhy?, Edge of Colour @ Old Museum (10am - 5pm)

Fiesta Roundup

2009-10-26T13:06:00.019+10:00

Three days of predominantly local music this past weekend made up the best Valley Fiesta I've had the pleasure of experiencing, bolstered by some fantastic sets from Japan's Limited Express (Has Gone?) along with Jack Ladder, Alex & The Ramps and more from interstate. Some prior years have featured lineups that haven't quite justified the bother of dealing with the crowds associated with the event; this year not only was the lineup pretty damn strong throughout the entire weekend (it was a rare moment when there was nothing of interest to see), but the crowds seemed to be more pleasurable to be a part of. I can barely think of a set that I didn't enjoy. The following gives some brief thoughts on most of the local acts I managed to catch.

Early on Friday evening, Monster Monster started the festivities with a set of his usual indie-rock inflected hip-hop. Joined by frequent collaborator Saint Surly, the two traded brief snippets of music back and forth throughout their half-hour set. It's an act that they've been performing for about 6months now, but this Fiesta slot was certainly the most natural they've made it sound. Previously they've had some difficulty pulling off the transitions between each act's turn in the spotlight, making their sets somewhat erratic at times (though the actual pieces of music they've played individually are usually pretty great). They must have been working hard on the flow of their set, as the changes generally seemed very natural on this particular evening. At times it was actually difficult to figure out which of the two artists was providing the basis of the track and which one was providing accents. This was probably furthered by the fact that neither act played many of their recognisable songs, which would indicate that the set contained mostly new material (perhaps from their upcoming collaborative record).

Lion Island have been building up a bit of a buzz over the past few months. Having recently released their debut EP, Berlin, the band have been expanding their sound from its somewhat Beirut aping beginnings. Many of the newer songs in their repertoire add an almost post-punk rhythmic quality to their gypsy folk, without turning the band into yet another Arcade Fire wannabe (so far). Some of their earlier songs hinted at this mixing of influences, most notably the EP's title track with its delayed electric guitar and soaring arrangement. Now the band is taking these ideas further, with more varied instrumentation and more complex arrangements. While you can still hear the band searching for their core sound, they seem to be getting closer with each show.

Having recently gone through some fairly significant personnel changes, Mr Maps returned on Saturday from a few months' worth of downtime with a slightly different slant on their kaleidoscopic version of post-rock. Gone are unpredictable drummer Sangdae Yang and guitar effects guru Nick Smethurst, respectively replaced by Jacob Hicks (otherwise known as the frontman for Re:Enactment) and Shem Allen (of Skinny Jean, although his was apparently a one-off appearance, with Smethurst's full time replacement being cellist Briony Luttrell). The end result is a leaner, rockier sound - at least for this show, things might change again once the cello is introduced. Most significantly, Hicks is a more traditional and harder hitting drummer than Yang, although he shares the previous drummer's frenetic style. The band are every bit as entertaining as they used to be, and have thankfully used the downtime and lineup changes to introduce some new material into their set.

DZ earned a place on the Fiesta bill via TripleJ Unearthed (along with Drawn From Bees whom I missed because... well, I'm not really much of a fan). Having last played in Brisbane at the launch of their Ruined My Life EP last month, at Fiesta the two young men were in substantially more cohesive form (thanks to a 3pm start time at an alcohol free event). While they were still probably the most ragged band to grace any of the three Valley stages over the weekend they have their own form of tightness, careening along with their groove-punk riffs, threatening to fall apart but instead crashing back together when the big moments come. And boy, do those big moments come. Every single song has at least one point when that immense riff enters and the drums start pounding even harder than before. They're an incredibly entertaining live band, but the songs are catchy enough to remain in your head after the live spectacle has been forgotten.

Having recently released their debut full length Set Your Bones, Butcher Birds took to the SAE stage around the middle of Saturday's festivities. They started their set with the same one-two combo that opens their album, displaying their muscular 'sludge-pop'. I haven't seen the band very often since their new drummer, Donovan, joined their ranks, but it's clear that he gives the band an extra degree of punch. His brief cameo on lead vocals halfway through the set also helped to break up the rest of the sludgier material, providing a welcome blast of punk rock. The rest of Butcher Birds' slot was filled with their usual slow-burning riff rock, with Stacey Coleman's gruff, smokey vocals meandering around the edges. Most of the time their music isn't especially melodic or hooky, being mostly reliant on the physicality of raw volume and the sluggish mood that it all creates. As such, late-afternoon on a bitumen street probably isn't the most conducive of settings for the band to be performing. Still, they put on their standard solid performance.

Although they've been around for a decent amount of time I'd never actually seen White Mansions before, despite the fact that I'd heard a lot of positive things about the band. I figured I should remedy this, and so I made sure I was in attendance for at least part of their Fiesta set. I'm glad I did, as they're a good band - classic sounding songs that remind one of 70s AM radio, but played through distorted garage rock and with a vocalist (Dave Ross, ex-kt26ers) who splits the difference between John Darnielle's stand-and-deliver approach and Dave Grohl's recent full throated bellow. A friend of mine mentioned The Replacements as a possible reference point, and such a comparison makes as much sense as any other.

Disco Nap is the new vehicle for ex-Iron On co-frontman Ross Hope, and much like Kate Cooper's An Horse (and very much unlike Ian Roger's No Anchor) his new music sounds a lot like his old music, with a couple of minor tweaks. Where Cooper paired things back for her new project, Hope has gone in the opposite direction, adding a handful of new textures to his fairly comfortable indie-rock. I must admit that for the first few songs I wasn't really into Disco Nap, it felt like a less successful rehash of Iron On that kept many of that band's more annoying aspects but without the quality of songs. As the set went on this feeling gradually eased and I began to enjoy the music, though it's certainly true that Hope is yet to write anything for his new project that is as good as 'Playing Hard To Want' or 'Fifty-Four Equals Two Hundred' (though there were some songs that showed some promise). It's only early days for Disco Nap so we'll see how it all develops.

Returning that morning from a show in Sydney, Little Scout launched their new EP Different From A Distance as the sun set on the valley. It was an enviable time to be performing, with the low ambient light mixing with the colourful stage lighting to wondrous effect (although the possibility of rain threatened to cut things short at any moment). It suited the recent developments in the band's sound, with their old pseudo-folk pop gradually giving way to a slicker indie rock sound, positing them as the middle ground between twee-indie bands ala Belle & Sebastian and the stadium sized atmospherics of U2 (or, if you were inclined to be less kind, Snow Patrol). They played a largely laid back set that drew equally from both of their EPs, finishing with their JJJ hit (and still best song) 'Dead Loss'.

There's very little to say about SixFtHick that hasn't already been said. The twin vocal attack of the Corbett brothers generally makes a strong initial impression, but it's the music behind them that holds your attention. The label they've given themselves, 'cane punk', is as apt a description as any, appropriately conjuring thoughts of Queensland's deep north. The music has a rough, brutish post-punk edge, calling to mind bands like The Birthday Party and The Jesus Lizard. The Corbett's don't have that same tortured howl of those bands' Nick Cave and David Yow, but they certainly attempt to create the same level of on stage intensity of the aforementioned frontmen (or at least as close as they can get at an outdoor, family event).

As the night closed on the outdoor stages, inside The Troubadour newly formed folk group Epithets provided a bit of a comedown for those present. Rising out of frontman Nick Smethurst's solo act Let's Not (But Say We Did), the new band presents the singer's songs in a more fully fleshed form. The added strength of the band suits Smethurst's music, as the restrictions placed on him by having to interact with three other musicians seem to give him direction and confidence. No longer are songs interrupted by apologies, while both the guitarwork and singing are stronger. The intricately finger-picked folk is given more weight and a clearer structure by the addition of bass guitar, Simon Reynolds' drumming finds the perfect blend of complexity and understatedness, and the violin fills in any remaining sonic gaps.

Playing under the Sunday midday sun (and wind), Carry Nation perform their threadbare folk to a small crowd who are mostly standing in the shade provided on the sidewalks. Starting out as the solo project of Jessie Warren, they've gone through a couple of incarnations before arriving at their current point of a second guitarist and two doo-wop style female backing singers. It's about as minimalist a sound as you can get from four musicians, leaving the songs as the central focus. Jessie's songs are memorable enough to be able to withstand this spotlight, with her voice coming across as a blend of the breathy Holly Throsby and the 'quirky' sultriness of Beth Gibbons.

Texas Tea are probably Brisbane's most recognisable country act and genuine local favourites, and so returned to a similar slot as the one they played at last year's Fiesta. They mostly stuck to their more upbeat numbers, such as 'Billy' and single 'Macy & Me', ignoring more introspective tracks like 'The Daredevil's Lament' and 'Cane Farmer's Song'. Generally I prefer their darker songs so I was slightly disappointed, but I can understand why they chose to do such a set when large portions of the audience would have been unfamiliar with their music. Still, a few more downbeat songs might have helped to provide a little bit more variety to their performance, which was a little bit monotone. Despite that, their songs are always strong and Kate Jacobson's voice is always a joy to listen to.

Dot.AY was certainly one of the more 'out there' acts performing at Fiesta this year, with his Gameboy created chiptune music. I was looking forward to hearing Alex Yabsley's 8-bit beats blasting through a sizable PA, and for the first half of the set this is what the crowd was treated to. It was effective and the gathering crowd seemed to be enjoying it, with a healthy amount of dancing occurring in front of stage. Unfortunately in the second half of the set things started to fall apart, with the penultimate song featuring vocals that were mixed at about double the level of the backing track, robbing the song of its energy. This was followed by a long break caused by both of Yabsley's Gameboys crashing when trying to load the sequence for the final song. By this stage a good percentage of the crowd had lost interest, resulting in a frustratingly lopsided set from one of Brisbane's more interesting musicians.

Playing the final slot of the Fiesta, Brisbane's garage soul supergroup The Horrortones brought an appropriately fun filled close to the weekend. By this stage I was almost dead on my feet, and I was likely not the only one. Something special was needed to get the crowd's attention at the end of Sunday evening, and The Horrortones did as good a job as any at providing it. With a set consisting solely of covers, the band ploughed through the songs with infectious enthusiasm. At that point of the weekend their music was the perfect blend of familiarity and celebratory energy.

Thanks must go to the organiser's of this year's Valley Fiesta. It was without a doubt one the most enjoyable event of its type that I've attended. With any luck they'll be able to reproduce it next year.

Gigs of the FIESTA

2009-10-23T10:19:00.002+10:00

So it's Valley Fiesta weekend, and this year they've actually put together a pretty fantastic lineup. Check out the full lineup at www.valleyfiesta.com.au.

Friday 23rd:
Valley Fiesta: Limited Express (Has Gone) (Japan), Shrewms, Aleks & The Ramps (Vic), Lion Island, Monster Monster and MORE @ Brunswick St Mall
Mr Maps, Idle Cranes, Hailer @ The Club House
The Cairos, Last Dinosaurs, Vasy Mollo, The Parties of Interzone @ The Troubadour
The Moses Gunn Collective @ The Troubadour (1am, FREE)
Grand Atlantic, Killed Two Birds, The Travelling So And Sos, The Estates, Felinedown @ The Globe

Saturday 24th:
Valley Fiesta: Vegas Kings, SixFtHick, Butcher Birds, Little Scout, DZ, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Mr Maps and MANY MORE @ Brunswick St Mall
Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side, Denim Owl (Vic), Extreme Weeze(Vic), Epithets @ The Troubadour (FREE)
Live Spark: Steve Grady, Popalicious @ The Powerhouse
The Gonzo Show, Mexico City @ X&Y
Wind & Brackets (Single Launch), Velociraptor @ The Club House
Occult Blood (Vic), Ivans (Vic), Panel Van Halen (Vic), Secret Birds, White Cop @ Step Inn (Front Bar)

Sunday 25th:
The Horrortones, Texas Tea, Dot.AY, Drawn From Bees, Carry Nation and MANY MORE @ Brunswick St Mall

Tuesday 27th:
Brutal Hate Mosh @ Ric's Bar

Gigs of the Week - October 14th

2009-10-14T18:37:00.005+10:00

There's a ridiculous amount of great stuff on this weekend.

Wednesday 14th:
In Sepia, Gladstone & Lochaber @ Ric's Bar

Thursday 15th:
No Anchor, The Sips, Undead Apes, D.Black (Secret Birds) @ The Zoo
Mapletons, Oh Ye Denver Birds @ Ric's Bar
Dead Riot, Biff Co @ The Clubhouse

Friday 16th:
I Heart Hiroshima (Album Launch), We All Want To, Heinz Riegler @ The Zoo
Open Air: Videomatics, Big Strong Brute, Carry Nation, Mt Augustus, Your Hand In Mine, The Liar's Chair @ Queensland College of Arts (226 Grey St Southbank, 4pm-9pm)
Lion Island (EP Launch), Epithets @ Ric's Bar
Drawn From Bees (EP Launch), Ball Park Music, Oh Ye Denver Birds @ The Troubadour
Halfway @ The Powerhouse
Mr Rascal @ Queens St Mall (6pm, 7pm, 8pm)

Saturday 17th:
The Sips, Sweet Dreams, Bloody Roo, Geese, Triple Dragon @ Legion's Club (7pm)
Hazards of Swimming Naked (Album Launch), Arcane, Red Medicine, Restream @ The Zoo
Jamie Hutchings (NSW), The Honey Month, Ichabod's Crane @ Lofly Hangar
The Quickening, Willows, The Here And The Elsewhere, We Set Sail @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall

Tuesday 20th:
Sleepwalks, The Peel St Band @ Ric's Bar

Review: To The North - To Work And Not Feed 12" EP

2009-10-14T15:10:00.006+10:00

To The North are, and have been for some time, probably the best so-called 'post-hardcore' band in Brisbane. Other dubious hyphenated terms that could be (and have been) used to categorise their music would be 'math-rock', 'jazz-hardcore' and 'tech-punk', all terms that might turn various people off of their music. Such labels might seem to paint their music in an over intellectualised, bloodless light, but anyone who has seen the band live knows that this would be a huge mistake, as the band are a hugely passionate, emotive force. In fact, an equally as apt term to describe their music might actually be 'emo', but in the original use of the term from when it described various bands from the early days of Washington DC's hardcore scene that grew around the Dischord label.

To Work And Not Feed is not the debut release from To The North, but it's the most substantial in a while (they released a split 7" with the similarly minded Ohana last year, and an EP called Landscapes before that). The record features four songs spread over two sides of vinyl (with a download code included), and was recorded almost 18months ago by a friend of the band (Dave Williams) and mixed by the ever present Bryce Moorhead. The record captures the band with a raw honesty; there are very few overdubs, the sounds are left without a huge deal of polish, and as such the band's musicality is left as the sole focus. It's a sound that is unadorned and uncluttered. This is probably the best presentation for the band as their songs are complex and non-linear, and would probably become impenetrable with a more dense mix. If a song like 'If Knowledge Were A Right Of Passage You Would Be A Fucking Genius' was filled with more instrumentation it would likely collapse under its own weight, as it's already stuffed with more riffs and chord progressions than a lot of bands put together throughout an entire album. As an aside, it's probably also the best track on the record.

The star instrument here is certainly Errol Hoffman's guitar. It winds its way around all of the other instruments, alternating between extremely intricate melodic runs and dynamic chordal work. Almost stealing the show at times is the muscular yet dexterous drum work from Simon, while Josh's bass provides a solid foundation for the music (also displaying its own inventiveness from time to time). The instrumental base is likely strong enough to invoke interest even in those who are not particular partial to this style of indie rock, but the vocals might be a turnoff to any who are averse to the genre's somewhat ubiquitous speak-singing. Singer Cam Gillard's style is fairly common amongst post-hardcore bands, and those who don't particularly like other vocalists of his ilk probably won't be won over by his efforts. That said, he's a particularly passionate, anthemic vocalist who provides a needed centrepoint in the middle of his bandmates' controlled chaos. Lyrically he seems to mostly deal with conflicts and relationships (though not necessarily of the romantic variety), and does so with an inclusive, non-accusatory tone - there are a lot more 'we's on this record than 'you's.

For a band who have for a long time been fairly irregular in their gigging and releases, it's encouraging to see To The North playing out more consistently. In recent times they've become a more constant presence in gig guides, and have been on multiple tours with another one about to begin in support of this release. With any luck they'll become more than the highly respected but inconsistently seen heads of a local scene. With a bit more luck we'll get another record from them soon.

Gigs of the Week - October 2nd

2009-10-02T16:50:00.005+10:00

Friday October 2nd:
Open Frame @ Powerhouse - Room 40's annual two-day experimental music festival.
The Parties of Interzone, Scarletto @ Ric's Bar

Saturday October 3rd:
Butcher Birds (Album Launch), SixFtHick, Loomer, Dirty Bird @ The Zoo
Tiny Vipers (USA), McKisko, BigStrongBrute, Lion Island @ The Troubadour
Oh Ye Denver Birds @ The Troubadour (1am Slot)
Open Frame @ Powerhouse - Room 40's annual two-day experimental music festival.
West End Live: McKisko, Timothy Carroll, Andrew Morris, Kate Bradley & The Goodbye Horses, Mt Augustus, Paste @ Boundary St
Love of Diagrams (Vic), Kitchen's Floor, Sleepwalks @ The Clubhouse
Teleprompter, Villains of Wilhelm @ Ric's Bar

Sunday October 4th:
Bats Magazine Launch: Stature::Statue, Stemford Hiss, Swamplords, Oh Ye Denver Birds, Charlie Why, The Arc @ The Fort (1-6pm, All Ages)

Review: Do The Robot - First Names

2009-09-29T11:22:00.002+10:00

Do The Robot's 2008 Valve records release Amp On Fire was an enjoyable, if somewhat flawed, minimalist shoegaze record. A little over a year later the band have released their follow-up, First Names, and it's an improvement on their debut in almost every sense. While recent live shows have played up the ambient side of their music, First Names combines the recent increased use sound layering with the traditional melodicism Do The Robot have shown at all stages of their existence. The record improves upon the areas that were somewhat lacking on Amp On Fire, while expanding the areas where the band was already quite successful.

The record starts off with 'Europe', about as concise a song as you'll find in Do The Robot's discography, coming in at a touch under 4minutes. Within this timeframe the musical improvements the band has made in the past year all come to the fore - the songs are more densely packed with melodies and shifting arrangements, and there's a greater sense of movement inherent in the music. No longer do their songs coast along for 7minutes with a mere two or three chords, seemingly held in stasis; now songs embrace traditional pop structures while still keeping the band's trademark dreaminess and languid beauty. Another thing that will strike those familiar with the debut is the sound of the record - everything seems so much more full than before, and not just because of the increased use of guitar and keys overdubs. Engineer Todd Dixon has done a great job of balancing reverb-filled haze with a sense of weight for all of the instruments. The final thing of note that has really improved in recent times is Sera's singing - she has always had a voice with the perfect character for this style of music, but now she has better control of her vocals and hence comes across as much more powerful and confident. She also seems to have reduced the Americanisations in her pronunciation (something that is a bit of a pet peeve of mine).

The band also seems more willing (or more able) to mix things up - 'Grandmother's Bicycle' is a terrific, upbeat pop song that devolves into a Sonic Youth Sister-era outro, 'Mountain' is the tensely dramatic centrepiece of the album, and 'Moon In The Sky' shares a fair bit with sister-band The Rational Academy's more reflective moments. Meanwhile 'Just The Six (No The Five Of Us)' is the sort of extended jangly pop song that Amp On Fire was filled with - except better. Matt also mixes up his guitar tone much more frequently than on the prior record, often double tracking his parts and not being afraid to throw down some appropriately distorted shoegaze guitar. It helps to keep the record moving along, and stops things from getting too samey.

First Names is the record that I was hoping for with Amp On Fire - beautiful and stark, yet inviting and enveloping. Unlike Amp On Fire, it benefits from not outstaying its welcome, being all over in a bit over 35minutes. It also packs a lot more ideas into its running time than its predecessor, ensuring that the listener stays interested through its entire duration. Since Do The Robot have already moved on from the sound of this record I'm interested to hear their next release - if its much like their current live show we can expect it to be more obtuse, more ambient, more abstract and even more densely filled then First Names, and yet just as melodically satisfying as this record.

Oh, and I should also mention the beautiful packaging. The vinyl version comes in individually hand-crafted fabric jackets.

Gigs of the Week - September 25th

2009-09-25T11:47:00.007+10:00

Good weekend this weekend. See below.

BTW, Mr Maps have a free download available on their myspace of a new track they recorded in their rehearsal room just recently. Check it out if you're into them.

Friday 25th:
Stature::Statue, Moon Jog, 3ofMillions (NSW), Bastards of the Epic Day @ Lofly Hangar - Bring along a mix-CD to swap it for someone else's.
Royal Headache (NSW), Bed Wettin Bad Boys (NSW), Kitchen's Floor, The Seizures @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Nikko, Caught Ship (Vic) @ Ric's Bar
Almost Invisible #3: Sounds From The Ward, Alrey Batol, Ghost Notes @ Browning St Studios
We All Want To @ The Powerhouse (6pm)
Tom Ugly (NSW), The Rocketsmiths, Comic Sans @ The Troubadour

Saturday 26th:
Turnpike, Loomer, Whyte Lightning, Loose Grip @ Fat Louie's
FootFootFoot: Dot.AY, BigStrongBrute, Buildings Melt @ Blackstar Coffee (7pm, Thomas St West End)
Velociraptor, Bright Yellow (NSW) @ Ric's Bar
ChalkAndCheese @ Borders (1pm)

Sunday 27th:
The Gin Club @ The Powerhouse (4pm)

Review: Idle Cranes - Fur Release

2009-09-24T14:21:00.011+10:00

Post-punk band Idle Cranes have been been playing around the traps for a few years now, but have just recently released their debut record, Fur Release. The band seems to think of it as an EP, but with nine tracks and a running time of around 40minutes it's equally as valid to think of it as a full length album. With a production style that hearkens back to the post-punk records of the late 70s / early 80s (ie: not much low end, LOTS of reverb and feedback, buried vocals that are largely indecipherable) it's not an easily digestible piece of music either, but it's not without rewards for those who persist with it.

The record starts of with the instrumental 'L'Amour', a spiky piece of down-tempo post-punk that somewhat sets the template for much of the record in its minute-and-change length: trebly guitars, distant thundering drums, monolithic distorted bass that somehow stays in the sonic shadows despite its volume. 'Frigate' introduces vocals into the mix, with both of the band's singers sharing the mic on the song - Jon's languid, British sounding croon laying the foundations while Jakeb's more colloquial bark cutting through the middle, his speak-singing sounding more like the vocalisations of your average post-hardcore vocalist than a post-punk one. 'High Heels Low Brow' closes off the more accessible first third of the record with the most immediately likable slice of music on the disc, disco drums and all. If Fur Release were to have a single, this would be it.

In it's live incarnation, 'Ghost Train' is an absolute monster. Slow, menacing, oppressively loud. This recording doesn't capture that side of it at all, instead the song comes across as monotone and repetitive, with pretty much no dynamics or significant changes in its 7minute span. Drums are reduced to a metronomic tapping in the background, the bass is neutered of any power and the song is reduced to an exercise in mood and texture. Strange, then, that it's not a total write-off (though cutting a minute or so out of the first half might have done the track a favour). The song is probably the biggest challenge on the record, almost as if the band is daring you to make it to side two. Those who do will be greeted by the somewhat schizophrenic 'Discotheque' (cool riff at the 2minute mark) and the relentless, tribal 'Tetrahydreen'. In combination with 'Ghost Train' this trio makes up the decidedly strange middle third of the record.

The final third of Fur Release is probably the strongest, but also the most oblique. 'Mexico' takes the murky atmospherics to their logical limit, slowing things down to a introspective crawl and, in the process, becoming the most successful recording on the album. 'Two Horse Race' is probably the Idle Crane's finest live track, and though the band's chosen recording style has sapped the song of some of its oppressive power from the live setting (much like 'Ghost Train'), it still stands out as one of the highlights of the disc. The verses are propulsive, while the choruses increase the intensity by just enough to highlight the epic nature of the chord progression. 'DFD41' finishes things off with some more atmospherics, utilizing some found sound loops, an acoustic guitar and some droning vocals to bring things to a soothing yet disquieting end. It's one hell of a comedown to a record that doesn't give an inch over its entire running time.

By taking such a strong stance in terms of creating a uniform, highly stylised sounding record, Idle Cranes have created a somewhat more divisive record than they perhaps might have with a more 'true to life' presentation. Such conviction is to be applauded, especially in such a young band, even if the results are perhaps to the detriment of individual songs. The band has obviously wanted to create a real record, as opposed to a collection of loosely linked tracks. Some people have labelled the record as 'lo-fi', but that's not really accurate. This isn't something recorded on a cassette four-track in someone's garage, it has been intentionally constructed to sound a certain way and create a certain mood. In this respect the record is a success (extra credit also needs to be given when considering that the band pieced the record together from multiple recording sessions at a variety locations, although four of the tracks were recorded at the (new defunct?) Valley Studios by Glenn Agnew).

There is certainly a consistent mood that runs through the entire record - often this can create a sameness to the music, and this is arguably the case here. However, after living with the album (or EP, whatever) for a bit of time the listener is able to get past the murky sounds and hear that there is actually a remarkably wide breadth of music on display. Strangely enough, it's easy to imagine that with a more orthodox production style Fur Release could actually seem a little bit scattered. The fact that it instead comes across as quite cohesive would indicate that this is a band with a fairly strong idea of where it's headed, even if at this stage it does seem to occasionally get lost . Still, their success rate is high enough that this record (and their live show) comes recommended.

You can currently listen to the entirety of Fur Release record at the band's myspace page.

Gigs of the Week - September 17th

2009-09-17T15:54:00.004+10:00

Thursday 17th:
Blue Carousel, Running Guns, Surecut Kids @ The Clubhouse (Empire Hotel Corner Bar)

Friday 18th:
The Nation Blue (Vic), SixFtHick, Dick Nasty, No Anchor @ The Zoo
Mr Rascal @ Queens St Mall (6pm)
My Fiction, Teleprompter @ The Clubhouse (Empire Hotel Corner Bar)

Saturday 19th:
4ZZZ's These Are Not Birds: Secret Birds, To The North, Swamplords, Feathers, Oh Ye Denver Birds, Common Pointless Rage, Wil Wagner (Vic), Mr DNA (Vic), Sleepwalks @ Boundary Hotel (West End)
Chinese Burns (Vic), Undead Apes, Fancy Boys, Geese @ Step Inn (upstairs)
Dizzygotheca (EP Launch), Silver Circus, Edge of Colours @ The Zoo

Sunday 20th:
Sonic Boom #6: Ambrose Chapel, White Bears of Norway, Secret Killer of Names, Extra Foxx, Ian McIntyre @ 101 Merthyr Rd, New Farm

DZ, Villains of Wilhelm @ Fans (12.09.09)

2009-09-16T12:25:00.003+10:00

Popular indie-rock club night Fans recently up and left their traditional home at Alhambra lounge, now putting on their regular shows at the Empire's corner bar (otherwise known as The Club House). Deciding to start things off with a bang, Fans opened the new location with the EP Launch for the super-hyped dance-punk band DZ.

Starting off the night, however, were garage rockers Villains of Wilhelm. Before I go any further, there's one thing that has always annoyed me about this band: they seem to always pronounce Wilhelm as 'will-helm', missing the obvious opportunity for illiteration provided by the usual pronunciation of the name! Man, that really grinds my goat... Anyway, The Villains play largely uptempo, loud rock'n'roll with occasional detours into something a bit more melodious. Frontman Danny Wilhelm is far and away the focal point of procedings, running around and causing all sorts of havoc while the rest of the band provides tight backing to his antics. In general crowds seem to lap it up, though not everyone is so enamoured - after their set a less than impressed friend of mine commented that 'anyone can roll around on the floor, it doesn't mean the songs are any good'. It's a fair point, though perhaps a marginally unfair one. While The Villains are hardly providing anything unique in the grand scheme of things, they execute their chosen brand of rock'n'well with a near perfect balance of musical proficiency and reckless abandon. Furthermore, what's wrong with a bit of showmanship? Whether the band can prove themselves to be as effective on record is up for debate, but as a live spectable they're a worthwhile act for those with a predisposition towards their particular form of rock.

DZ have garnered a reputation as a fairly explosive live act, being unafraid to try every trick in the proverbial book to enhance the energy inherent in two dudes playing loud, guitar-based rock music. To that end they liberally incorporate intense strobe lights, crowd surfing, smoke machines, black lights and extreme volume. Most of these things were on display at the launch of their Ruined My Life EP, and the crowd responded in predictably riotous fashion. The end result was without a doubt one of the sloppiest rock sets I've seen in many a month - instruments would regularly stop playing for bars at a time, musical cues would be missed, crowd members would run onstage and push over parts of the drum kit or pull out a guitar lead. For a band being touted in some circles as the heir to Violent Soho's grunge-influenced crown, on this particular night they lacked that particular band's iron-tight grip on its music, but that's not really what DZ are trying to achieve. They're a band who are attempting to bring the noise and aggression of punk and meld it with the communal, party atmosphere of dance music, as shown by their regular covering of songs from acts live Daft Punk, Justice and even the Venga Boys. Judged on that criteria, the launch was a complete success. I can't think of many occasions where a crowd has been so intensely into a local band's set, or where the security at the front of the stage were actually not only necessary at a local show, but so laughably ineffectual.

The night finished up with Stature::Statue playing the 1am slot, but a) I've already reviewed them quite recently and b) I was pretty tired by the time they had started so had already headed home. There was also Chain Gang from Sydney at the start of the night, but I only caught their last (pretty crazy) song, plus they don't fit within Before Hollywood's scope.

Photo courtesy of Gerry Rocks.
Usual full disclosure statement: I recorded the DZ EP at my home studio.

Gigs of the Week - September 9th

2009-09-03T19:18:00.010+10:00

So, it's Big Sound week this week. That means there will be all manner of industry types walking around the valley until the weekend. I had a bit of a look around today, it was... interesting. In any case, Big Sounds means that there are quite a few shows happening around town over the next few days.

(Also, for those who want a look behind the curtain to see what makes Before Hollywood tick, there's an interview with me over at the blog The Fruit Bowl... if you're interested)

Wednesday 9th:
Big Sound Live: I Heart Hiroshima, The Rational Academy, Little Scout, DZ, Skinny Jean, The Middle East, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Kate Bradley, Toy Balloon, Timothy Carrol, Ed Guglielmino, Rocketsmiths, Chris Pickering and MORE @ Various Valley venues - See www.qmusic.com.au/bigsound2009 for details on getting tickets etc.

Thursday 10th:
Big Sound Live: We All Want To, Grand Atlantic, The Boat People, Mary Trembles, Hunz, Last Dinosaurs, Madeleine Paige, The Cairos, Drawn From Bees, Dan Parsons and MORE @ Various Valley venues - See www.qmusic.com.au/bigsound2009 for details on getting tickets etc.
Pink Reason (USA), Slug Guts (LP Launch), Fabulous Diamonds (Vic), Blank Realm @ Step Inn
NineHoursNorth: aus (Japan), Cokiyu (Japan), Do The Robot @ Judith Wright Centre
Teleprompter, Snow White @ Ric's Bar

Friday 11th:
DZ (EP Launch), ChainGang (NSW), Stature::Statue, Villains of Wilhelm @ Club House (Empire Hotel Corner Bar)
Songs (NSW), Little Scout, Big Strong Brute @ The Troubadour
We All Want To @ The Powerhouse
Up Late: Kate Jacobson, Ben Salter @ Queensland Art Gallery

Saturday 12th:
The Bell Divers, Bliss @ Ric's Bar
Running Guns @ The Troubadour (1am Late Show)

Review: AXXONN - Masters of the Epic Day

2009-09-02T12:58:00.012+10:00

Masters of the Epic Day, the second EP from local laptop-drone duo AXXONN (the first being the freel download Should You Fear Hell?, which Gav reviewed a while back), is an interesting little release. Interesting because it's actually something of a split record, featuring two songs from AXXONN and two songs from each of the two members' solo projects: Tom Hall (as himself) and Ian Rogers (as Ambrose Chapel).

It's also interesting because the two AXXONN tracks are probably the weakest on the record. Masters starts out with 'The Second Death', a track that plays out like a slightly condensed version of the debut EP (but this time with drums). The song starts out quiet and contemplative, full of warm synth tones, before erupting into noise around the one third mark, cruising along at full volume for a bit before calming back down... only this time it returns to crushing distortion instead of just petering out. Since it's only one song compared to the first EP's three it contains fewer melodic ideas, being mostly based around changes in dynamics instead of the Hell's gradually shifting tones and melodies. It's satisfying in the way that a Mogwai song is satisfying: it hits all of the points that you want it to hit, and it peaks right around the time you desire it to. It has big dynamic shifts that seem as though they're meant to jolt you about, but you're expecting them so they don't really surprise. In fact, the song is very Mogwai-like - I know it's a sin to automatically compare dramatic instrumental bands to the Scottish post-rockers, but this track really sounds like the more electronic numbers from the most recent two or three Mogwai records (the only difference being that Mogwai play guitars that sound like synths while AXXONN play synths that sound like guitars - even the sampled drums sounds a lot like the playing of Martin Bulloch, though that's probably more because he's often such a lifeless, mechanical drummer). I don't think there's any plagiarism going on here, even of the subconscious sort, as I don't believe that AXXONN are overly avid listeners of Mogwai - it's probably has more to do with the inherent limitations of and similarities between bands in this vague 'genre'. Anyway, 'The Second Death' is certainly not a bad track, in fact it's quite good, but it doesn't feel as successful as the band's earlier release.

The second track, 'Nikki Grace', is shorter but perhaps a bit more interesting, though it mines a very similar vein of ideas as 'The Second Death' - gradually developing textures in the first half, a big dynamic shift around halfway, mechanical drums. In fact, I think one of the main problems with the two AXXONN tracks is the drums - I just don't think that Hall or Rogers are particular adept at programming rhythms, or at least not the big, bombastic sort that they're trying to implement here (actually, on second thought the rhythms are actually pretty decent, the issue has more to do with the drum sounds that have been chosen and the way they've been mixed - the drums just seem to stick out, breaking the spell created by the rest of the music). On Should You Fear Hell? rhythm was used sparingly, often being limited to muted bass rhythms that burbled away beneath the weight of the huge synthesizers, and this was very effective. On Masters the rhythms are much more upfront, and I don't think it really works. It takes the band more in the direction of standard post-rock, which is all well and good, but I think that the band's best moments are when they're more understated and are slowly milking a dramatic chord progression for every remaining bit of interest.

The solo tracks reinforce this. All four are far more understated than the opening two songs, and are all the better for it. Tom Hall's 'Wor(l)ds Fall Down' is four and a half minutes of dread based around a couple of keyboard notes, while 'Between Subdivided Distances' features a slowly building array of drones and textures which never reach any sort of emotional payoff, although they do eventually break through the aural clouds to reach a kind of sunshine for the last minute of the song. Both tracks are desolate, murky sounding affairs, but not in a cold, detached way. They're also both really, really good.

Meanwhile, Rogers' two tracks are equally as enthralling. 'Bulk Carriers At Sea (And On Fire)' alternates between unnerving white noise and synths that sound like foghorns, giving a feeling that perfectly reflects the song's title. 'Corridors_Bend' is the shortest track on the EP, featuring a chorus of what sounds like ebowed guitars and rumbling ambience - there's really only one idea in the track, but it's explored thoroughly while not outstaying its welcome, and as such is as successful as anything else on the EP.

Masters of the Epic Day is an interesting little release. It's successful in ways that you wouldn't think it would successful, and its failures are due to things that you would imagine would be strengths. Who would have thought that the solo tracks, which many might have expected to be somewhat 'throwaway' in comparison to the 'proper' band songs, would be the highlights of this disc? Conversely, AXXONN are often most successful when melding the heady 'art' of experimental drone music with the more emotive, visceral world of rock and folk (in the traditional sense of the word), so it makes sense that the use of bombastic rhythms and big dynamic shifts would only add to the success of their music. However, this doesn't seem to be the case. It seems as though the aspects of AXXONN's music that they should be pursuing are the subtle melodies and texture shifts, and mixing those with a more subtle rhythmic approach.

Don't let my musings on why this record doesn't quite hit the heights its aiming for put you off, it's still a highly worthwhile release. All six songs are at the very least interesting, with none of them being remotely 'bad', while some of the solo tracks would be highlights on many quality records. Oh, and the packaging is pretty cool, almost meeting the lofty standards set by Rogers' other act, No Anchor.

Here's the video for 'The Second Death'.

Gigs of the Week - August 27th

2009-08-27T19:07:00.003+10:00

Thursday 27th:
Bliss, Half Tail @ Ric's Bar
Secret Birds, TroubleKarmaFlow @ X&Y
Bluejuice (NSW), Skinny Jean, Last Dinosaurs @ The Zoo

Friday 28th:
Alps (NSW), Kitchen's Floor, The Deadnotes, Whyte Lightning (Vic) @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Extra Foxx, Little Lovers @ Ric's Bar
To The North, Caught Ship (Vic), Soars, The Peel St Band, Birth of Bison @ Via Studios - Free, All Ages.
Mexico City @ The Powerhouse
The Keep On Dancin's @ The Troubadour (1am)

Saturday 29th:
Caught Ship (Vic), Whyte Lightning (Vic), The Swamplords, Sweet Dreams, Loose Grip, Nikko @ Ahimsa House
Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers (NSW), Little Scout, Lion Island @ The Troubadour
The Sunday Reeds (Vic), Kitchen's Floor, The Gonzo Show @ Lofly Hangar

Turnpike, Seaplane, Undead Apes @ 4zzz Carpark (15.08.09)

2009-08-26T09:54:00.007+10:00

4zzz's Radiothon has come and gone, so I hope that those of you who weren't subscribers prior to this past week have now changed that. In any case, the Zeds started off their yearly subscription drive last Saturday with an afternoon show in their carpark on St Paul's Terrace, something that was relatively common a few years back and has recently returned as a semi-regular event. The Porridge program was responsible for this particular show, and so we had three loud indie-rock bands (of various sub-types) playing in the winter sun.

Local punk rock frankenstein Undead Apes started things off. The band consists of members of Eat Laser Scumbag, Sekiden, Dick Nasty and Gazoonga Attack, and Undead Apes don't really stray too far from what you would imagine a band featuring such musicians would sound like: it's loud, up-tempo, catchy punk (more of the garagey 'pop-' variety than the 'hardcore-'). Although they've only been around for a relatively small amount of time, they're a pretty tight little outfit - again, as you'd expect given their lineage. Aside from one mix up due to attempting to play a song that was only written a day or two before the show, every song was nailed down tight, coming across with great force. I'm struggling to think of anything substantial to really say about them, other than if you like the previously mentioned bands (or just punk rock in general) then you'd be well advised to check them out.

Seeing as Seaplane's co-frontman Stirling Bartlam hosts the Porridge show, it was no surprise to see his own band on the lineup. They're a fine act so I doubt many people had any complaints. Having gone through a lineup change fairly recently (drummer Conwae Burrell being replaced by Nova Scotia frontman Scotty Brique), it's been reassuring to see that if anything the band has become even tighter. Scott is a louder and slightly more accomplished drummer than Conwae, although not to such a degree that Burrell's trademark roughness has been eliminated. Brique provides the perfect middle ground for the band - sturdy enough to provide a solid base from the two guitarists to throw their signature squall over, but loose enough to continue the previous incarnation's character. This show was amongst their better, with all members being able to stretch out at full volume with a supportive and interested crowd (indeed, Dale Peachey seemed quite incredulous that audience members kept asking him to turn up for once). Most of the set was made up of tracks from their recent 12", such as The Soiree, Plastic Jesus and Feather, with a few older favourites added to mix things up.

It's no secret that Turnpike are one of my very favourite Brisbane bands. If you're at all inclined towards their brand of no-wave/math-rock noise then it's a rare thing to witness a bad Turnpike show (indeed, I can't actually remember ever seeing one, though I'm sure it must have happened at some stage... probably). Although they've been playing a set of largely unreleased songs ever since the arrival of their Humans Find Patterns album a few years back (with the only songs to appear since 2007 being 'Selling, This Century' from their split with Del Toro, and 'Easy Choices For Bad People' from Stranded), it seems that the band has decided to start moving onto new areas regardless. Hence we are treated to a lengthy new song, with the promise of more to come. The new track features drummer Chris tweaking electronic noises for the first third of the song, while Tim plays a continuous 5/4 riff on bass and Adam noodles away on guitar. It's like some sort of minimalist version of Tortoise. Eventually the guitar and bass meld together, the drums enter and things work themselves up to a moderate level of 'rock', before everything explodes into something that can only likened to thrash metal. After a comparatively small amount of ear-shredding the songs calms back down and returns to its origin. It's definitely new territory for the band, and represents another shift in their sound (something that seems to happen every year or two). It will be interesting to see if they continue this new, more abstract direction with their other new material. Hopefully we'll see a new release from these guys in the near future.

Gigs of the Week - August 20th

2009-08-20T15:15:00.004+10:00

So there was supposed to be another post in here about something else, but unfortunately there were technical issues and it had to be scrapped, so instead here's a boring old gig guide. There's not a whole bunch on this weekend, though what is on is pretty good.

Also, remember that 4zzz's Radiothon continues until Friday, so subscribe!

Friday 21st:
Greg Brady & The Anchors, Del Toro @ Ric's Bar
Vegas Kings, Undead Apes, Electric Jellyfish (Vic) @ The Troubadour

Saturday 22nd:
Sweet Dreams, Electric Jellyfish (Vic), Turnpike, Dollface, Loose Grip @ Browning St Studios
4zzz Radiothon Finale: Hunz, Blue Carousel, Ball Park Music @ X & Y
Reptiles (Vic), Parties of the Interzone @ Ric's Bar

Tuesday 25th:
The Scrapes, Sounds from the Wall @ Ric's Bar

Gigs of the Week - August 13th

2009-08-13T18:59:00.004+10:00

It's Radiothon for 4zzzFM from this Saturday all through next week, so subscribe to the station so they can stay on air. You can win prizes!

Thursday 13th:
The Lifted Brow Launch: Talkshow Boy (Vic), The Estates, Joel Saunders & Crazy Hearse @ The Zoo - Launch of literature zine, with cheap copies available
Dave Ross, Conor MacDonald @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Grand Atlantic, Sarakula (NSW), The Stress of Leisure @ The Troubadour
Tycho Brahe, Twist Oliver Twist @ Ric's Bar

Friday 14th:
Mexico City @ The Powerhouse

Saturday 15th:
4zzz All Day Breakfast: Seaplane, Turnpike, Undead Apes @ 4zzz Car Park, St Paul's Tce (2pm) - With a sausage sizzle!
Do The Robot (Album Launch), Carry Nation, BigStrongBrute, Silver Screens @ Lofly Hangar
Mr Rascal, Lion Island @ Ric's Bar

Monday 17th:
Wheatpaste, The Dead Ringers @ Ric's Bar

Idle Cranes, Stature::Statue, Velociraptor @ Fans (11.08.09)

2009-08-13T13:24:00.006+10:00

Fans nights have fairly quickly become the hub of a rising new scene of fashionable young indie-rock bands. The audiences they attract reflect that - I don't think I've ever seen such a well dressed, good looking group of people before... except for at the other Fans nights I've attended. They makes the crowds who frequented the old Depot nights (with whom Fans shares a venue - Alhambra, aka No12 - and also the pre-Ekka holiday evening, with The Depot having it's annual reunion just down the road) look comparatively trashy. This particular evening sees Sydney's Talons in town to launch their new album, as well as a record launch for one of Brisbane's own new acts, as well as two other local acts of a similar disposition.

Stature::Statue may have gone through some relatively significant lineup changes in recent times (new drummer, losing a guitarist) but their core sound has stayed pretty much the same throughout their three-year existence - super fast, chaotic post-punk of the 'angular' variety that was very popular a couple of years ago. While many of the bands who appeared around the same time and with a similar sound as Stature have either disappeared or morphed significantly, they've pretty much soldiered on in the same vein. This is no bad thing; they were always one of the best bands around in their chosen style, coming across as more ragged and crazed than their peers.

After seemingly losing their way a little bit a year or so ago when guitarist Dion and drummer Ross left, they seem to be back on track with their newest incarnation. Replacement drummer James has improved by leaps and bounds - where he once struggled to keep up with the rest of the band he now provides a solid backbone. Meanwhile the reduction of the band to a trio has streamlined their sound and allowed one to hear the intricacies of their music much more easily, instead of hiding it all behind a wall of guitar effects and feedback. The result is something that's less At The Drive-In and more like Lightning Bolt being fronted by Steve Urkel (the ATDI comparisons never really fit in the first place anyway - S::S aren't nearly as hooky as that band, and with their explorations of feedback and guitar texture are sonically far more in debt to bands like Sonic Youth and JAMC, albeit with the tempo doubled). I hope they continue with this more stripped back lineup, it suits them well.

Idle Cranes come from similar post-punk stock to Stature::Statue, but with a far hazier, groove-laden feel and generally more variety in musical style. This particular evening they're launching their debut EP, 'Fur Release' (which you can listen to in full via their myspace) - although being 40minutes long I'd be more inclined to call it an album. I've seen the band a few times since the I last wrote about them on Before Hollywood, and they've put on a pretty good show each time - not always mind-blowing but never flat, and always with at least a handful of songs that impress. The usual pick of the bunch is regular set-closer 'Two Horse Race', one of the best shoegazey stoner-rock songs to come out of this city recently (though I can't really think of much competition for them in this category... suffice to say that even if this were a more popular style right now the song would still rate highly). Generally the band puts on their best performances when the atmosphere is somewhat oppressive - hot, drunk and tired is generally the best state in which to appreciate their particular brand of music. This show wasn't the superlative performance that the band might have hoped for in an EP Launch, but I don't think think that was really due to anything that the band did or didn't do. For some reason all of the disparate elements didn't quite gel - the venue, the crowd, the noise, they just didn't come together in the way that one might have hoped for when everything seemed lined up just perfectly. At it's best, though, the sound was all-encompassing, and at its worst it was still better than many other bands could muster.

After Idle Cranes came Sydney's Talons, who put on a pretty great show. I saw and liked them back at the FansFansFans festival a few months ago, so Tuesday's show proved to me that it wasn't a one-off. They don't really fall within the focus of this blog though, so that's all I really have to say about them.

Finishing off the night with a 1am set were local garage collective Velociraptor, a septet featuring members of DZ, The Strange Attractors and Running Guns (and probably a few others). I've seen the band now in three incarnations, ranging from a trio through to tonight's seven-strong lineup. The band seems to think that their music is super primitive rock and roll, but I don't quite know about that. It may not be tech-metal but it's equally not boneheaded two-chord rock, being filled with all manner of stops, starts and breakdowns. For your standard four-piece rock band it might not be massively impressive but given there are seven people on stage (who apparently almost never practice together) it's a pretty good effort. As for the size of the band, there's no real need for that many people in order to play the songs, but that's kind of missing the point - it's all for spectacle, with four guitarists, two drummers and a bassist creating absolute havoc on (and off) stage. There was crowd surfing, audience members being given instruments to play, amplifiers and drumkits being pushed over mid-song, walls of feedback and confusion in between every number. As for the songs themselves, they're pretty damn catchy garage rock tracks, all lead by frontman Jeremy Neale who does a damn good job of attracting interest, especially considering the chaos that surrounds him on stage and the fact that he barely has a chance to address the audience in between songs (and when he does you can't really hear him over the guitar feedback and the conversations of the other band members anyway).

Oh, and they have a song based around the theme song to the original Batman TV series.

Gigs of the Week - August 5th

2009-08-05T17:22:00.005+10:00

Wednesday 5th:
Suzie Stapleton, Sabrina Lawrie & The Hunting Party, Skritch, Tal Wallace @ The Troubadour

Thursday 6th:
Mt Augustus, Ambitious Lovers, Bud Petal (NSW), The Scrapes @ Browning St Studios
My Fiction, The Oyster Murders, A Horse Darkly @ The Zoo

Friday 7th:
I Heart Hiroshima, DZ, Seja Vogel, Stemford Hiss @ The Zoo
Grand Salvo (Vic), Jessica Says (Vic), McKisko, Lion Island, ChalkAndCheese, JA Core @ Browning St Studios
The Gonzo Show, Wipedoubt, The Young Liberals @ Step Inn - note: This is not the Young Liberals featuring members of The Gin Club, Butcher Birds etc. This is an instrumental, 'post rock' esque Young Liberals.

Saturday 8th:
The Boat People, Dan Parsons, Ball Park Music @ The Troubadour
Local Produce: Mary Trembles, Drawn From Bees, Joel Myles, The Mercy Beat @ The HiFi
Teleprompter, The Arks @ Ric's Bar

Tuesday 11th:
Fans: Talons (NSW), Idle Cranes (EP Launch), Stature::Statue, Velociraptor @ Alhambra

Wednesday 12th:
Idle Cranes (EP Launch) @ Love, Love Studio (1pm, 27 Florence St, Newstead) - A BBQ and art show that is also functioning as Idle Cranes' record launch (in addition to the previous night at Alhambra).
Running Guns, The Kents @ Ric's Bar

Review: The Rational Academy - Swans

2009-08-03T10:06:00.004+10:00

The Rational Academy have been one of Brisbane's most respected indie-rock bands ever since their formation in the wake of the dissolution of Benjamin Thompson's Autumn Giants and Meredith McHugh's Delpino. After releasing last year's well received A Heart Against Your Own (why a track like 'The Author' failed to get substantial JJJ rotation is a mystery to me - I suppose the fact that the band pushed the similar but more morose '2004' instead probably has something to do with it), McHugh left the band, leaving Thompson as the sole founding member remaining. While some of the band's first steps after their substantial lineup change left some people wondering if they had lost their spark, Swans should lay any such fears to rest. It's probably a better record than AHAYO, though it moves the band further away again from its guitar-squall origins.

Released on Lawrence English's Someone Good, Swans is the label's second release in a series of records following a strict '10 songs in 20 minutes' format. This restriction seems to bring out some of The Rational Academy's strengths, as it forces them to showcase their melodic abilities - what would have otherwise been choruses are now middle-eights - without surrounding things with minutes on end of drones and feedback; there's no 'The Squid And The Whale' on this record. That's not to say that there isn't a healthy amount of ambience and sonic experimentation here (this is The Rational Academy after all), instead it just means that you only have to wait half a minute or so until the next riff or lead vocal. When the haze of buzzing synths and effects do descend they do so with a greater degree of cohesiveness than they have on previous recordings.

That cohesiveness is the other strength of this record - tracks blend into one another in such a way that you may not realise that you've moved into a new song, while when there is a big dynamic shift between tracks it always feels totally natural (eg: the piano-based 'Summer Husbands' moving into the jagged guitars of 'Satan'). The band perhaps uses this to cheat a little bit in regards to the '10 songs in 20minutes' challenge, as a couple of the 'songs' are really just intros or outros to other, more substantial numbers ('12 Feet In Cheltenham' is pretty much an outro for 'Teen Diethylamide 25', while 'Oak Hill' is 19 seconds of ambience that continues into 'Summer Husbands'). Still, who cares when it gives the record such great atmosphere. As much as it seems like a cheap comparison, it really does call to mind the recordings of The Rational Academy's recent stage partners in Deerhunter. The end result is that songs that individually might seem somewhat slight are bolstered by the music that surrounds them - the record ends up as more than just a sum of its constituent parts.

Perhaps this is why the two most developed and robust songs are the ones that bookend the record: 'Unsolved Mysteries' is perhaps the only song one the album that could be called a 'rock' song, even though it consists of layers of clean guitars and a haze of tremolo and reverb, while 'A New Berlin' is a beautiful acoustic-guitar based number with the most direct production on the record (though it eventually gives way to the ambient outro of 'Yoko I'm Only Dancing', the record's technical closer). In between we have the stately 'Teen Diethylamide 25', the robotically funky 'Hammer' and the wintry beauty of 'Summer Husbands'. My personal favourite is the supremely catchy 'Satan', one of the few traditionally guitar-based songs on the record; I find myself wishing it was twice as long, but I guess the song's brevity increases its potency.

We've been accused of playing favourites with The Rational Academy here at Before Hollywood, but with a record like this... why the hell wouldn't you? It's mature, delicate, meticulously constructed and supremely rewarding. A Heart Against Your Own was a wonderful record but had some fairly conspicuous flaws - despite The Rat Acad being a terrific guitar-rock band, the loud guitar songs on that record sounded kind of strange in their recorded contexts. Swans removes the flawed elements of the last record, edits things down their bare essentials and then polishes the results to a fine shine. While I'd love to hear a Rat Acad ROCK record that matches their old live sound, it's probably not going to appear any time soon (though they apparently have a third album already completed which should be released early next year - a 2009 release date was pushed back due to the band's overseas touring). Swans is a better replacement than one would have any justification in expecting.

PS: Apologies for the lack of a gig guide last weekend, I came down pretty sick at the end of the week.

Gigs of the Week - July 23rd

2009-07-23T14:36:00.003+10:00

We've been a bit slack lately with reviews etc, so hopefully we'll have a bunch up in the next week or two. I have a decent little pile of local records here that I want to talk about, so hopefully I'll get some time to write about them in the not-too-distant future.

Anyway, here's the local shows for the next few days:

Thursday July 23rd:
Ambitious Lovers, Whyte Lightning, Colossal Head @ Book Nook, West End (7:30pm)
Twist Oliver Twist, Re:Enactment @ Ric's Bar

Friday 24th:
Secret Birds, Blank Realm @ Ric's Bar
The Sunburys - The Powerhouse (6pm, Free, AA)
Spitfireliar, The Quickening, Nectar, Copius, Breakneckspeed @ The Zoo
Bryde, Wipedoubt, Willows, Anonymeye @ The Globe

Saturday 25th:
Subterranean Sounds: Booby Traps (NSW), Screamin' Stevie's Australia, Pineapples From The Dawn of Time, The Hymies, Sulphur Lights, Sweet Dreams, The Modern Convicts @ Step Inn
Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Cured Pink Radio @ Ric's Bar
The Oyster Murders, Dizzy Gotheca, The Scrapes @ The Hangar

Sunday 26th:
Mr Rascal (Album Launch), The Bell Divers @ The Powerhouse (3pm, Free, AA)

Wednesday 29th:
Lion Island, Cold Cold Hills @ Ric's Bar

Gigs of the Week - July 17th

2009-07-17T11:47:00.004+10:00

Friday July 17th:
The Estates (EP Launch), Jake Rush & The Bad Habits, Lion Island @ The Zoo
Kutomo (Finland), Anonymeye @ Blackstar Coffee
Tin Can Radio (Album Launch), Dan Parsons, Last Dinosaurs @ The HiFi
The Pretty Boys, White Mansions, Lords of Wong @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Ouch! My Face! (Vic), Idles Cranes @ Ric's Bar

Saturday 18th:
The Sips (7" Launch), Blank Realm, Undead Apes, The Heels @ Step Inn (Upstairs)
Tragic/Athletic, Carry Nation @ Ric's Bar
Chloe Turner @ Ric's Bar (4pm)
The Rocketsmiths, Drawn From Bees, Cerebella @ The Hive (Valley PCYC)
Fait Accompli (NSW), Stature:Statue, Idle Cranes, Comic Sans @ Valley Studios
Almost Invisible #2: Kutomo (Finland), Music For Slow Dancing, Dollface @ Browning St Studios, West End - All Ages, BYO.
Laneous & The Family Yah, Pear & The Awkward Orchestra, Banawarun, The Smokestack Orchestra, Re:Enactment, Kristen Haines, Liam Griffin, La Viola Vixen, Stop It! Love It!, Kate McKeague @ The Fort
Fred Negro & The Vaginabillies, The Hymies, The Fred Band, Screamin Stevies Australia @ Clarence Corner Hotel - This is listed in the street press but I'm not sure if it's actually happening.

Review: Hunz - Thoughts That Move

2009-07-15T10:05:00.006+10:00

Hunz' latest record, Thoughts That Move, was created as part of the annual RPM Challenge, where artists are required to create an album within the month of February. Given that pretty heavy restriction and his chosen genre of music (vaguely atmospheric electro-pop), the resulting record is quite impressive. Thoughts That Move falls into a sonic space somewhere between Thom Yorke's Eraser and Bjork's Post; there are moments of intensity ala the former record (and Hunz seems to be quite fond of layered falsetto vocal arrangements much like Yorke), but with a poppier, more uplifting bent that brings it closer to 'Hyperballad' territory. The music is filled with skittering drums beats, thick synth bass and glitchy keyboards, all of which have been sonically polished and meticulously placed - the mix of density and clarity in the recording is pretty remarkable when you consider that the album was entirely conceived and created within four weeks.

The record somehow manages to be simultaneously upbeat, forceful and reflective, emotive. The tempos are uniformly high, the mix dense and the melodies up front, while little sounds darting around the edges and periods of stillness amongst the otherwise inertia-filled music give a much needed emotional ambiguity to proceedings. On initial listen the record might seem fairly uniform in mood and quality, however over subsequent listens some songs seem to stand out more - usually this occurs when the songs mix the two moods in fairly equal measure, such as in the opening combo of 'It's So Light' and 'Soon, Soon'. The former mixes its glossy sound with a bittersweet yet uplifting chord progression, while the latter juxtaposes a driving drumbeat against walls of vocals. Another highlight is closer 'The Commotion'.

The album does drag a fraction by the second half, and not every song hits upon a memorable melody or arrangement, but those complaints feel like nitpicks when considering the circumstances under which the record was made. I certainly can't point out any tracks as being poor as such, and there are definitely a couple that succeed in grabbing my attention. I'd really love to see Hunz get darker, grimier and more analog sounding on his next release, but I think that might just be my personal preferences talking. If he continues to mine this particular electronic pop vein then I imagine he'll still produce some music well worth people's time.

You can get a free digital version of Thoughts That Move from Hunz' website, where you can also buy CD copies for $10.

Gigs of the Week - July 9th

2009-07-09T13:24:00.004+10:00

There are heaps of good gigs on this weekend. Here are some of them:

Thursday 9th:
Incremental Records Launch: Nova Scotia, Mt Augustus (EP Launch), Turnpike, Ambitious Lovers @ The Zoo - the launch of the Incremental Records Online Store, along with Mt Augustus' new EP.
La Dispute (USA), To The North (12" Launch), Marathan, King of Red Lions @ Jubilee Hotel

Friday 10th:
AXXONN, Monster Monster, Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Heil Spirits @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
La Dispute (USA), To The North (12" Launch), Quiet Steps, Arrows, The Surrogates @ Top Floor - All Ages
Daniel Morcombe Foundation Benefit: We All Want To, Kate Bradley & The Goodbye Horses, Crystal Radios @ The Globe
Mum Smokes (Vic), Greg Brady & The Anchors @ Ric's Bar

Saturday 11th:
Upstairs Rumble #2: SixFtHick, Vegas Kings, Sweet Dreams @ Step Inn (upstairs)
+1 Records Showcase: Rollerball (Album Launch), Mexico City, Blackwater Fever, Black Mustang @ The Zoo
Do The Robot, The Rational Academy @ Ric's Bar
Madeleine Paige @ Ric's Bar (4pm Cheeseboard)

Willows, In Sepia, Peel St Band @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall

Tuesday 14th:
XYZ: The Heels, The Narwhals @ X&Y Bar - 4ZZZ benefit at The Valley's newest venue.

Gigs of the Week - July 3rd

2009-07-03T12:35:00.002+10:00

Friday 3rd:
Bachelor of Arts, Deux Garcon @ Ric's Bar
Liquid Architecture @ Brisbane Powerhouse - Room40's annual Liquid Architecture festival.
The Boat People, Texas Tea @ QPAC Cascade Court
Monster Zoku Onsomb!, Black Lung (Vic), Anal Traffic, Dollface, Justus Corrupt @ The Globe

Saturday 4th:
Teleprompter, Teeming With Wildlife, Oh Ye Denver Birds, Grasshopper, Citizen Loud @ The Hangar
The Decline of Modern Civilisation: Curse Ov Dialect (Vic), Purple Duck (Vic), Professional Savage (Vic), Joel Saunders & Crazy Hearse, Bloody Roo, Potato Masta @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Re:Enactment, Skinny Jean @ Ric's Bar
Liquid Architecture @ Brisbane Powerhouse - Room40's annual Liquid Architecture festival.
Lead Sketch Union (Vic), The Gifthorse, Arrows, Ringpull @ Rosie's
New Jack Rubys, Lords of Wong, Ironside @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall
Washington (Vic), Last Dinosaurs, Buick Six @ The Troubadour

Tuesday 7th:
Chip Sandwich: Dot.AY, Simulcast, Joel Saunders & Crazy Hearse @ Browning St Studios - All Ages, BYO, donation entry.
Brutal Hate Mosh, Scraps @ Ric's Bar

Review: The Quickening - White Blossoms

2009-06-29T10:30:00.005+10:00

I've been finding it kind of hard to think of things to write about for this record review. If I was a better (or worse) writer I'd probably do some sort of concept review that features heavy use of terms like 'radical' and 'awesome to the max', as they're the sorts of things that pop into my head when listening to The Quickening's 80's influenced tech-punk / fantasy metal. If I were more versed in this sort of uber-tight punk rock I could probably just focus on the technical aspects with some degree of authority. The fact of the matter is that I'm none of these things, and so I feel somewhat underprepared to discuss this, frankly, quite fantastic record.

A quick bit of background: The Quickening have been around for a few years now, starting off in the same sphere as the similarly impressive Dick Nasty (who helped The Quickening launch this record a month or so back, along with No Anchor and Nova Scotia - one of the best nights of local music I've seen in significant amount of time). However, where Dick Nasty have mostly stuck to a fairly traditional thrashy punk-rock, The Quickening have wandered off into the realms of fantasy metal with a heavy 80s influence, a world of bandanas, near-falsetto singing and blazing guitar solos. In the process they have without a doubt become one of the most fun bands in Brisbane, without crossing the line (or jumping the shark, perhaps) and becoming pastiche.

The technical stuff is likely to be the first thing that hits you about White Blossoms - Bryce Moorhead recorded the album last year, and it's good to hear his recordings getting even bigger and clearer sounding (not that they were necessarily ever small or muddy). The band's musicianship is good enough to be able to withstand such clear production... actually, it's more than merely 'good enough', it's quite frankly pretty astounding at times. The drums are powerful and cracking, the bass is solid, while the two guitars trade impressive riffs and solos over the top of it all. Meanwhile, Chris Farrer's vocals continue to reach higher and higher pitches (although guitarist Matt Bach adds some more traditional punk rock... umm... barks behind him). If you don't find yourself in your bedroom on a Saturday morning, wearing nothing but your underwear and a pair of socks, miming the playing of at least one of these instruments while listening at top volume then I'll eat my sweatband.

All of the songs on White Blossoms careen from one riff to another, changing tempos and moods as the band sees fit. 'Yamaraja's Abode', for example, starts out with a catchy mid-tempo riff before plunging into all manner of intense guitar interplay, culminating in a guitar-god solo before returning to earth with immense group vocals. The whole thing just screams 'EPIC'. Even better are the last two songs: 'The Ballad of Stuart Morley' alternates between fist pumping riffage and almost reflective choruses, while closer 'The Blase Are Kicking Arse' is without a doubt the most over the top song I've ever heard from a Brisbane band. This is not hyperbole, I challenge someone to show me a song that beats it in this respect.

The whole thing just kicks serious arse from start to finish. I can't think of many records that are more fun to listen to that have been released in recent years. I think there's really only one thing left to say...

Hell yeah!

Gigs of the Week - June 24th

2009-06-24T10:57:00.003+10:00

Wednesday 24th:
Turnpike, Seaplane @ Ric's Bar - Recommendation of the week.

Thursday 25th:
I Used To Skate Once: Secret Birds, Kirin J. Callinan, Stemford Hiss, Potato Masta, Doom Doom @ The Zoo
Moon Jog, Velociraptor @ Ric's Bar
Shishkin & Choomby, Extra Foxx, Star Sludge @ Step Inn (Front Bar)

Friday 26th:
Grey Daturas (Vic), Secret Birds, Blank Realm, Tom Hall, Neck Hold @ Step Inn
Fans: Rocketsmiths, Dead Letter Chorus (NSW), My Fiction, The Gallant @ Alhambra
Yves Klein Blue (Album launch), Philadelphia Grand Jury (NSW), Last Dinosaurs @ The Powerhouse
Foot Foot Foot: Scraps, Music For Slow Dancing @ Black Star Coffee (West End)
Grand Atlantic, We All Want To, Lovers of Modern Art @ The Zoo
Toy Balloon, Running Guns @ Ric's Bar

Saturday 27th:
Aleks & The Ramps (Vic), Big Strong Brute, Mixylodian (Canada), Lion Island, Joel Saunders, Mt Augustus, Pure Being @ Top Floor
Keep On Dancin's @ The Troubadour (1am)
Folk Foulk @ Ric's Bar (4:30pm)
Bent: Dizzygotheca, Twist Oliver Twist, Girl With Cake, Kristy Apps @ QAHC
Ball Park Music @ The Powerhouse

Sunday 28th:
Drawn From Bees, The Strange Attractors @ The Powerhouse
Rocketsmiths, Dead Letter Chorus (NSW), Numbers Radio, Skinny Jean @ The Valley Studios

Gigs of the Week - June 19th

2009-06-19T12:51:00.004+10:00

June 19th:
These Hands Could Separate The Sky, Hazards of Swimming Naked, Arrows, Willows @ Valley Studios
Idles Cranes, Taste of Teeth @ Ric's Bar
Anonymeye, Mt Augustus Solo, Nick Smethurst, Before The Table Fell @ Browning St Studios - BYO, All Ages
Texas Tea, The Jook Joint Boys, Fletch (WA) @ The Troubadour
Pony Up (Canada), Little Scout, Last Dinosaurs @ The Zoo
Mexico City, Hotel Motel, Vagrant City Scandal @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Kate Bradley @ Kitty O'Shea's
Into The Ocean (EP Launch), King of Red Lions, Concrete Street @ Club 299
Big Benedict, Princess Rodeo, The Estates, Boss Level Monster @ The Globe

June 20th:
DZ, Toy Balloon, Comic Sans, Swaying Buildings @ The Hangar
Villains of Wilhelm, Fearless Vampire Killers (Vic), The Touch (SA), The Salvagers (NSW) @ The Troubadour

Just 21st:
Fete De La Musique @ All over Brisbane - see the website for details. Featuring We All Want To, The Danger Bunnies, Hazards of Swimming Naked, Dizzygotheca, Madeleine Paige, My Fiction, Mt Augustus and MORE.

Review: Seaplane - We Didn't Know Anything Was Wrong

2009-06-15T12:17:00.010+10:00

Over the years Seaplane have been a fairly constant figure on the Brisbane indie scene. At least that was the the case up to the last year or so, when the band seemingly disappeared entirely. In recent months they've returned with a new drummer (Scott Brique, otherwise known as the singer from Nova Scotia) and this, a new 12" record titled We Didn't Know Anything Was Wrong.

WDKAWW opens with a similar one-two punch as Seaplane's previous record, Technical Difficulties, with a fairly epic instrumental number followed by a shorter 'pop' song. In this instance the opener is 'The Man With No Name', a song built around some vaguely middle eastern noodling and big, crunchy guitar chords (the guitars in the big 'choruses' are also backed by some wordless vocals that continue the song's exotic theme). 'The Man With No Name' is kind of reminiscent of GY!BE's 'Albanian', but packed into a lean two-and-half minutes instead of sixteen. Coming straight on the heels of the opener is lead single 'The Soiree', a sub two minute rock song built around a four-chord progression, a Regurgitator-esque 'ooo-ee-ooo-ee-ooo' hook and a screamed chorus courtesy of Dale Peachey. From there the record heads into the Stirling Bartlam sung 'The Switch' (sounding like something from Big Heavy Stuff's early records), before slowing down with Peachey's more reflective (but still awesomely epic) 'Feather'. It's a great end to the first side of the EP, and probably my favourite track.

Side Two begins with the tense 'Plastic Jesus', which probably doesn't quite earn its 4:24 running time seeing as it's essentially just two chords repeated for the entire length of the song; that said, the combination of length and repitition does seem to reinforce the claustrophic feeling of the song. Similarly relentless is 'Rinse It', which treads a similar path to the previous track, but that throws away the tense restraint in favour of continual build towards a noisy climax (although the lyrics provide something of a humourous juxtaposition, consisting of various instructions being directed at former drummer Conwae Burrell - who mans the drums throughout this record as his final act in the band - to wake up, clean his house, etc). Penultimate track 'The Underture' is a lofi instrumental racket whose brevity increases its potency, taking us to We Didn't Know Anything Was Wrong's closer in the form of 'Shotgun', another slower and more reflective song. Even at their most mellow, as they are on this track, Seaplane still cram in more guitar chaos than most other acts doing the rounds at the moment.

We Didn't Know Anything Was Wrong pretty much offers up what you'd expect from a Seaplane record: scratchy guitars noodling around relatively simple song structures, insistent drums, and reedy vocals. That may be a fairly big reduction of their sound, perhaps unfairly so, so I'll add this: I would say that this is their best release - it's more consistent, cohesive and better engineered than anything else they've put out (and their prior output is not weak). The guitars are the real focal point of the band, on here they're more restless than ever - they might only be based around a handful of chords on any one song, but the way they dance around those simple building blocks is the band's strength, rarely playing a given section the same way more than once or twice. The end result is somewhere in between Nova Scotia's slacker pop and the more chaotic sounds of Turnpike, and pretty much equal to those bands' output.

Here is the video clip for The Soiree:

Gigs of the Week - June 5th

2009-06-05T11:28:00.006+10:00

Friday 5th:
Quan, Running Guns, Moon Jog @ Ric's Bar
Mary Trembles, Sulphur Lights, The Estates @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Kick A Hole In The Sky (You Am I Tribute) - Speedstar, The Rocketsmiths, The Daisycutters, The Blackwater Fever, Andrew Petersen @ The Troubadour
Almost Invisible: Axxonn, Do The Robot, The Scrapes @ Browning St Studios
Autumn Exchange (Redux): Oh Ye Denver Birds, Kitchen's Floor, Cougar Flashy (Vic), Marl Carx, Folk Faulk, Loose Grip @ Ahimsa House (7:30pm)
Greenfest @ Brisbane Botanic Gardens - see www.greenfest.com.au

Saturday 6th:
Paddington Fair: Dave McCormack & The Polaroids, The Horrortones, Halfway, Sabrina Lawrie, Madeline Paige, The Honey Month, Re:Enactment, lots more @ Neal Macrossan Park (from 10am)
Beachfield, The Little Lovers, Greg Charles @ The Troubadour
Holes And Poles: Anal Traffic, Jacob Diefenbach, Twist Oliver Twist, Silver Circus, Lesbian Super Group @ The Globe
The Black Water Fever, Little Parade @ Ric's
New Neighbors (USA), Re:Enactment, Aviator Lane, Mt Augustus @ The Hangar
Greenfest @ Brisbane Botanic Gardens - see www.greenfest.com.au

Sunday 7th:
4zzz's Brain Banana @ Jubilee Hotel - featuring way too many acts for me to list here, check out the 4zzz website instead.
Live Spark: Halfway, The Black Dog @ The Powerhouse
Greenfest @ Brisbane Botanic Gardens - see www.greenfest.com.au

Tuesday 9th:
Hungry Kids of Hungary, Oh Mercy, Tara Simmons @ The Troubadour

Gigs of the Week - May 29th

2009-05-29T15:33:00.003+10:00

There were some really good shows last night. Hope you weren't relying on this to tell you about them. In case you were, here's the rest of the weekend for you:

Friday 29th:
No Through Road (SA), Nova Scotia, Seaplane @ The Troubadour - This week's recommended gig.
SixFtHick @ Ric's Bar
Fans: Leader Cheetah (SA), Little Scout, Fergus Brown (NSW), Edward Guglielmino @ Alhambra Lounge
Mt Augustus, Lion Island @ Black Star Coffee - As with all Black Star shows, this will be finished by 10pm.
Ball Park Music, The Estates, The Kents, Princess Rodeo @ Clarence Corner Hotel

Saturday 30th:
McKisko, Kid Sam (Vic), Fergus Brown (NSW), Green Thief @ The Hangar
DZ @ The Troubadour (1am slot)
Def Radio, Velociraptor @ Ric's Bar

Sunday 31st:
Live Spark: Gladstone & Lochaber, The Cairos @ The Powerhouse

BigStrongBrute, Ambitious Lovers @ Black Star (15.05.09)

2009-05-21T13:29:00.006+10:00

Last Friday's show at Black Star Coffee in West End was perhaps the fourth time I'd been to the venue since it started featuring bands at the start of the year. It's a cool little cafe just near the Boundary St / Vulture St intersection, just off the main drag on the cusp of suburbia. All of the gigs I've attended at Black Star so far have been great fun, as there's something really enjoyable about sitting having a chat with some friends and drinking hot coffee / chocolate instead being in a hot, loud club drinking a beer. The layout of the cafe means that the band sets up essentially in the middle of the audience, providing an extremely intimate environment for musical performance.

Ambitious Lovers were the first band to play on this particular Friday night. Lead Lover Joel Saunders is no stranger to Black Star, having played the venue previously and also being the curator of the regular 'Foot Foot Foot' shows that take place there every few weeks. For this night he was joined by his two regular female vocals & percussion companions, Kel and Elise. The band has been playing as a three-piece for almost a year now, and it's helped them to become a more solid band. While Ambitious Lovers have been (and will most likely always be) a ramshackle act both live and on record, having a third member seems to have made the band somewhat tighter - no longer do most songs have a section where the different musicians seem to be completely out of sync with each other. They're still wonderfully shambolic, but no longer in a way that gets in the way of their, quite frankly, astoundingly beautiful songs.

Many people don't attempt to take Ambitious Lovers at more than face value. They hear Joel's cracked vocals and distorted ukulele, they see the percussion kit made from milk crates and bottle caps and fly swatters, they watch the band descending into a noisy freakout at the end of a beautiful outsider-folk song. They make up their minds that the musicians are being 'difficult' and that this is music that is too amateur to be worth trying to dissect. They never take the effort to hear the actual songs underneath the facade of 'experimentalism'. I don't think the band care in the slightest, but it's still a damn shame because there's actually very little to Ambitious Lovers that is all that difficult to enjoy. So many of their songs are wonderfully melodic and heartbreaking in their vulnerability. Their sets contain more emotion than any other Brisbane band I can think of.

BigStrongBrute haven't been a regular fixture on the Brisbane live scene for a while now, with their only semi-recent appearance being their support slot for Mt Eerie in October last year. Back then they showed off their rusted take on folk and Americana with a full 'rock' band lineup. On this particular night, however, they brought things right back, with the band featuring Paul Donoughue on vocals and guitar (since BigStrongBrute is essentially his solo act) plus a flautist and trumpet player. I found it to be the most effective lineup of the band I'd seen, allowing Paul to strip the songs down to their bare essentials while still allowing them to swell up when necessary. All of the BigStrongBrute shows I've seen in the last few years have engendered a great degree of goodwill towards the band - they just seem to be that sort of act, the sort where their enthusiasm for playing is easily transferred to the audience. This particular show had something more to it than that though, there was a palpable sense of sorrow mixed in with the usual celebratory feelings. Maybe it was just the affect of having the brass and wind instruments with no pounding percussion to provide a counterpoint. Whatever the reason, despite being only six songs long, it was one of the most beautiful sets I've seen in recent times. There were quite a few songs that I didn't recognise (although there were still some old favourites such as 'Everything All At Once') so hopefully this bodes well for an upcoming release from the band.

Gigs of the Week - May 21st

2009-05-21T13:28:00.002+10:00

Thursday 21st:
Lee Memorial (Vic), McKisko @ The Troubadour
Ball Park Music, Snow White @ Ric's Bar
Sarah Haigh, The Bloodpoets, Son of Sea @ The Zoo

Friday 22nd:
Swampland: The Stabs (Vic), Deaf Wish (Vic), Slug Guts, The Seizures @ Rosie's Upstairs
Black Mustang, High Noon Heat, Sonic Porno @ Club 299
Hunz, Sirinival, River Peppermint From Whence It Come @ The Globe

Saturday 23rd:
Brisbane Sounds: Screamfeeder, Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side, Blackwater Fever, Vegas Kings, New Jack Rubies, The Mercy Beat @ The Zoo
The Gimmies (Japan), Sweet Dreams, Dangermen, Sulphur Lights @ Step Inn
The Stabs (Vic), Deaf Wish (Vic), No Anchor, Loomer @ Browning St Studios
Mexico City (Album launch), The Rocketsmiths, The Heels @ The Troubadour
Potential Falcon (Vic), Mr Rascal @ Ric's Bar

The Rational Academy, Secret Birds, Triad, Marl Carx @ Step Inn (09.05.09)

2009-05-18T16:03:00.010+10:00

I have no excuse for having not seen Marl Carx previously. I remember getting a myspace request from them right when they started out and finding the rough recordings on their site to be interesting, and yet it's taken me a good year or so to finally check them out. I guess part of the reason for that is that they tend to mostly play houseparties, so I was pretty keen to catch them as part of this great lineup at the Step Inn. Consisting of drums and guitar with a smattering of off-key / squealing vocals, they're an easy band to dismiss (see this Rave review). The playing is rudimentary, and they sound pretty similar to every other house party noise-rock band put together by a bunch of teenagers. That is, of course, if you don't actually give any of your attention to them. For those who DO put a few minutes of effort into understanding the band and trying to decipher the music behind the noise (and, admittedly, are amongst those who already have a predilection towards rough, feedback drenched rock music with a heavy early Sonic Youth influence), it's somewhat surprising to find that there are surprising adept riffs buried in there, and that the rhythms are not so boneheaded as they might first appear. There was one song in particular where I spent the whole song marvelling at the genius drum part, trying to figure out how it was put together. I found myself surprised at the level of songcraft that initially seemed like two kids randomly bashing at their instruments. Marl Carx are not a band who are going to impress a large number of people purely because of the style of music they've chosen to pursue, but they're not without their merits.

I knew pretty much nothing about Triad coming into this show; the only information I had was that it featured Tom Hall (of Brisbane acts AxxOnn and Secret Birds, as well as his solo ventures) and two dudes from Tasmania. When the trio began their set with various drones and delayed guitar I thought to myself 'right, so this is what we're going to get - nice synthy ambience'. I'm sure a good portion of the crowd thought this as well. For the first part of the set this is indeed what we got, with various tones and drones being melded together into a gradually rising wall of sound. At about the 1/3 mark, however, things started to change - Hall threw some bellowed vocals into the mix, twisting them via various laptop effects, and within minutes one of the three musicians had switched to drums and suddenly we were being bathed in waves of distorted doom guitar while Tom Hall ran around the room screaming like a young Henry Rollins. It was one of the few times in recent memory where a set has truly surprised me, as it seemed to do for everyone else in the room. For such dark, violent music there seemed to be a lot of smiles and laughing going on in the audience, but I don't think that anyone was laughing AT the band, instead it seemed that everyone was simply shocked by what they were seeing and truly enjoying the spectacle (though others have disagreed). What a surprising show.

Secret Birds had the job of following up Triad, and did so by putting on one of their best shows. The band doesn't seem to be morphing from one gig to another as much anymore, having settled into a fairly steady lineup of two guitars, bass, drums and keys/ambience. It's difficult to explain the difference between a good Secret Birds show and a poor one - they all tend to consist of two or three lengthy jams based on a handful of heavy guitar riffs. I suppose it all comes down to the effectiveness of the riff and the aptitude of the guitar noodling around it. For this show the riffs were at the higher end of the quality scale, and the band seemed to be really well in sync. In fact, for once it seemed as though Secret Birds weren't just jamming on a riff, instead playing actual compositions that were stretched out over extended periods of time. Maybe the songs that they played at this show were no less structured than previously, but the differences between sections were less subtle and the band moved between them more tightly. Whatever the reasons, the general consensus seemed to be that The Rational Academy had their work cut out for them to meet the standards that had been displayed up until that point in the evening.

Going by the grimaces on the faces of the band members throughout their set, you wouldn't have thought that The Rational Academy were playing a great set. And sure, it wasn't a GREAT set. Maybe, by Rat Acad standards, it wasn't even a GOOD set. But by that same token it certainly wasn't a POOR set. Given the fact that the band played no previously released songs at all the fact that they were able to hold my interest through the entire show would indicate to me that they were still doing a pretty passable job. Some of the more familiar new songs were performed on the night, but the majority of the set seemed pretty new to my ears. I know that I'm certainly eagerly looking forward to hearing the two new records that the band are supposedly releasing within the year. Anyway, yeah there were lots of feedback issues etc, but it wasn't anywhere near the trainwreck that the band seemed to think it was. Plus, any set that finishes with such an abrasively deconstructed cover of Bowie's 'Life On Mars' has to be at least a little bit good.

Gigs of the Week - May 15th

2009-05-15T16:07:00.002+10:00

Friday 15th:
Ambitious Lovers, BigStrongBrute @ Black Star Coffee (Thomas St, West End)
Re:Enactment, Toy Balloon, Moon Jog @ The Zoo

Saturday 16th:
The Quickening (Album Launch), Dick Nasty, No Anchor, Nova Scotia @ Step Inn - Recommendation of the week.
Vegas Kings, Hits, Sulphur Lights @ Clarence Corner Hotel
Nikko, Monster Monster @ Ric's Bar
The Cairos (EP Launch), DZ, Stature::Statue @ The Zoo
Drawn From Bees, Calvara, Moses Gunn Collective, The Empty Quarter @ The Hangar
Wagons (Vic), Texas Tea, Felicity Groom @ The Troubadour
Moses Gunn Collective @ The Troubadour (1am)
Women In Docs, Little Creatures @ The Powerhouse

Sunday 17th:
Live Spark: Little Scout, Skinny Jean @ The Powerhouse

4ZzZ FM's Modern Love: Hungry Kids of Hungary, Rocketsmiths, Nikko, Mass Migration @ The Zoo (30.05.09)

2009-05-11T15:45:00.007+10:00

(This has been sitting on the server in a mostly complete draft form for about a week, so apologies for my tardiness in releasing it.)

4ZzZ FM have been striving to improve the services that they offer recently, and as part of this push we've started to see a wider range of 4ZzZ presents shows being organised. Branching out from the usual Zeds staple of punk/ska/dub, 'Modern Love' showcased two relatively high profile local indie pop groups (Hungry Kids, Rocketsmiths) and two more reflective, artier groups (Nikko, Mass Migration).

Mass Migration started the evening in front of a still sparse audience, playing their final ever show. When I first saw Mass Migration back in 2007 I thought that their take on guitar-based post-rock (of the Mogwai / Explosions In The Sky variety) was occasionally a bit one dimensional. Over the intervening years they've improved their songwriting considerably, becoming a more layered musical act in the process. Songs like 'Green' and 'Sepia' showed a band that had gained an understanding of dynamics, and also of the power of utilising traditional song structures to move a song along ('Sepia' is pretty much a pop song, despite being instrumental). At times their live shows have been a bit inconsistent, often due to effects settings that seemed to suck the power out of the guitars when things really needed to take off - this show had few of these issues, and as a result the inherent power of the songs was allowed to come through. The two new songs the band showcased indicated that things would have improved further, with one song in the middle of the set gradually swelling in a psychedelic haze before falling away and building up to even greater heights (and volume) than before. As far as final shows go, this wasn't at all a bad one to go out on, and the gradually swelling crowd seemed to agree.

Nikko are a band that I've enjoyed live a few times, but from whom I'd not yet seen a set where everything had gelled together to provide the kind of performance I've thought them capable of. Sometimes their guitars have gone way out of tune, sometimes the vocals have been gratingly off key, and sometimes their setlists have been uneven, resulting in the set dragging by its end. This show was the first I'd experienced where everything fell into place - the guitars were all locked in together and sounding suitably immense when necessary, the set was well paced and, crucially, singer Ryan Potter's voice was sounding good (although still far from pitch-perfect, but that's part of its character). Nikko fall somewhere in between a fairly straight-up post rock band (such as Mass Migration) and more atmospheric indie rock/pop bands (like Seaplane or The Rational Academy), with songs that are usually quite stretched out but that often still contain recognisable structures and vocals. I find them to be at their best when they mix these two sides of the band together in fairly equal amounts, with Potter's drunken baritone providing a steady emotional centre while the rest of the band rises and falls around him.

Oh, and the bass player is lots of fun to watch.

For some reason I when I think of Rocketsmiths (no 'The' anymore) I tend to think of them as a band that I like well enough but of whom I'm not really a huge fan. However, when I see them live I oftentimes reconsider this opinion. On their night they really are one of the most entertaining bands in Brisbane, and their songs are packed with so many turns and hooks that it seems unfair to deny them their kudos in the songwriting department. I'm not sure what makes me continually revert to my previously mentioned stance towards them, but perhaps this show will be the one that convinces me to permanently recognise that they're damn good at what they do (that being pumping out rockabilly influenced bar-room rock suitable for getting really really drunk to). Dom Miller is an unlikely rock frontman, but by the end of a show he tends to have the vast majority of the crowd paying attention to his every drunken between-song rant. Oh, and is it just me or have Rocketsmiths really ramped up the heaviness in their songs? It seemed as though 3/4 of their set was surging ahead at full pace, with guitars swathed in masses of distortion and playing some deceptively evil sounding riffs? Many of of their songs sounded like some soundtrack to a B-grade vampire movie set in the south of the USA. That's a good thing.

For a few songs it seemed as though Hungry Kids of Hungary were going to convince me to reconsider my opinion of them, much as Rocketsmiths had done. I've not really seen the appeal of this band previously (I've generally found them to be quite bland), but with many people whose opinions I respect singing their praises it seemed as though maybe I'd missed something. Certainly, for maybe three songs I was fully ready to change my thoughts on the band - their songs were bouncy, melodic and enjoyable. I began to think that maybe these people were right, and that they really were a great indie-pop band who were (at least somewhat) deserving of the hype being thrown their way. But then... they lost me. The songs started to blur into one another, and I found myself getting bored of the band. Ultimately I left the venue thinking that while they may have a handful of quality tracks they're also not the band that certain press clips would have you believe. For now I'll lump them in with Yves Klein Blue as a well regarded pop band whom I personally don't feel have justified themselves, as opposed to vaguely similar bands like The John Steel Singers and (as of this night) Rocketsmiths.

Gigs of the Week - May 6th

2009-05-06T13:00:00.009+10:00

After a bit of a quiet one last weekened things are a bit busier over the upcoming days. Most significantly, Screamfeeder are playing their local classic Kitten Licks in full at the Troubadour this Saturday in support of their upcoming re-release of said record, supported by another classic local (kind of) band Midget. The band has sent us some download links to a couple of their songs from that era: firstly the single Dart, and secondly the B-Side Summertime. Enjoy!

Wednesday 6th:
Velociraptor, Suborbital Spaceflight @ Ric's Bar

Thursday 7th:
Daniel Striped Tiger (USA), All My Circuits (Vic), To The North, No Anchor @ Step Inn
Last Dinosaurs, Scott Spark @ Ric's Bar

Friday 8th:
Richard In Your Mind (NSW), McKisko, Mt Augustus, Sweet Fawn @ Top Floor (Elizabeth St, above Govindas)
Daniel Striped Tiger (USA), All My Circuits (Vic), Quiet Steps, Tear Gas @ The Hangar
Rollerball, Sonic Porno, Black Mustang, To The Hilt @ Step Inn
Tara Simmons, Edward Guglielmino, McArtney, Simon Kelly, Coby Grant @ The Troubadour

Saturday 9th:
Screamfeeder, Midget, Butcher Birds @ The Troubadour
The Rational Academy, Triad, Secret Birds, Marl Carx @ Step Inn (Front Bar / Upstairs?)
Mr Maps, Richard In Your Mind (NSW), Skinny Jean, Sierra Finn (NSW), Villains of Wilhelm, Idle Cranes @ The Old Museum (6pm)
Rocketsmiths, DZ, Drawn From Bees, Numbers Radio, Velociraptor @ Step Inn (main room) - Last minute lineup change.
Grand Atlantic @ The Troubadour (1am)
Sweet Dreams, Army of Champions, The Ordinarys, Not Ok @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall - first gig from new punk band 'Sweet Dreams' featuring three members of Eat Laser Scumbag.

Sunday 10th:
Sonic Boom: Luke Henery, Scot Cotterell (Tas), Mumble Speak (Tas), Kitchen's Floor @ 101 Merthyr Road, New Farm
Live Spark: Disco Nap, Scott Spark @ The Powerhouse (3pm)
Steve Grady, Andrew Swift, Cyrus @ The Troubadour

Monday 11th:
Violent Soho, Boondall Boys @ Zoo Carpark (7pm) - This is a birthday bash for Tym's Guitars (whose new store will be celebrating its first year at the new location). It starts early, you might be best arriving earlier than the time I've listed here.

HiFi Bar, Gigs of the Week - April 30th

2009-04-30T15:18:00.010+10:00

Before I delve into this weekend's gigs, I thought I'd share a few quick and disorganised thoughts on Brisbane's newest mid-sized venue, The HiFi. Of course it opened last night with a show featuring The Drones, Witch Hats and locals Hits. The bands were all pretty good to great, but they're not really what I want to discuss. The venue is located in what was previously the Pavilion in West End, but it's barely recognisable from that old establishment. The HiFi is split into a main room that holds 1200 audience members and a front bar known as 'Vinyl' (that particular part of the venue is yet to be completed, but apparently it holds 150 people and may be used to put on smaller shows - whether smaller local bands can use it is so far unclear). The main room is fairly large, roughly cubic but with multiple floor levels so that it's quite easy to get a decent vantage point from anywhere in the venue (that said, a friend of mine who is about 6'4" told me that from near the bar you couldn't see a thing). The room doesn't exactly have much character, it was built with sound and ease of viewing in mind and most of the decour is pretty modern - it has nothing on the similarly sized Tivoli in this respect, though is no worse than The Arena. Despite this apparent focus on sound quality one of the major complaints I've heard is the poor sound, and certainly I found this to be a problem myself last night. The first two bands sounded muddy and undefined, while things improved marginally for the headliners. It perhaps wasn't as bad as The Arena could sometimes be, especially in terms of the occasional feedback storms that plagued that venue on occasions, but that's not necessarily much of a compliment.

As for other factors, it was kind of difficult to tell what the venue will be like in the future due to the fact that things were obviously not finished (in addition to the Vinyl Bar being boarded up only one bathroom was operational in the main venue, for example). Apparently the bar staff were operating on only the most basic training from the venue and so any slowness on their part can be somewhat forgiven. Drink prices were kind of high anyway so after my first drink I never returned to the bar. There were a LOT of photographers and video cameramen in the crowd who occasionally got in the way, but I imagine this was just because it was opening night, though the venue has stated that many shows will be videoed and a feed will be shown in the Vinyl Bar so maybe the video cameramen will be a somewhat permanent fixture? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

On the plus side it has decent air-conditioning which will be a big help in summer, and frankly it's just nice to be seeing a gig somewhere other than the valley for once.

Anyway...

Thursday 30th:
Modern Love: Rocketsmiths, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Nikko, Mass Migration (final show) @ The Zoo - 4zzzFM fundraiser. Tickets are half price for subscribers.
Ball Park Music (Album Launch), Blame Ringo, Jake Rush & The Bad Habits @ The Troubadour
Drawn From Bees, The Strange Attractors - Ric's Bar

Friday 1st:
Aleks & The Ramps (Vic), Toy Balloon @ Ric's Bar
The Grates, Children Collide (Vic), DZ @ The Hifi - I think this is sold out so I'm not too sure why I'm listing it.
Hazards of Swimming Naked, Le Fricken Hecks, Soma, The Sea Shall Not Have Them @ Rosie's Downstairs

Saturday 2nd:
New Jack Rubys, Hotel Motel, Skritch, Sabrina @ The Troubadour
Twist Oliver Twist, Last Dinosaurs, Wipedoubt, Damasyria, Arado, Kybosh, Beth Lucas @ The Globe
Moon Jog @ Ric's Bar
Swaying Buildings @ Ric's Bar (4pm)

Sunday 3rd:
Secret Birds @ Ric's Bar
Live Spark: Wind & Brackets, Grand Atlantic @ The Powerhouse
Lots of bands I can't be bothered listing @ The Caxton St Seafood Festival

Also don't forget that this is the last week to see the Underexposed Exhibition at Joshua Levi Galleries. There are bands and everything.

Review: McKisko - Glorio

2009-04-22T11:53:00.007+10:00

When I first saw McKisko (or Helen Franzmann) perform her quiet, simple folk-pop songs she was opening the night's lineup, playing to a moderately empty room at The Hangar. That was about a year ago, these days she's playing to rather large crowds while supporting acts such as Bon Iver, Jose Gonzalez and Juana Molina. She's also just released her debut album, Glorio, to a not insignificant amount of local acclaim.

Glorio is an album centred around Franzmann's (at times quite impressive) voice. Guitar and piano provide the base upon which her songs are built, and various other instruments rear their heads at certain points, but the thing that dominates the mix is that voice - everything else is there for either utility or decoration. The sound of the album evokes thoughts of the mellower songs from Sufjan Stevens' Michigan and Seven Swans albums, or even Talk Talk's Laughing Stock - there's a stark pristine quality to these songs, where each instrument is placed just so in the spectrum of sounds. It's the perfect local release for the upcoming winter months. That's not to say that the songs are unemotional or overly perfected in any way (in fact there's a nice rustic quality to the performances), it's just that the subtle instrumentation and reverb-laced vocals evoke a certain feeling of icy winter landscapes. This is music that sounds like it came from Canada, not Brisbane.

The album starts with perhaps its strongest song, the atmospheric 'How We Are'. With a descending four chord progression that continues through the entire track, the song also features a hazy sounding cello (or perhaps it's a bowed guitar?), glockenspiel, minimal percussion, creepy loops and operatic sounding backing vocals. It's simultaneously incredibly beautiful and faintly terrifying. It could be my favourite local song from the year so far. Following it up is the comparatively upbeat 'The Hollow Boat', which actually features a fairly driving rhythm (of sorts). 'A Difficult Crossing' is probably McKisko's most crowd-pleasing song in a live context with its clever use of loops, but on the record the minimal, vocals-heavy production takes away much of the song's power. It's still a good song and provides a useful jolt of energy, but it could perhaps have benefited from more robust sounding production. It might have also been more effective later in the album, instead of being a mere two songs after the similarly energetic 'The Hollow Boat'. In any case, from that point on everything is fairly slow, sparse and beautiful, with the highlights of the second half of the record being 'Silence Slowly' and the wonderful closer 'Into The Night'. I guess I'm just a sucker for those dirgy piano ballads.

With Franzmann's vocals being such a focal point her lyrics are bound to come under some scrutiny. In my opinion they hold up; I certainly didn't notice any clunky lines that pulled me out of the surrounding soundscapes. McKisko avoids the dreaded 'confessional singer-songwriter' tag by making her lyrics much more abstract that most other local troubadours, and the music benefits from it.

Glorio is a strong record with a handful of truly great tracks (hell, I'd recommend it for 'How We Are' alone). At only 9 songs it's also quite brief, which is a strength when you're talking about predominantly slow, minimal folk music. I can't really think of anything else to say other than if you have a predilection towards fairly minimalist folk pop you should definitely give this record a spin - you can listen to a number of songs from the record at her myspace, as well as find dates to check her out live.

Gigs of the Week - April 22nd

2009-04-22T11:52:00.003+10:00

Wednesday 22nd:
Moon Jog, Biff Co @ Ric's Bar
Fawn, The Rook, Smokestack Orchestra @ The Zoo

Friday 24th:
I Heart Hiroshima, Dick Nasty @ Ric's Bar
Vegas Kings, Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side, Sulphur Lights @ Step Inn

Saturday 25th:
The John Steel Singers, Blue Carousel, D-Wizz 2.0 @ The Troubadour
FootFootFoot: Saint Surly, Monster Monster, Alrey Batol @ Black Star Coffee
The Gallant, Idle Cranes @ Ric's Bar

Sunday 26th:
Blue Trial Records, The Dirty Liars @ Ric's Bar
Live Spark: Madeleine Paige, Scott Spark @ The Powerhouse

Interview: Kitchen's Floor

2009-04-20T00:24:00.007+10:00

It seems like the biggest influence on bands in Brisbane these days is the anime Voltron. Bands form, split apart, and then form new and improved units. Kitchen's Floor is just one example of this phenomenon, with former members of French Horns, Look!Pond, Marl Karx, and Gutters coming together to create noise-infused havoc.

The trio originally consisted solely of Matt (French Horns, Look!Pond), who began Kitchen's Floor as a solo project in 2007. In July, 2008 Julia (Gutters) joined him, and the duo recorded a debut EP. In October of the same year the lineup was expanded to include Glen (Marl Karx, Permanent Dirt blog). The first half of 2009 has seen Kitchen's Floor recording their first LP, and, to learn about the results, we interviewed the band's founder, Matt Kennedy.

Before Hollywood: What has the experience of recording the LP been like? Was the process similar to recording the EP or did the band take a different tact this time?

Matt Kennedy: We recorded the EP in one day over a couple of hours, it was very simple and easy to do. When we recorded the album it was over a couple of months with alot of gaps inbetween sessions. We've recorded it with Joel Stern, who organises events for Audiopollen, runs Otherfilm and is involved in alot of other stuff around Brisbane. He's the busiest guy I know which is why there were long gaps between recording. His house is in Highgate Hill and his studio is his basement, which is a big room with some couches to sit on, a kitchen to look at, a toilet to piss in and some recording equipment. It's alot more comfortable than if we had done it in a legitimate professional studio, which wouldn't have suited us at all. Joel got a really nice sound for us with the most basic of equipment. All the songs were recorded live with some basic overdubbing. The main problem for us was not getting too drunk, which happened during the recording of the EP where we had originally recorded 9 songs but 4 of the songs were recorded later in the day when Julia and I were both trashed and sounded horrible so that's why the EP is only 5 songs long. I also broke alot of guitar strings and we were always hungry. It has been an awesome experience.

BH: Did you feel that Joel had a strong influence on the recordings? I know that Audiopollen usually has a rather diverse range of artists associated with it, and that Joel himself dabbles in experimental electronica.

MK: Joel has a very broad knowledge of music, more than I can comprehend. His influence was knowing exactly what we should and wanted to sound like, which is what a good engineer is all about. We basically tried to keep the recordings sounding as we sound live, with no studio effects or trickery, and Joel was cool with that. He was totally into it.

BH: And how would you describe the results?

MK: We're happy with the results! We've recorded 11 tracks for the album and they've all turned out pretty well. I was worried about it turning out too 'slick' which has happened to me in the past but it's got a nice raw sound. All our equipment is junk, The guitar was recorded through a 15 watt practice amp which isn't even mine and our drumkit is bits and pieces of old drum kits put together. Not really through choice, we're all pretty poor. I should return that amp sometime...

BH: In the past local bands have been limited to CD's, but recently there've been numerous Brisbane bands putting out releases through mediums such as vinyl, downloads, USB sticks, and even SD cards. How do you plan on releasing the album? And do you have a title for it?

MK: The album is titled 'Loneliness is a Dirty Mattress'. We're going to release it on CD first, then maybe vinyl in the near future if we can afford it. It's being released by R.I.P Society Records, who are a new Sydney based label. They've put out releases by Circle Pit and Lakes, we're big fans of both of those bands so it's pretty exciting.

BH: Any plans to tour the album?

MK: The will is always there, just lack of money is always the main issue. It's easiest for us to play in Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne but it would be really nice to tour New Zealand. We'll have to see what kind of response the album gets.

BH: Kitchen's Floor is definitely a band with both feet firmly set in the DIY camp. What do you think has been the attraction in this aesthetic?

MK: It's the only way we can get things done. There have been people who have helped us out a great deal like Joel Stern, but for the most part we have to do everything ourselves. The large number of bands compared to the small number of decent venues in Brisbane is a big problem. Unless you organise shows yourself in your friend's laundry or something, weeks can go by without anything happening. That can get very boring.

BH: What have been your favourite venues to play at (friend's laundrys included)?

MK: We take what we can get with venues as in we don't get asked to play them very often. I would say we don't have any favourite venues. Houseshows are always special compared to a bar or club which is a business with restrictions, liabilities and security. There's more freedom and fun playing in somebody's lounge room, basement or laundry that's completely overcrowded with wasted kids. Saying that, it is always nice to take advantage of a decent P.A. that a bigger venue can provide. I'm all for everything.

Gigs of the Week - April 16th

2009-04-16T17:35:00.006+10:00

Damn there's a lot on this weekend.

Thursday 16th:
Toy Balloon, Velociraptor @ Ric's Bar
The Gonzo Show, The Chemists, Swaying Buildings @ The Zoo
Mr Rascal, The Moses Gunn Collective @ Verve Cafe

Friday 17th:
Giants of Science, Hits, No Anchor @ The Troubadour
I Heart Hiroshima, Potato Master @ Ric's Bar
Underexposed: Black Market Rhythm Co, Drawn From Bees, Tim Loydell & The Deckchairs, Banawurun, Mikki Ross @ Joshua Levi Galleries - Music photography exhibition kicks off.
Texas Tea - Queen St Mall (5pm)
Teleprompter, The Strange Attractors, Fasttrack Euphoria @ The Zoo

Saturday 18th:
The Gin Club, Texas Tea, Yves Klein Blue @ Rockinghorse Records (12:30pm) - Record Store Day celebrations!
The Rational Academy, Nova Scotia, Seaplane, Loomer @ The Hangar
Underexposed: Screamfeeder, My Fiction, Grand Atlantic, The Cairos, Parlour Style @ Joshua Levi Galleries
Butcher Birds, Vegas Kings, J-Pan Fan @ The Troubadour
Mr Maps, Nikko @ Ric's Bar
Brutal Hate Mosh @ Ric's Bar (4pm)
Arrows, Our Anatomy, Francis, Piers @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall
Wind & Brackets, Ouch My Face (Vic), Fait Accompli @ The Valley Studios

Sunday 19th:
Dizzygotheca, Collapsicon @ Ric's Bar
Live Spark: Chloe Turner, Sam Buckingham @ The Powerhouse

Gigs of the Easter Weekend - April 9th

2009-04-09T15:39:00.005+10:00

Thursday 9th:
A Friend of Mine (Vic), Death Mattel (NSW), No Anchor, Del Toro @ Step Inn

Friday 10th:
I Heart Hiroshima @ Ric's Bar - IHH's first show of their Ric's residency. Technically this will be Saturday morning, ie: midnight Friday night (no drinking on Good Friday, y'see).

Saturday 11th:
Re:Enactment, Stemford Hiss @ Ric's Bar
Twist Oliver Twist, Felinedown, Dream Sequence @ The Globe

Sunday 12th:
Fans Fans Fans: *deep breath* Flamingo Crash, Witch Hats (Vic), Talons (NSW), Slow Down Honey (NSW), The Jezabels (NSW), Villains of Wilhelm, Rocketsmiths, Little Scout, DZ, Last Dinosaurs, Idle Cranes, The Cairos, My Fiction, The Grove @ Alhambra Lounge - starts 5pm, finishes 5am, $25 on the door.
Dave McCormack, Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side @ Ric's Bar

Idle Cranes, Aheadphonehome, Blue Carousel, Axxonn @ The Hangar (14.03.09)

2009-04-03T14:44:00.007+10:00

This review has been sitting in draft form for about two weeks, so I figured I should finish it off and post it...

This was my first real Hangar experience of 2009, as I've been unable to attend any of the shows held there since last November (with the exception of seeing Re:Enactment play the Mr Maps EP Launch afterparty). While it may not have seemed like one of the venues strongest ever lineups on paper, there was still enough of interest to ensure I wouldn't be missing it. Plus it's The Hangar, so it was almost guaranteed to be an enjoyable night out.

First up was local two-piece laptop ambience act Axxonn. I've written about their live show fairly recently, and this show for the most part offered more of the same, only better. The band played a longer set and threw more variety in terms of melody and texture into the music, while the added volume they could utilise at The Hangar (especially in the low end) added an extra layer of physicality to their music. Laying in a beanbag on the floor of the venue, the sensation of the sound moving through the room was a very pleasurable one. It was almost enough to send one to sleep, if it wasn't for the continually shifting aural textures keeping the audience's interest. It's just a shame that only a handful of people turned up early enough to witness the band (luckily this wasn't the case when they played Ric's about a week later, where they played an even better set).

Blue Carousel are one of my favourite local pop bands, with the ability to bring good vibes to pretty much any location (and they do seem to have played a whole bunch of different venues). On this particular occasion they needed to dig deep into this wellspring of positivity, as the band had barely gotten into their third song when an overly enthusiastic / overly inebriated fan ended up trying to start a fight right in front of stage (luckily for him he was stopped before being successful in this attempt, as he was literally half the size of the person he had provoked). A fight at The Hangar? That has to be a first. After a brief break while people were calmed down / lead outside the band continued, but they were obviously shaken and kind of struggled to recover their momentum. Knowing what Blue Carousel are capable of I was a bit disappointed that they couldn't display their full quality on this particular night, but they seemed to win over the majority of the crowd regardless (most of whom I imagine would have been largely unfamiliar with their music).

I had seen Aheadphonehome just a few days earlier at the Troubadour, and I have to admit that I was left somewhat wanting after my first experience of the band as a live entity (I'm a bit of a fan of their more electronic full length release 'In The Static' from a few years back). Things seemed a bit too smooth and a little bit 'Adult Oriented Rock' for me; it seemed like the band were trying to mix ambience with ragged indie rock, but the ambience wasn't enveloping enough and the indie rock was too tempered. This Hangar show painted them in a different light: the vocals were further back in the mix, the guitars melded together much more effectively and the whole thing just seemed to gel a lot better, and as such held my interest throughout their set. I think the prior show may have been a case of a mix that wasn't flattering to the band's aesthetic. They're quite a new band in a live sense, so we'll see where they take things from here.

I hadn't seen Idles Cranes in quite a while, in fact I had no idea that they'd changed from a quartet to a trio. One of the guitarists has since switched to bass and they have a new drummer. The new lineup works much better - previously there had been a disconnect between what the band seemed to be attempted to create (hazy, distorted psychedelic rock) and what they were actually putting across. The new lineup (and I dare say some new songs with a stronger sense of direction) seems heavier, groovier and more intense. By the time Idle Cranes hit the stage the room was hot, humid and mildy oppressive, but with the entire audience standing right at the foot of the stage the atmosphere was totally conducive to this sort of suffocatingly loud, druggy rock'n'roll. Previously the band had struck me as a pretty decent psych-rock act, but after this Hangar set I was seriously impressed. They're now on my 'have to check these guys out again soon' list.

Gigs of the Week - April 3rd

2009-04-03T13:57:00.004+10:00

So here we are again, with another gig guide. We've missed the last two as I've been kind of run off my feet recently, but as of today we're back on schedule. We even have a (long overdue) live review, plus I think I'm going to resurrect my 'Brisbane Releases That Changed My Life' series in the next few days.

Anyway, gigs...

Friday 3rd:
Loomer @ Ric's Bar
Del Toro, BiffCo, Re:Enactment @ The Valley Studios
Halfway, We All Want To, Baron Field @ The Troubadour

Saturday 4th:
Hazards of Swimming Naked, Fickle Beasts, Moon Jog, River Peppermint @ Lofly Hangar
Seaplane, Legions of Mary, White Mansions, Sabrina @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall
Steve Grady (Album Launch), Chloe Tully, The Honey Month @ Metro Arts
Big Bongin Baby, Shrewms, Gravel Samwich @ Clarence Corner Hotel
Idle Cranes, Ghosts of Television (NSW) @ Ric's Bar
Halfday (Album Launch), Crystal Radios, PJ Weston & The Precious Few @ The Troubadour

Sunday 5th:
McKisko, Carry Nation, Corinna Scanlon @ The Troubadour

Nightstick

2009-03-20T11:34:00.004+10:00

Nightstick were a great freaking band. One moment they were one of the most exciting things to happen to Brisbane in a long time, playing show after electrifying show before disappearing to record their debut album... and then never coming back. They left us with one all-too-short EP and our memories... oh, and a couple of low budget live DVDs which have now been put onto Youtube by their creators. Check them out below:

Fullfazi Video Clip:

Invisible Man live @ Ric's:

Theme live @ Ric's:

3-Way live @ Ric's <- my favourite

The Sac live @ Ric's

Push It Away live @ The Zoo

Pills live @ The Zoo

Saints live @ The Dukes of Windsor

Thanks to Strictly, indiie and of course Nightstick. For those interested in what the band members are up to these days, Heinz Riegler has recently started playing solo (he supports No Anchor and Lawrence English on Saturday), Tam Patton plays in Del Toro and Martin Lee plays in Ranger.

Gigs of the Week - March 18th

2009-03-18T14:50:00.003+10:00

Wednesday 18th:
Guy Webster, Lawrence English, Tom Hall @ Metro Arts - The opening night of the Big Sit exhibition, featuring sound installations from the above three artists (plus free drinks and food!).

Friday 20th:
Hot Girls (NSW), Nikko, Quiet Steps, Mass Migration @ Browning St Studios (West End) - All ages and BYO for the adults.
Brigitte Handley & The Dark Shadows (NSW), Kewpie Doll, At Sea, The Jim Rockfords @ Step Inn

Saturday 21st:
Syncretism: No Anchor (Album Launch), Lawrence English (Album Launch), Heinz Riegler @ Judith Wright Centre - recommendation of the week. It's an early one too, with doors opening at 7:30pm and it all finishing by 9:45pm. Plenty of time to see other gigs (or whatever). Tickets are selling fast so you pre-order if you want to go.
Sekiden, Seaplane, Nova Scotia @ Step Inn (Front Bar) - second recommendation of the week.
The Gin Club, Hits, Danny Widdicombe @ The Zoo
Hot Girls (NSW), In Sepia, Willows, From Water To Wine @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall
The Estates, Fawn, Princesss Rodeo, Kev Lennon & The Tiger Psalms @ The Globe
Z-Rays, Running Guns @ Ric's Bar

Sunday 22nd:
Live Spark: The Stress of Leisure (Album Launch), The Whats, Asa Broomhall @ The Powerhouse (3pm)
The Good Ship @ Ric's Bar (3pm)

Review: An Horse - Rearrange Beds

2009-03-10T16:42:00.005+10:00

I've been planning to review the debut An Horse record for a few weeks now, and wouldn't you know it, the band went and pulled a major coup by performing on Letterman this very week (the youtube video is at the bottom). Congratulations to Kate and Damon.

With that out of the way, let's discuss the record, Rearrange Beds. First things first: if you own the debut Not Really Scared EP, you might be disappointed by the fact that all five songs from that release reappear on the album in fairly similar versions. The largest change to any of the songs is that 'Ledge' has been renamed 'Company', other than that they're fairly identical, if perhaps ever so slightly better recorded ('Shoes Watch' in particular benefits from more punch in its finale). Still, it's not like Not Really Scared was a roughly thrown together bedroom recording - Magoo was the man behind the desks for both records, a producer not often associated with poorly recorded product.

So, we have half a record that's almost identical to a previous record. That's not such a terrible thing, as Not Really Scared was a great little EP. The question now posed is whether the five new songs stand up to and expand upon the ones we've been living with for a number of months now. Not Really Scared was a very consistent record, perhaps to its detriment in some ways - there wasn't exactly a huge variety of sounds and moods explored in it's 15 or so minutes. However, given that we're now up around the 35minute mark, Rearrange Beds needs to throw a few more colours onto the musical canvas. Does it succeed? Well... kind of.

Pretty much the entire recording consists of mid-tempo, 4/4 indie-rock performed with guitar and rock-steady drums - there's no extra instrumentation other than some melodica in the final track, while the guitar tones range from 'mildly overdriven' to 'moderately overdriven', maybe with a little bit of echo when the band get really crazy. There's nothing that's going to knock you over sonically like the noisier bits of Iron On (as much as I'd rather not compare the two bands, there's no getting over the fact that An Horse sounds like a more sedate version of Kate's previous group). Additionally, Kate's style of guitar playing is generally limited to strumming out some barre chords, generally providing little more than a base for her vocals to sit on top of.

Because of this sonic consistency the band relies on their songwriting to keep us interested. In this they're somewhat successful; 'Little Lungs' spreads itself out over five and a half minutes of slow burning build, ending up as probably the best of the new songs, while 'Horizons' is a nice up-tempo pop song that would have made a pretty good Iron On track with a bit of Big Muff thrown over the choruses. However, I just can't get rid of the feeling that most of the best songs are the ones that have been previously released, and I don't think it's just because I'm more familiar with them - 'Scared As Fuck' is still the best thing the band has written, 'Camp Out' is still their catchiest number. 'Little Lungs' is probably the only new song that is of the same level of quality as the Not Really Scared tracks.

I like this record, I really do, and I like this band. I think it's great that they're doing well. I guess I was just expecting more from Rearrange Beds. To say that it offers 'more of the same' from the band is something of an understatement - it would have been better to have just released this as an EP and perhaps picked the best song or two from each release to go on a full length at a later date. Either that or have worked on it for a bit longer so that at least 2/3 of the record was new material. Still, if you haven't bought a copy of Not Really Scared yet and you like guitar pop then this album is a no brainer. If you've already purchased the previous EP then I guess it comes down to how keen you are for more from the band.

Anyway, here's their performance of 'Camp Out' on Letterman.

Gigs of the Week (and a bit) - February 27th

2009-02-27T15:41:00.006+10:00

Since the last Gigs of the Week was kind of late and this one is kind of early I figured I'd just update the previous one. There are lots and lots of gigs this week, both of the local and not-so-local varieties.

Tuesday 3rd:
Ball Park Music, Blue Trial Records @ Ric's Bar
Shifter, Fi Claus, Chloe Turner @ The Troubadour

Wednesday 4th:
Mr Rascal, Mt Augustus @ Ric's Bar

Thursday 5th:
Joe Lally (USA), Blank Realm, Narwhalls @ Step Inn (Upstairs) - Ex-Fugazi bassist with some top local supports.
Garage To V Finals: Villains of Wilhelm, Drawn From Bees, The Gallant, PJ Reh @ Step Inn (downstairs)
Nova Scotia, Anonymeye @ Ric's Bar

Friday 6th:
SixFtHick, Spencer P Jones (Vic), The Horrortones, Narwhals @ The Troubadour
Violent Soho, Hits, Dick Nasty, Lords of Wong @ Step Inn - Violent Soho say goodbye to Brisbane before heading off to take over the US.
Secret Birds, Blank Realm @ Ric's Bar
Wind & Brackets, Villains of Wilhelm, The Bungalows @ The Valley Studios

Saturday 7th:
Side Effects, The Murderettes @ Ric's Bar
I Heart Hiroshima, DZ, Good God @ The Zoo
Grouper (USA), The Rational Academy, Ian Wadley (Vic) @ Judith Wright Centre

Sunday 8th:
Sonic Boom: iAlarming, Dan's Double Organ, Charles Curse, Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Marl Karx @ 101 Merthyr Rd (7pm) - Free house party-esque gig.
Live Spark: Intercooler, Numbers Radio @ The Powerhouse

These last couple should really have been called 'Gigs of the Weekend'. I promise I'll do one early next week, as there are some good weeknight shows.

Friday 27th:
Tame Impala (WA), Intercooler, Black Mustang @ The Zoo
The Oyster Murders, Blue Carousel, Cohagen Quaid @ The Valley Studios

Saturday 28th:
Heinz Riegler, Tom Lyngcoln, The Holy Rose @ Jamie's Cafe (7:30pm) - Recommendation of the week. BYO.
Late Show: Texas Tea @ The Troubadour (1am) - following on from the Gareth Liddiard / Ben Salter show.
Fans: Last Dinosaurs, Comic Sans, Blue Carousel @ Alhambra Lounge
Mary Trembles, The Violent Flames (Vic), The Quills, The Frets @ Globe Theatre
The Exploders (Vic), Black Mustang, The Fuss, Treetops, The Smokestack Orchestra @ The Valley Studios

Sunday 29th:
Live Spark: We All Want To (aka Tim Steward Band), Kate Bradley & The Goodbye Horses @ The Powerhouse (3pm)

Review: Mr Maps - Mimicry of Lines and Light EP

2009-02-25T09:13:00.016+10:00

Mr Maps are probably the most meticulously consistent live band in Brisbane; if you're at all into their style of dramatic post rock you'll likely not quickly forget the first time you see the band. Their off nights are tighter than pretty much every other local band's best shows. Sometimes this comes at a cost: there's not a huge difference between one Mr Maps show and the next bar a better venue / sound system and a slight re-ordering of the band's setlist (six songs at last count). Up until now that's been ok because live performance has been the only real method of obtaining a Mr Maps fix - with the release of Mimicry of Lines and Light that's all about to change.

The EP is a curious artifact - it's actually a double EP (coming in a lovely foldout digipack ala The Gin Club's Junk album - artwork apparently care of the band's keyboardist Chloe Cooper, though she's not credited). The first CD, Lines, presents five songs as performed by the live band over the past year or so and recorded by Steve Bartlett; the second CD, Lights, shows us the original forms of these same songs - band leader Chris Perren's more electronic versions, stitched together from separately recorded pieces and moulded into recognisable 'songs' for his Honours thesis.

Lines is the 'feature' release of the two, I guess. As with everything Mr Maps, it's impeccably performed and recorded, although I have heard people complain that it doesn't recreate the same impact of the band in a live setting - personally I disagree, for me the recording hits all the rights notes in terms of clarity, dynamics and punch (especially at high volume). Most importantly it's not fatiguing to listen to - there's no intensely harsh high end or excessive compression. As for the songs themselves, if you've ever seen a Mr Maps show then you've probably heard all five before. For those who haven't, imagine the wide-eyed, optimistically cinematic post-rock of Sigur Ros or Explosions In The Sky with a slightly more technical, math-rock bent ala a more organic Battles. This is big, life affirming stuff - it sure ain't subtle, and it ain't trying to be. This is perhaps best exemplified by the requisite epic closer, 'I See Them, They're Like Mountains', which in its more intense sections may cross the line between emotive catharthis and melodrama, perhaps coming across like an instrumental crescendo from a Creed ballad stretched out to 8 minutes. However, the song is saved by two elements which feature throughout the first disc: exceptional drummer Sangdae Yang's rhythmic variety and prowess, and the almost flawless sense of build-and-fall-away that the band seems to posess - every single composition builds, explodes at just the right time and for just the right length, before falling away to either finish or do it all again. It might occasionally be a bit predictable, but at the same time it can still be immensely satisfying.

'Your Heels In Sand, Soul In Pursuit' is the logical opener, with its moody opening and sudden burst into a rush of drums and guitar one minute in (not to mention the very satisfying 'free jazz' drums at the start and end of the track). 'This Mess Is A Place' shows off the band's musicianship with stop-start riffs and a polyrhythmic middle section that is supremely impressive. The best song to my ears is the relatively short 'Til The Money Outruns Us', which with its complex guitar patterns and galloping rhythm would have made a more unconventional but probably more effective closer to the record. Another highlight is penultimate track 'Like Little Soldiers', which shows the band at their most reflective and is the closest the band gets to that celestial beauty that Explosions In The Sky perfected on their third album - though Mr Maps still end it with some searing guitar distortion.

Lights presents us with the same highlights and issues of the first disc, but perhaps magnified. The complex, intertwining layers are even more complex and intertwined, and the overblown bits are often even more overblown (just listen to the stadium-rock guitars in this version of 'I See Them...'). If the attention to detail in the compositions is even more impressive on this disc, that is conterbalanced by the absence of any feeling of 'wow, this is actually five people playing in a room'. Although I mostly prefer the live band versions, I've heard numerous people say that their favourite of the two discs is Lights.

Now that we have this release in our hands, I hope it heralds in a batch of new songs for the band (though I'm not sure whether this is more or less likely given the recent departure of Nick Smethurst on guitar). Due to the absolute precision inherent in Mr Maps' performances the only variety comes from new material - Mr Maps are a long way from the unpredictable nature of a band like Turnpike, where each performance will offer some unique modification of some segment of a song. On the flipside, the amount of writing and rehearsal that must go into creating this music virtually guarantees that new material will appear at a fairly slow rate. I highly doubt that the band is suddenly going to lose the perfectionist streak that has served them so well to date, so it will be interesting to see how Mr Maps handle this issue of over-familiarisation, if they even consider it at all.

Gigs of the Week - February 20th

2009-02-20T15:37:00.002+10:00

We should have some reviews of some releases by Mr Maps and perhaps An Horse in the next few days.

Friday 20th:
British India (Vic), DZ, The Bloodpoets @ The Zoo
Ambitious Lovers, Mt Augustus @ Black Star Coffee (Thomas St, West End)
Fabrique: Tenniscoats (Japan), Gudrun Gut (Germany), The Deadnotes @ The Powerhouse - Lawrence English's Room 40 label presents a night of experimental pop.
Useless Wankers (NSW), Z-Rays, Sulphur Lights, Heels @ Step Inn

Saturday 21st:
Del Toro, McKisko, Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Jerry Falwell Destroyed Earth (Vic) @ The Hangar
Velociraptors, At Sea @ Ric's Bar
Sunday 22nd:
Live Spark: Charles Jenkins, Kissy Trouble Company @ The Powerhouse (3pm)

Gigs of the Week - February 13th

2009-02-13T15:41:00.003+10:00

Once again this is late, which is a shame as there were some good shows last night.

Friday 13th:
The Gin Club, The John Steel Singers @ GoMA
All You Need Is The Beatles (tribute night): Drawn From Bees, Hungary Kids of Hungary, Skinny Jean, Gladstone and Lochaber, The Strange Attractors, Chloe Turner @ The Troubadour

Saturday 14th:
Be Excellent To Each Other: Electric Jellyfish (Vic), Hits, Seaplane @ Step Inn (Front Bar)
Mike Noga & The Gentlemen of Fortune (Vic), Young Liberals, At Sea @ Step Inn (Main Room)
Heart Flew Like An Arrow, Blue Carousel @ Ric's Bar
Common People: DZ, Villains of Wilhelm @ Rosie's (Upstairs)

Sunday 15th:
Live Spark: Dave McCormack, Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side @ The Powerhouse

Slug Guts, Blank Realm @ Step Inn (06.02.09)

2009-02-09T15:36:00.012+10:00

This was a show supporting the legendary Guru Guru, plus Sydney bands Dead Farmers and Circle Pit (who were all varying degrees of good-to-great) as well as a collaboration between Candlesnuffer, Joel Stern and Robert McManus (at least I think those were the three collaborators), but true to BH form we're just going to concentrate on the two Brisbane acts.

Blank Realm are a band who I've always appreciated but not often enjoyed to the extent that some other people do. Their kraut-influenced ambient rock has somehow never really connected with me, and I'm not totally sure what the reason is. Perhaps it's because music of this sort requires an effectively hypnotic rhythm section, and whenever I've seen them in the past this element has been somewhat absent. Friday night's set finally contained this vital ingredient, and so it was the first time that the band had really held my attention throughout a set - the grooves moved past being merely repetitive to being entrancing, largely thanks to the bassist and a more consistent performance from the drummer than I've seen in other Blank Realm sets. They moved between relatively traditional guitar based grooves and more abstract ambient segments made up largely of droning feedback and various synthetic noises - I think there may have been an infinite loop mixer that the drummer played in these sections. Over it all (or perhaps under it all, more accurately) the singer non-verbally moaned vaguely in pitch, providing more of another layer of atmosphere than a melody or a focal point. It suits the band.

(It's perhaps worth mentioning that they played one song that had a guitar part that sounded almost exactly like the verse from The Screaming Jets' 'Better', which raised a few smiles from various crowd members)

Although Slug Guts have been around for a while now, this was actually my first time seeing the band (I skipped out on the guerilla show they put on at the Village Twin last year), so they were probably as much of a draw for me as Guru Guru and Dead Farmers were. Featuring members of OnOxx, Frou Frou Foxes and Loomer, one might expect Slug Guts to utilize a fairly 'angular' post punk sound. One would be correct in having such an expectation, though that's not to say that Slug Guts are unsurprising at all. Instead of the stabbing dissonance of the previously mentioned bands, Slug Guts head in a more swampy blues direction, complete with vocalist Jimi K yowling like some demented baritone feline. With the rhythm nailed down by the huge bass and powerful drumming, the two guitarists provided corrosive treble smothered in reverb (like Steve Albini with a whammy bar) - the effect being reminiscent of defunct Melbourne act The Bird Blobs. It's an instantly compelling sound, and the band have their shit down to the degree that such music requires - this stuff doesn't work unless it's tight, and thankfully Slug Guts seem to realise this.

Of course, tightness should not be confused with being 'polished'. Slug Guts are not polished, they are rough and raw. Their set was filled with technical issues, mostly related to the bass - I believe they restarted the first song 5 times, each time making it no further than 30 seconds in before the bass cut out again. After trying all manner of fixes they eventually got it to work, and then they were off. The set was moderately short (I don't know if it was shortened at all due to the aforementioned bass problems, though I suspect probably not), which worked in their favour. At times some of the songs seemed overly similar, usually keeping the same tempo and using similar structures - there were occasions where I couldn't tell if the band had started a new song or if they'd merely put a 5 second break into the middle of the previous one. It didn't matter a huge deal though, as the sound they put together was interesting enough to keep my attention. When they did change things up a bit it worked in their favour, so hopefully they'll add a degree of variety to their set as they continue. At this stage though, they're still a pretty entertaining band.

Gigs of the Week - February 6th

2009-02-06T10:13:00.003+10:00

Bit of a late one this week.

Friday 6th:
My Fiction, Black Mustang, Hunz @ The Troubadour
The Vagina Monologues: Tim Loydell & The Deck Chairs, Blue Trial Records @ The Globe
Acid Mothers Guru Guru (Japan/Germany), Dead Farmers (NSW), Circle Pit (NSW), Slug Guts, Black Widow + Joel Stern + Dave Brown @ Step Inn - contrary to certain rumours, this has not been cancelled.

Saturday 7th:
Mr Maps (EP Launch), Qua (Vic), Chalk & Cheese @ La Boitte Theatre
Re:Enactment @ The Hangar (midnight) - The afterparty for the Mr Maps launch
Deux Garcons, Turnpike @ Ric's Bar
Texas Tea, Silver City Highway, Mexico City @ The Troubadour
Hungry Kids of Hungary @ The Troubadour (1am)

Sunday 8th:
Live Spark: Chris Pickering, The Sunburys @ The Powerhouse
The Estates @ Ric's Bar (4:30pm)

Review: AxxOnn - Should You Fear Hell? EP

2009-02-03T21:41:00.007+10:00

Should You Fear Hell?, the debut release from experimental noiseniks AxxOnn, is by no means a groundbreaking release. That having been said, most music typified as experimental these days is done so mainly to make it vividly clear that it is an entity distinct form any form of pop music. Indeed, this EP isn't hellish, nor is it heavenly. Rather it is in limbo, or purgatory if you will.

AxxOnn, as you have no doubt read in Cam's previous post, is a collaboration between electronic artist Tom Hall, and No Anchor/Iron On bassist Ian Rogers. Should You Fear Hell? doesn't stray far from either of their previous work (excluding Iron On); rumbling bass, floating soundscapes, and then a few more bursts of abrasive bass tones. The pair take their name from David Lynch's Inland Empire, and there is unlikely any more fitting reference. AxxOnn's music exudes the same sort of tension and subtle perversity that is found in Lynch's works.

The EP consists of one 24 minute track broken up into three sections. The first of these is entitled 'White Glare', and that pretty aptly describes what the 7 minute plus section consists of. The swirling, interstellar synthesizers instill a sense of ethereality, yet at the same time they obscure the slightly menacing growls of bass.

After 7 minutes of drones it comes as a bit of a shock when the synths punch in at a different frequency to initiate the second part of the EP, 'Stolen Pens From The Hyatt'. This section works as almost a crossfade between the passive (at least in terms of listener involvement) first section and aggressive final section. Hall's synths (I say synths for want of a better term - I have absolutely no idea what instrumentation he is using here) slowly give way to Rogers' trashed to fuck bass sound; a buildup to the oncoming Götterdämmerung.

The last 11 minutes of the EP consists of the section entitled 'Shit Rainbows (And Unicorns)'. Now I didn't actually look at the titles before listening to the EP, and rainbows (shit or otherwise) and unicorns definitely did not come to mind. Rather this resonator heavy piece evokes some bizarre factory line, where all the robots happen to produce beautifully distorted tones. The droning synths return, carrying the listener downwards like a conveyor belt past the array of unidentifiable beeps and buzzes, until the song gets as sonically low as possible and fades to static.

While Should You Fear Hell? doesn't answer the question it poses (at least not for me), it does mark an excellent debut for this AxxOnn. If they can take us on a trip through the underworld in 24 minutes, one can only imagine where they would journey given a full length release. Brisbane has been putting out a huge amount of great experimental/avant-garde/post-rock music in recent times, and Should You Fear Hell? is a great addition to that canon.

Should You Fear Hell? is available to download for free at www.axxonnband.com.

Loomer, Axxonn @ Ric's Bar (29.01.08)

2009-02-03T09:19:00.006+10:00

Regular attendees of Brisbane noise-rock gigs will likely immediately recognise the two members of Axxonn, Ian Rogers from doom-punkers No Anchor and noise artist Tom Hall (who also moonlights in Secret Birds). Where the regular acts of these two musicians generally tend towards the more abrasive end of the musical spectrum, Axxonn have a much more soothingly warm and embracing sound. Consisting mostly of warm synth swells and repetitive melodies that are slowly manipulated and embellished with the addition of effects or gradually undulating dynamics, occasionally grounded by a subtle beat, their set consisted of 3 or 4 songs which seamlessly blended into one another, becoming acts in a larger, cohesive musical passage. Ric's would not generally be the best venue to experience music with this sort of subtlety, but the crowd at this show was surprisingly reverent and focused on the sounds emanating from the stage. While I'm told later that the darkness of the venue's PA hid some of the subtlety located in the high-end of Axxonn's music, it had the effect of making the experience even warmer sounding and all encompassing.

You can download their free EP 'Should You Fear Hell' from their website (I believe that Gav is going to review it soon). Axxonn are also playing The Hangar on March 14th with AHeadphoneHome and some other bands.

This was actually my third time seeing Loomer in the space of a week - the first time, at the Step Inn, was a bit rough but with a few indications that there was some quality music underneath it all; the second time was at The Zoo, where they took advantage of the big PA and blew the roof of the place with a rock solid performance, upstaging the rest of the bands that followed that evening (including the mighty Secret Birds). This Ric's show was somewhere in between, but the quality of their performance meant that it tended more to the second show than the first.

As much as I don't want to merely reduce this review to a list of comparisons to other bands, I'm kind of forced to. The common statement made about Loomer is that 'they sound like My Bloody Valentine' - certainly being named after a song from Loveless doesn't help them in that regard. It's not an entirely baseless remark (especially if you listen to the track 'In Me' on their myspace), but their name is misleading insofar as the band don't so much envoke the sound of that classic album as they do the band's earlier, more angular recordings such as the Feed Me With Your Kiss and You Made Me Realise EPs. Loomer are a far more muscular band, being just as much indebted to MBV's American cousins Sonic Youth (circa Daydream Nation and Goo). They actually reminded me somewhat of the now defunct Brisbane band Frou Frou Foxes at times, although Loomer are much less aggressive and more melodic than that group.

One thing that has struck me about Loomer each time I've seen them is the amount of effort they are putting into their music - they're not merely a bunch of kids who are goofing around trying to replicate their favourite bands. You can hear the songs in amongst the noise, and you can see that the band care about doing them justice when performing. They walk the tightrope between pure noise and pop as well as any other local band I can think of from recent times.

Gigs of the Week - January 28th

2009-01-28T15:40:00.004+10:00

Well, we're back into the swing of things now. Laneway is this weekend, but if you're not going to that (or even if you are) there are plenty of good local shows this weekend.

Also, there should be some more reviews soon.

Wednesday 28th:
Carry Nation, Calvara, Skara Brae & The Renegades @ The Zoo

Thursday 29th:
Loomer, Axxonn @ Ric's Bar
The Oyster Murders, My Fiction, Mass Migration @ The Zoo

Friday 30th:
Game On: Little Scout @ State Library - you'll need tickets for this one, you can get them via qtix
Rocketsmiths, Vegas Kings, Villains of Wilhelm, Gladstone & Lochaber @ The Zoo

Saturday 31st:
Del Toro, Science Villains @ The Step Inn - This one starts kind of late, so you can head down after Laneway if you're still in the mood for some loud indie rock.
Nikko, The Honey Month, Jim Grundy, Extra Foxx @ The Hangar
Mexico City, At Sea, Bowls Club @ The Troubadour

Review: Secret Birds - Double Snake Hollow

2009-01-22T11:07:00.005+10:00

First things first. Secret Birds may be one of the loudest and potentially most abrasive bands in Brisbane, but their music is subtle. This is especially true of their debut release, Double Snake Hollow; a cassette-only EP filled with repetitive instrumental jams that evolve ever so gradually over their lengthy running times.

Take the first song, 'Christopher Cross'. Made up of various drones created via guitar feedback, synths and effects laden guitar 'solos' (with a steady rhythm being tapped away in the background) the song barely seems to move, instead just kind of floating in mid air. Sure, it does change over its 12minutes but the changes are always relatively minor, and given that each change tends to be brought in over the course of a minute or so it's easy to not recognise that there has been a new addition to the track until it's already been there for a considerable time.

'Wizard's Cloak' starts of with more synth and effects drones, this time even more formless than before. After 5minutes of this, though, an acoustic guitar emerges from the aural fog, picking out a beautiful folk arpeggio for the remaining 2minutes. At this point the song sounds more like something from Anonymeye, and it's quite an unexpected turn for those mostly familiar with the band's noisy live shows (although I believe that the 'band' originally started out more in this style).

The 12minute title track closes out the EP with a sound that will be far more familiar to those who have seen any of the band's recent live incarnations. Consisting of a hugely distorted guitar repeatedly playing a three chord riff backed (again) by droning synths, this is the sort of doom-laden rock that Secret Birds have become synonymous with over the last year or two. It's also the least effective track on the EP, pretty much following the formula of 'big guitar riff, add in background noises which gradually get louder, eventually bring in the drums'. Live this can be extremely satisfying, but in the confines of this recording the effect is lessened significantly. Sure, it's hypnosis inducing, but so were the two previous tracks, both of which had a more unique and interesting method of producing their effects.

Ultimately this is still a worthwhile release for fans of Secret Birds - personally I find the first two tracks really enjoyable, and the third is moderately effective in the context of the release as a whole. I think that 'Secret Birds: the live entity' and 'Secret Birds: the recording project' need different approaches, as without the enormous volume and visceral physicality of actually being in the room with the band the music struggles to have the same impact as it does live. When highlighting the trance inducing aspects as opposed to the raw power of the band, this recording is much more successful. The interesting thing to see will be whether Secret Birds continue down that particular path, or whether they are able to more successfully replicate their live power in a recorded setting.

You can hear Wizard's Cloak and Double Snake Hollow on the band's myspace. Secret Birds are playing as part of two really good lineups in the next few days (alongside other great bands like Deux Garcon, Loomer and the mighty No Anchor), so I recommend catching them.

Gigs of the Week - January 22nd

2009-01-22T09:50:00.007+10:00

...And we're back. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. For those who were paying attention, you may have noticed that there were a bunch of tracks from Stranded in the 4zzzFM Hot 100 (check out the full list here). Congratulations to all of the Brisbane bands who made it on. There are still plenty of copies of Stranded available (both via the link on the right and at Rockinghorse), and since all of the proceeds are going to Red Cross Queensland I'm not going to shut up about it just yet (also because I want to get rid of the boxes of CDs that are sitting in my room).

With any luck we'll have a record review or two coming up in the next few days, but in the meantime here are some gigs to see over the coming long weekend.

Thursday 22nd:
Mystic Eyes (WA), Secret Birds, No Anchor, Loomer, Heart Flew Like An Arrow @ Step Inn
Velociraptor, Running Guns @ Ric's Bar
Cohagen Quaid, theseashallnothavethem, Sunflower @ The Zoo
Doch & The Circus @ QPAC

Friday 23rd:
Laughing Clowns @ GoMA - I guess they're technically a Sydney band but what the hell.
DZ, Stature::Statue, Army Ants, Comic Sans @ The Zoo
Doch & The Circus @ QPAC

Saturday 24th:
Secret Birds, Deux Garcons (EP Launch), Bone Xyster, Loomer @ The Zoo
Nikko, Stemford Hiss @ Ric's Bar
Doch & The Circus @ QPAC

Sunday 25th:
Devil's Kitchen: Winnebago Deal (UK), Sonofabitch, Midget (NSW), Little Vegas & The Fuzz Parade, The Rogues, My Left Boot (Vic), Speedracer, Booze Hag (NSW) @ The Step Inn
Blue Trial Records, Princess Rodeo @ Ric's Bar

December update

2008-12-16T18:25:00.002+10:00

The more astute among you may have noticed that there hasn't been a Before Hollywood update in a while. That's because Gav is currently in China and I'm travelling around Europe/Africa. Normal programming should return in mid-January.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that.

Gigs of the Week - November 21st

2008-11-21T12:39:00.009+10:00

It's been kind of a busy week so I've missed a few good gigs that have already occurred. Here's what's on for the remainder of the weekend. I know that Brisbane residents tend to stay indoors at the slightest hint of bad weather, but don't let the rain keep you at home!

Friday 21st:
Dead Letter Chorus (NSW), Little Scout, Conor MacDonald (The Gin Club) @ The Troubadour
Strange Attractors, DZ, Comic Sans, Biff Co @ Tongue & Groove
The Red Paintings @ The Arena

Saturday 22nd:
Texas Tea (Album Launch), Timothy Carroll, Jacob S Harris, James McCann (Vic) @ The Globe
Common People: To The North, No Anchor, Fickle Beasts @ Rosie's (Upstairs)
SixFtHick, Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side (7" Launch), Slug Guts, The Narwhals @ The Troubadour
4ZzZ's Dub Day Afternoon: The Upsteppers, Surgeon General Sound, Fyah Walk, Elephant Wise, Dubmarine, Rhythm Collision Sound, Kingfisha, Champion Sound, Gregwise, Samedi Sound System, Hell of a Hat, Selecta Bing, Lao Mirador, Potato Master @ Step Inn
Game On: Yeo & The Freshgoods @ State Library
Jason Elliott, Tom Hall, Colin James @ GoMA (1pm) - Providing a live score to Fritz Lang's 'Spies'. Part of the German Expressionism & Beyond festival.
Buddkiller, Kewpie Doll, The Busymen @ Clarence Corner Hotel

Sunday 23rd:
Live Spark: Ranger, Let's Go Naked @ The Powerhouse (3pm)

Monday 24th:
Blue Trial Records, Princess Rodeo @ Ric's Bar

Review: The John Steel Singers - In Colour EP

2008-11-12T11:56:00.012+10:00

The John Steel Singers are doing some pretty big things these days - I can't imagine them fitting into Ric's anymore. After their debut EP (which was re-released with some extra tracks as The Beagle And The Dove) and some significant tours with bands like The Polyphonic Spree and The Grates, they've released a new EP in the form of The John Steel Singers: In Colour.

The EP can be fairly evenly split into two conceptual halves - the end of the record features two indie-country/pop songs that could have easily fit on The Beagle And The Dove, while the first half of the EP sees the band exploring a more 'spacey' sound than their previous release (and as such contains the more successful offerings in my opinion). In Colour opens with its best cut, the repetitively psychedelic 'Rainbow Kraut'. Built mostly around a repeating fuzz-bass riff it's one of the more interestingly structured songs that band have written, and certainly the most aggressive sounding (probably most akin to 'Smashing The Speed Of Sound' from the previous EP). The repetitiveness of the song's central riff seems to stretch it out for much longer than its 4minute running time, which is probably a good thing. Below is the equally psychedelic (and fairly cool) video clip for the song.

Track two features one of the bands oldest numbers, 'Luxembourg'. The song continues the moody feel of 'Rainbow Kraut', having traded some of the bounce and energy of its original live version for space and atmosphere, becoming the dreamiest song in the bands ouvre (personally I prefer the earlier, more dynamic live version, but this particular recording makes it somewhat more unique and probably fits more with the sound of In Colour). I do like the way that they've slightly dirtied up the end of the songs with some ever-so-dissonant guitars.

Returning to the slightly countrified 60's pop found on The Beagle And The Dove, 'Mother' (as with 'Luxembourg') is another song that the band have been playing for a while now. This song features incongruously poppy verses (with their pseudo-murder-ballad lyrics) against a bridge riff ripped from The Flaming Lip's 'Be My Head' - I should also note the really cool little distorted guitar part in the chorus. The recording makes it sound kind of like a My Morning Jacket song, such is the liberal use of reverb over the whole track. It kind of robs the track of some of its impact - those big riffs in the middle of each verse don't quite have the impact that they once did. Still, the requisite string-and-horn filled epic outro is successful.

'Harlequin Maid' is kind of a strange one - on paper it should be a killer song, it contains all of the ingredients for a great pop number: a clever melody, colourful harmonies, a good bouncy rhythm. Despite that it just fails to engage somehow - as a friend put it, the song is great while you're listening to it but once it's done it can be difficult to remember how it went. Perhaps it's a matter of the song being too clever and polished for its own good? Again, the reverberant recording seems to rob the song of some of its power - it's so light and airy that there's nothing left to really grab a hold of. There is a pretty killer guitar riff in the chorus though, the chamber-pop middle-section is quite fantastic (and the one example of the music really benefiting from the spacious production), and the outro reminds me of Blur (in a good way), so perhaps it's just more of a grower than the others.

'Rainbow Kraut' is definitely one of the most accomplished numbers in the JSS songbook, but personally I don't find the rest of In Colour to be quite as strong (which isn't necessarily to say that the other tracks are weak by any means). I would LOVE to see the band go in and record a fairly live sounding album next, forgoing some of the bells & whistles and extra polish that they've had on their two releases so far (two if you count the initial self-titled EP and The Beagle And The Dove as one release). They have 6 members on multiple guitars, multiple keys, horns, 3 singers, mandolin... they're certainly not lacking for instrumentation, so pretty much anything they put down is going to sound pretty massive and lush. I'd like to see them to take a 'less is more' approach every now and then, so that those really big, orchestrated moments have a chance to seem as huge as they should. Well, that's my preference.

Gigs of the Week - November 12th

2008-11-12T10:53:00.004+10:00

Lots on this weekend. Too much, even.

Wednesday 12th:
Grasshopper @ GoMA (4pm) - Soundtracking 'Alraune' as part of Out of the Shadows: German Expressionism & Beyond.
Buildings Melt, Monster Monster @ Ric's Bar

Friday 14th:
Secret Birds, Mr Maps, Loomer, Deux Garcon @ The Hangar (151 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill)
The John Steel Singers, Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers (NSW), Major Major (Vic) @ The Zoo - JSS launch their 'In Colour' EP.
Wine In The Teacups Variety Show: Vanessa Hodgins, Emma Hales, Madeleine Johns, Laura K @ The Valley Studios
The Bakelite Age (Vic), Vegas Kings, The Z-Rays, The Heels @ The Step Inn

Saturday 15th:
Mass Migration (EP Launch), Tom Cooney, Nikko, Monster Monster @ The Hangar (151 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill)
Crux (NSW), Scum System Kill (NSW), No Anchor, Septic Surge @ Club Russia (15 Trafalgar St, Woolloongabba) - All Ages.
The John Steel Singers, Little Scout, Blue Trial Records @ Bon Amici's (Toowoomba)
Hungry Kids of Hungary, Flamingo Crash, My Fiction @ The Valley Studios
Jamie Hutchings (NSW), Tim Steward, Ben Salter @ The Troubadour
Major Major (Vic), Tragic/Athletic @ Ric's Bar
The Estates, Les Modernaires @ Ric's Bar (4pm)
Common People: Ninety Nine (Vic), The Rational Academy, Land What Land (USA) @ Rosie's Upstairs
Pocket Music: Collapsicon, Dot.AY, 10k Free Men (NSW), Emergency! Emergency! (NSW) @ Tongue & Groove

Sunday 16th:
Live Spark: The Daisycutters, My Fiction @ Brisbane Powerhouse (3pm)
Ninety Nine (Vic), Do The Robot @ Ric's Bar
Trevor J Ludlow & The Hellraisers, Greg Brady @ Ric's Bar (4pm)

Review: Brisbane Sounds 2008

2008-11-09T18:41:00.001+10:00

I don't like to get self-referential in a review, but I feel that I can only talk about the Brisbane Sounds 2008 compilation in relation to Before Hollywood's own compilation. Though I have to point out that it should be seen less as a competitive relationship and more as a companion piece of sorts. Indeed, Brisbane Sounds 2008 manages to only cross paths with Stranded on the inclusion of 6 bands; an incredible indication of the depth on Brisbane's music talent given the breadth of each compilation.

Brisbane Sounds 2008 is the brainchild of one Blair Hughes. The Brisbane music afficianado is currently travelling through Europe, using Brisbane Sounds 2008 as a launch pad to advertise and advance the cause of local bands.

The twenty-four bands featured on Brisbane Sounds 2008 mostly flit around the vague genres of pop/rock and alternative rock, but there are a number of widely varying inclusions. Andrew Morris' 'Here You Are, There You Go' opens proceedings with Morris stealing some of Josh Pyke's more commendable traits, while managing to still keep things interesting. The song flows on nicely to The Gin Club's '10 Paces Away' (My previous comments on this song can be seen here), followed by a trio of decent pop/rock songs from Kate Bradley And The Goodbye Horses, The Westminsters, and The Boat People. 'Macy And Me' is Texas Tea doing what they do best (i.e. country-rock); the wistful yet fast paced song is somewhat reminiscent of some of Emmylou Harris' recent work.

Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club start to take proceedings in a more rock direction with the surreal 'George Bush's Chicken'. Intercooler and Regurgitator deliver with a brace of pop-punk tunes, while Sixfthick's 'White Light, Wet Heat' is exactly what you'd expect from a band that lists smashing beer glasses on their faces as a hobby. Little Vegas & The Fuzz Parade's contribution, 'Gift Horse', isn't quite on par with their current material, but entertaining none the less. The Butcher Birds' 'The Deal' is a rumbling grunge number, followed by the Warm Guns' unique 60's girl band/garage rock combination, and Black Mustang's ultimately forgettable Stereophonics/T.Rex mashup, 'The One'.

The Vegas Kings' witty 'I Great Ape' is one of the highlights of the compilation, but it rubs up against the frankly horrible 'Sense Of Falling'; Upsize's contribution sounds like a karoake version of a forgotten Cold Chisel song. I Heart Hiroshima thankfully rescue things with the excellent 'Punks' (Previously reviewed here), and Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side maintain the quality. Big Red Candle's 'Tropic Of Cancer' is a strange mix of The Fall and Black Flag, which, amazingly, they manage to pull off successfully. Butterfingers' serve up a slice of their unique brand of hip-hop with 'Nothin' Much Happens'. Personally I'm not a fan, but they definitely have their audience; basically if you like Hilltop Hoods, Blink 182, and Eminem, you'll probably enjoy this.

The Whats' 'Ants' is next, and, I have to say, I was pleasantly suprised by this song. The almost 8-bit track has an excellent set of lyrics, but it fits uncomfortably between Butterfingers and the next act, Kissy Trouble Company, who provide an interesting take on the current blue-eyed soul revival (i.e. Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele, etc.) by taking the voice and backing it with an electronic sound akin to Jamie Lidell or Fujiya & Miyagi. The Late Great Russian Revolution's 'Gettin Lucky' is an interesting instrumental punk track, but it feels somewhat like filler here at the end of the compilation, whereas the closing song, 'Alcohol' by Spitfireliar, is just downright dumb Oi! punk.

The drop in quality towards the end of the compilation doesn't detract too much from the overall experience, however. Brisbane Sounds 2008 is an interesting and rewarding take on one of the many spectrums of Brisbane's musical output. Hughes has made a valiant effort here, and he can only be wished luck in his mission to spread the gospel of Brisbane sounds.

Gigs of the Week - November 6th

2008-11-06T18:24:00.003+10:00

Here's a smattering of shows for the weekend.

Thursday 6th:
Yeow Meow, Lionbird @ Ric's Bar
Smoke Or Fire, The Gifthorse, Jet Set Ready @ Rosie's

Friday 7th:
2 High Festival: Wind & Brackets, Travelling So & Sos, Idle Cranes, The Faze, Golden Sound @ Brisbane Powerhouse
Respect #3 Soul Club: Grand Atlantic, Villains of Wilhelm, Drawn From Bees @ The Troubadour
Fickle Beasts, Mt Augustus, McKisko, Anonymeye @ Tongue & Groove

Saturday 8th:
2 High Festival: Butcher Birds, Stature::Statue, Skinny Jean, The Cairos, My Fiction, Chocolate Strings @ Brisbane Powerhouse
Arrows, To The North, In Sepia, Willows @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall

Gigs of the Week - October 29th

2008-10-29T10:40:00.008+10:00

There's a lot on all through this week. Plenty of Halloween gigs if you want to get your dress up on.

Wednesday 29th:
Benjamin Thompson & Matt Jonas @ GoMA Cinematheque (4pm) - Another show in the German Expressionism And Beyond series. The film at this show will be 'Asphalt', with music performed by Ben Thompson (Rational Academy, Yeow Meow) as well as ex-Brisbane resident and ex-Shuriken member (R.I.P.) Matt Jonas (aka Aoi if you want to see his other shows this weekend). Free Entry.
Dead Riot, Del Toro, DZ @ The Zoo

Thursday 30th:
Charge Group (NSW), Tragic/Athletic, Chalk & Cheese @ The Troubadour
Decline of Modern Civilisation: Cleptocleptics (NSW), Aoi, Baaddd (NSW), Joel Saunders @ Tongue & Groove
11th He Reaches London (WA), Paper & The Plane, To The North, Art Vandelay @ UQ Red Room

Friday 31st:
No Anchor, Yeow Meow, Influenza, Loomer @ Tongue & Groove - They're giving away a BMX to whoever has the best Halloween costume.
The Quickening, Hollow, Mouthguard, SpireFireLiar, Team Dickhead, Perhaps Maybe?!?, Spank Sinatra @ The Troubadour
Vegas Kings, Zebra Rodeo, The Drowning Kittens @ The Globe - with burlesque and more. I missed this one somehow, so sorry for the last addition.

Saturday 1st:
Cloud Control (NSW), Little Scout, Swaying Buildings @ The Troubadour
Aoi, Cleptocleptics (NSW), Prince Nod, Monster Monster @ Step Inn
Camilla Hannan & Thembi Sodell (VIC) @ GoMA Cinematheque (1pm) - Another German Expressionism show, this time to 'Moulin Rouge' (the 1928 silent version, not the Baz Luhrmann one).
Edward Guglielmino, Megaphone Diplomacy (UK), Seaplane, Fox And Arrow @ The Hangar
The Black Market Rhythm Company, Skinny Jean, Fasttrak Euphoria @ The Globe
Black Mustang (Album Launch), Little Vegas & The Fuzz Parade, The New Jack Rubies, Stratton @ The Zoo

Eat Laser Scumbag, Violent Soho, Dick Nasty, Turnpike, No Anchor @ Step Inn (24.10.08)

2008-10-27T10:27:00.010+10:00

On paper this looks like some sort of dream local lineup... and that's pretty much how it was in actuality - two of Brisbane best noise-rock bands (Turnpike and No Anchor), two of its most respected punk acts (Dick Nasty and ELS) and the city's premiere early 90s revivalists. What more could any volume loving music fan ask for in a local show?

At the start of the night a friend commented that any one of the five bands on the bill could have been headliner and noone would have complained. As it was, No Anchor were the 'unlucky' band who were given the job of opening the evening. At about 8:30PM, with the venue still largely empty, No Anchor took to the stage and began their aural bombardment of the audience. The set contained a mere three songs yet went for around 30minutes - the opening song was a comparatively laid back (for No Anchor) number that sounded somewhat like Kyuss jamming on a multitude of variations of the one riff for 10minutes, the middle track was a more dynamic number with some fantastic riffs, and the closer was probably the heaviest song the band have yet created (which means it's damn heavy). None of the songs were from the band's debut Fire Flood And Acid Mud from a few months back; instead, all three will be featured on a soon to be recorded album set for release in the new year (full disclosure: I recorded No Anchor's debut album and will be doing the same for their next... and damn if I'm not super excited about hearing those songs over and over for a few days).

On the flipside, not everyone seemed so impressed by No Anchor - while the majority of the crowd were totally into the band's crushingly heavy stoner/doom rock, I did see one audience member turn to his friend at the end of the set and remark 'I just don't get it' to his friend.

By the end of No Anchor's set the crowd was starting to swell, and by the time Turnpike hit the stage the room was nicely filled. I'm sure there were a number of people in the audience who thought that Turnpike could have easily headlined this show, and the band put on a performance that I'm sure had a few more people thinking this by the end of their set. I had seen the band play a smaller show the previous week at Club Russia (with Mr Maps), and that show was one of the better that I've seen from Turnpike. Friday's was even better. As is usually the case in the band's sets recently, most of the material was unreleased - I think there was 'Selling This Century' from their split with Del Toro and 'Do The Broken' from Humans Find Patterns, with nothing from prior to that. It didn't really matter, the new songs have been in their sets for long enough that they've become quite familiar to most fans, and the band plays them with such ferocious energy that it wouldn't matter if noone had ever heard them before. Adam King plays with such energy and intensity that it seems a wonder that he's able to fret a single chord, such is the way that his body thrashes around on stage - by the end of the set there would not have been a single square inch of his shirt that wasn't saturated with sweat. Even in the last song, where the strap kept coming off his SG, he barely missed a beat.

Dick Nasty are not a band that I would profess to having an intimate knowledge of - I've seen them around town quite a number of times over the years (what regular indie/punk gig-goer in Brisbane hasn't?) but I don't own any releases of theirs. That said, they're a hugely solid punk band with few peers in this city. Unlike the previous bands, who both preferred extending their songs well past the 6minute mark (I think there had been a total of seven songs performed between the two bands prior), Dick Nasty's set consisted of track after track of short, concise and precisely played punk rock. With two guitarist/singers flanking the supremely tight rhythm section, Dick Nasty blasted through their set like a finely tuned machine (with just the right amount of chaos thrown into the mix).

Violent Soho were the 'name' band of the evening, and this showed in the packed crowd who stood around to watch (though it wasn't long before people were doing much more than merely standing around, with things escalating to a bit of crowd surfing by the end of the set). I have to admit that I don't hold the band in the same esteem as a lot of other local music fans, but there are two things that are fairly inarguable: 1) they can write a damn fine song around an early 90s guitar riff, and 2) they put on a pretty fantastic show. The band pulled out the majority of their crowd-pleasers: 'Jesus Stole My Girlfriend', 'Muscle Junkie', their cover of God's 'My Pal', 'My Generation' (not The Who song), 'Son of Sam'... actually, they do have quite a number of good songs, don't they?

One other notable thing about their set: it was heart-warming (in a tough, masculine way) to see the band so clearly appreciative of the people who have been supportive of them through their four year existence, with many thanks going out to the other bands on the bill, the crowd, the venue, and Brisbane music supporters in general. This was best exemplified when the band leapt (quite literally) to the defense of some of their friends who were being ejected from the venue for being excessively rowdy (I guess). While the lead guitarist and bassist left the stage for a few minutes to negotiate with the bouncers and venue staff, the drummer and singer were left to entertain the crowd with the opening riff of 'Jesus Stole My Girlfriend' (I *think*) repeated ad infinitum. Eventually the rest of the band returned with the news that everything had been sorted out and that the perhaps overly enthusiastic audience members had been let back in. I can't think of another time where bouncers have changed their mind over such an incident, so kudos to both sides, and extra kudos to Violent Soho for not being tempted to have a go at the bouncers from the stage after the incident.

Eat Laser Scumbag were a last-minute addition to the lineup, with half the band coming up from Melbourne in order to play the show. Although the members Eat Laser were operating on various degrees of lack of sleep and a limited amount of rehearsal, for the most part you wouldn't have picked it. They sounded like they pretty much always did - lively punk rock that's a bit rough around the edges delivered by four guys who seem to be having a hell of a lot of fun on stage. Bassist Adam Scott provided some humour to procedings after a request came to from the audience for the removal of various clothing items from the band, in the end being the recipient of one young lady's underwear (hi Jess!). Even though they weren't the 'biggest' of the bands to play on the night, they were the perfect way to end things - songs that were energetic enough to capture people's attention even as the time crept towards 1am, a relaxed and fun vibe, and the return of one of Brisbane more loved groups.

I can't think of the last time I saw this many local bands putting on such great performances in the one evening. Luckily for you, you can either relive the evening (if you were there) or experience it for the first time (if you weren't) by heading over to Turn It Up To 10 and downloading the audience recordings of all five sets. Thanks Brendan!

Apologies, Promises and Requests from China

2008-10-26T23:40:00.004+10:00

Like the title says. First, apologies; it's been quite some time between posts from me. My enthusiasm had temporarilly lapsed, but now it's back, an hopefully for good. As you might know, I'm currently living in central China, but I've brought with me a decent supply of Brisbane music. This brings me to my promise; I plan on posting an article weekly. At least until I run out of albums to review!

Finally, the request. One of our readers, Stuart, has been kind enought to post a review of 'Stranded' on Rate Your Music, and we were hoping to hear feedback from more of you. If you go to the page for the compilation you can post any comments; be they positive or negative. You can also rate 'Stranded'. Currently it's sitting at #474 for 2008 releases, but with a little help we could possibly hit the top 100! The general consensus when putting the compilation together was that if we got an enthusiastic enough response, we would try to do it again in the future. So if you are anticipating a 'Stranded:2008-2009', then you're going to have to put a little effort in!

Review: BigStrongBrute - Gardens In The Gutter

2008-10-26T20:37:00.002+10:00

I've been meaning to review this album for months now (along with a number of others), so I apologise for it being a little late. BigStrongBrute is a five piece led by singer/songwriter Paul Donoughue (who has also been a member of The Rational Academy, Tragic/Athletic, and Yeow Meow), and they have proved themselves capable of chanelling the spirit of bands such as those found on Elephant 6 and K Records. Indeed, Gardens In The Gutter could be described as pleasantly lo-fi, at least as much as something can be called lo-fi in this digital age.

'Marriage' is a brief, opening track; a simple acoustic number with layered vocals. While the song isn't all that remarkable, Donoughue's refrain, "I complain too much", manages to set the mood for the album quite well. 'Annulment', on the other hand, is an enigma to me. Every part of the song seems wrong, from the rhythm section lifted from Le Tigre's 'Deceptacon', to the ridiculously corny lyrics ("I'm getting hungry like a small pack of wolves"), yet BigStrongBrute somehow manage to pull it off.

Even if 'Annulment' was the car crash that it really should be, the next track, 'Children', would be the jaws of life that saves the day. Donoughue's lyrics are at their best here ("Cross my legs like a child/Sit straight back and just fucking smile."), as is the rest of the band. The track is a dense pastiche of acoustic guitar, reverbing drums, panning vocals, and rusty brass soloing. The slow, stomping "Everything All At Once" follows on; the sound is almost Gallic, calling to mind Beirut's The Flying Club Cup. "Don't Sweat It, Honey" is another standout. The rhythm section feels to be constantly teetering on the edge of collapse, at least until the song hits the chorus. At this point every aspect of the song comes together to create a simple, yet effective sound.

The somewhat underwhelming title track is next. While Donoughue's lyrics are only slightly below-par here in comparison to the rest of the album, 'Gardens In The Gutter' is musicaly lacking. It also feels like BigStrongBrute knew this, resulting in a minute of jamming and electronic trickery being tacked onto the end of the track; the outcome being that the song detracts from the coherency of the album as a whole. 'Birds And Elephants' sees the quality of the album picking up again, with its slow, rolling, almost country sound mixing well with the 'bunch of drunk mates jamming'-vibe the song exudes (Quick disclaimer: This song was featured on the compilation, Stranded, that we recently released). The untitled closing track sees Donoughue dueting with bandmate Nadia Aguilar-Hernandez. The song is simple, yet effective, with Donoughue showcasing his playful lyrics ("I don't need no rocking chair/I can rock most anywhere, darling"), as well as a suprising dislike for Baltimore (The Wire fan maybe?).

Gardens In The Gutter can be a little shaky in places. As mentioned, the lyrics can verge on cliched and corny, the music can be patchy and even bland in places, and the recording style may put off some listenets. But the lows are not so low that they detract from the highs, and the latter outnumbers the former here. Donoughue is a promising lyrical talent, and, with time, BigStrongBrute may grow to meet his potential. For a self-recorded debut, Gardens In The Gutter is an excellent effort, and hopefully a launching pad for further releases from the band.

Update: Apparently the closing track is a cover of an Entrance song. Thanks Joel for pointing that out!

Gigs of the Week - October 24th

2008-10-23T16:08:00.003+10:00

Friday 24th:
Eat Laser Scumbag, Violent Soho, Dick Nasty, Turnpike, No Anchor @ Step Inn - Recommendation of the week.

Saturday 25th:
Connect Four Art Party: Hungry Kids of Hungary, Restream, Do The Robot @ The Valley Studios - With added DJs, burlesque, art and more.
Rock Against Chicks: Girl With Cake, The Old Order, Legions of Mary, Flying Squad @ Clarence Corner Hotel
Secret Birds, No Anchor @ Ric's - No Anchor's myspace doesn't list this show, the street press has them under a psuedonym, and the Ric's website has them listed as a definite.

Sunday 26th:
Teleprompter, Velociraptor @ Ric's Bar (7:45pm)

And that's about all that catches my eye this weekend, as far as local shows go. Note that there's a show at Tabu on Friday night featuring Nikko - this show has been cancelled.

Review: Blue Carousel - Mussee EP

2008-10-17T18:47:00.008+10:00

Blue Carousel have been playing their mix of synth and guitar driven indie-rock around Brisbane venues with pretty great regularity for the last couple of years, and have now dropped their first proper release in the form of the Mussee EP. With a sound that contains equal measures synth-rock grooves and sinewy guitars, the band have less in common with the indie-dance fad of a few years back than they do with such bands as Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips and Sunset Rubdown. The comparisons are extended when the high-pitched, breathy (and usually double-tracked) vocals of lead singer Valdis are thrown into the mix. He has one of those 'love-it-or-hate-it' voices, much like the singers from the three previously mentioned bands.

Compared to the band's demos which have been floating around (you can hear some via their myspace, along with the first four tracks from this EP), the recordings on Mussee are very dense; there's barely a moment where there isn't an extra synth (or three) burbling away in the background. They're a five piece band so their sound is going to be relatively busy in any situation, but I often find myself thinking that perhaps some of the recordings on this EP are slightly overcooked. Additionally, in many cases the guitars have been relegated to backing the synths instead of the other way around - their lead guitarist, Adam (last name unknown) is an especially interesting player, so I would have liked to have heard more of him. Listening to the demo of 'Kanashii Uta' the band sounds like a band, while on the EP it's much more of a synth-rock exercise (except for a noisy effects-laden guitar in the breakdown, which is admittedly very cool and probably suits the band better than the previous guitar solo, which always came across as a little too 'smooth'). The following track, 'Portrait From Memory' is similarly keys-dominated, though much mellower - it does feature some interesting instrumental additions, such as glockenspiel and what seems to be a banjo joining about halfway through the song.

Things change up for fourth track 'Mr Zian Is A Lonely Boy', definitely the most aggressive song on the EP and probably also in the band's overall repertoire (and the only song that sounds vaguely like The Killers et al). Starting with reversed feedback and other assorted sounds, soon enough the song proper punches through with guitars buzzing around the central synth hook, with some nu-post-punk-esque guitar stabs filling the choruses. It's an energetic, exciting track but as a song it seems somewhat slight (or maybe it's just that I want the band to keep rocking out for another minute or so). Fun live, in any case.

EP closer 'Snappy Tom' has been a live staple for Blue Carousel for a good while, frequently closing their sets. With its steady build from plodding atmospherics to eventual guitar cacophony and woozy synth climax, it certainly ticks the 'epic closing track' box, and numbers amongst the band's best songs - it's certainly my favourite on the release. The moment where Valdis sings 'I see the river up ahead / jump in' as the band crashes back in after a brief pause is one of the more effective dynamic shifts produced recently by a local band.

Blue Carousel are a good band with a developing ear for pop hooks and an interesting musical vocabulary. Similarly, Mussee is a good EP and well worth a listen. With that said, I expect that their next release will likely be a considerable improvement. I would like to see the band either produce a really good recording of how they sound in a live context or go all out in the studio. Mussee kind of sounds like the band had some good songs that they had been playing for a while and wanted to spice up in the recording, but that they didn't have the time / resources / experience to do so to the extent that they wanted, and as a result there's something indefinably messy about it in parts. The good news is that the band have a number of songs up their sleeve for a second EP / album, and from what I've been able to gather it seems that they've saved their stronger material for that. I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

Gigs of the Week - October 17th

2008-10-17T11:30:00.004+10:00

There should be a record review up this afternoon, but for now here's the weekend's gig guide.

Friday 17th:
I/O3 @ GoMA Cinematheque (6pm) - Instrumental improv band provide the score to the classic silent film 'Metropolis' as part of the 'Out of the Shadows: German Expressionism and Beyond' series. The whole timetable is here.
Mr Maps, Turnpike, Kings of Red Lions, Piers @ Club Russian (15 Trafalgar St, Woolloongabba) - All Ages, BYO. Relaunch of the Russian Club.
The Holidays (NSW), Yves Klein Blue, Little Scout @ The Zoo
Doch @ The Powerhouse (7:30pm)
Texas Tea, Marty Brown, Comes To Where The Carpet Stops @ The Troubadour
The Vignettes (NSW), Table & Chair, Go Go Go Go Go, Marl Karx @ The Valley Studios

Saturday 18th:
Mr Rascal, Carry Nation @ Ric's Bar
Ohana (NSW), Tragic/Athletic, Quiet Steps @ Rosie's Upstairs
Pineapples From The Dawn of Time, The Ripz, Last Nite's Tea @ Tabu Bar
The Valley Transmission: Hungry Kids of Hungary, Sunflower, Fawn, The Figures @ Lower Brunswick St Mall (7:30pm) - All Ages, free.
Doch @ The Powerhouse (7:30pm, 11:30pm)
Kings of Red Lions, LameExcuse (ACT), The Kettleheads, Jet Set Ready, Piers @ Fat Louie's Pool Hall - Free.

Sunday 19th:
4ZzZ's Little Day In: Map Formosa, Comic Sans, Wearing Rosco, Danger Bunnies, Brad McCaw @ The Valley Studios (2pm, Free) - All Ages show put on by 4zzz's Youth Show.
Live Spark: Greg Brady, Tim Steward @ The Powerhouse (3pm) - All Ages
Doch @ The Powerhouse (6pm)
Violent Soho, Wind & Brackets, Stature:Statue, A Year To Remember @ Kuraby Skate Park - All Ages.

Gigs of the Week - October 10th

2008-10-10T10:30:00.004+10:00

While Gav is away in China I've been trying to keep the articles to gigs posts at around a 1:1 ratio, but unfortunately I've been pretty busy this week so here we have another Gigs of the Week without a more substantial article preceding it. In any case, there's a fair bit this weekend to see.

Friday 10th:
Clue To Kalo (SA), Tragic Athletic, Idles Cranes, Restream @ Lofly Hangar - All Ages (I'm pretty sure).
The Rational Academy, Split Sombre (Vic), Little Scout, Ambitious Lovers @ The Valley Studios - Not all ages. My mistake.
Blue Carousel, Des Peres (Vic), My Fiction @ Tabu Nightclub

Saturday 11th:
Joel Saunders & Crazy Hearse, Yeo & The Fresh Goods @ Ric's Bar
Split Sombre (Vic), Mr Rascal, Laura K, Mt Augustus @ Old Museum (6:30pm) - All Ages.
In Sepia, Quiet Steps, Kings of Red Lions, To The North, Let's Not (But Say We Did) @ The Troubadour - This would be my recommendation of the week.
My Disco (Vic), Marl Karx, Loomer @ The Valley Studios - Southern state math-rock band has two new local bands play with them.
The Boat People, Hungry Kids of Hungary @ QPAC Cascade Court - Free and all ages.
Sounds of Spring Festival @ RNA Showgrounds - It's a big festival, there are bands like Cog and Rocket Science as well as local acts like The Butcher Birds, Resin Dogs, The John Steel Singers, The Gin Club, Vegas Kings, etc. Check out the website for details.

Gigs of the Week - October 2nd

2008-10-02T11:51:00.006+10:00

It's a big weekend, this. If you're not planning to spend all of your time and money at one of the many shows for the bands who are coming down for the cancelled Great Escape festival, you could attend one of these shows:

Thursday 2nd:
Greg Charles, Benjamin Thompson @ GoMA Cinematheque (12pm, 3pm respectively) - Continuing the 'Out of the Shadows: German Expressionism and Beyond', Charles will be providing the soundtrack to 'The Golem', while Thompson will be playing over 'The Hands of Orlac'. If you run you might make it.
Room 40 Open Frame Festival @ The Powerhouse - although most of the acts are actually from overseas, it's been put together by local label Room 40 so I thought I'd give it a plug.
SixFtHick @ Ric's Bar - they're heading overseas again, so this will be a long set by all accounts.

Friday 3rd:
The Grates, The Vasco Era(Vic), The John Steel Singers @ The Arena.
Del Toro, Nova Scotia, Fickle Beasts, Restream @ Tongue & Groove - Free entry.
At Sea, Ridgeback Country, Young Liberals, Z-Rays @ The Troubadour
Room 40 Open Frame Festival @ The Powerhouse - although most of the acts are actually from overseas, it's been put together by local label Room 40 so I thought I'd give it a plug.

Saturday 4th:
Mt Eerie (USA), BigStrongBrute, Let's Not (But Say We Did), Mt Augustus @ Lofly Hangar (151 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill) - This is an international show, but it's being held at Brisbane's best DIY venue, it's all ages and it features three local bands. $20 on the door.
The Rocketsmiths (EP Launch), Wind & Brackets, The Gallant, Turtle Creek @ The Zoo
Mexico City, Andrew Morris, The Fricken Hecks @ The Troubadour
No Anchor, Spartak (ACT) @ Ric's Bar
Table & Chair, Idle Cranes @ Rosie's Upstairs
Stature::Statue, The Kidney Thieves, The Gallery Kiss, Pure Velour, Avabaree @ The Valley Studios

Sunday 5th:
I/O3 @ GoMA Cinematheque (3pm) - Another 'Out of the Shadows: German Expressionism and Beyond' show, this time featuring I/O3 (Heinz Riegler, Tam Patton, Lawrence English) soundtracking 'Nosferatu'.
Seagull (Vic), McKisko, Touch Typist (Vic), Otouto (Vic) @ The Troubadour
Audiopollen: Black Vitamins, Spartak Quartet (ACT), Secret Birds, Black Birches @ 101 Merthyr Road, New Farm (7pm) - mmm, noisy.

Review: Jane Woody - Big Breaths Little Lungs

2008-09-30T15:43:00.012+10:00

Mel Ralph has been playing around Brisbane under the moniker of Jane Woody for a few good years now, ever since she left I Heart Hiroshima and DIY-heroes Kicks in the middle of this decade. A few months ago she released her debut album Big Breaths Little Lungs on the local Valve label, and... well, that's about it. I've barely heard anything from her since then (I think she perhaps played a few shows around the time of its release, and her myspace indicates that she has since been out of the city / in Alice Springs?).

The one mention of her I came across was a lukewarm review of the album in a local street press, which essentially said that the record was perhaps overly lo-fi and samey. Because of this I first listened to Big Breaths Little Lungs expecting something consisting mostly of rough acoustic guitars, tape hiss and timid vocals; what I actually found was quite an accomplished sounding indie-pop record featuring drum machines, punk guitars, keyboards... and timid vocals. It's not Sergeant Peppers, but neither is it a Daniel Johnston cassette. The nearest comparison I can come up with is An Horse backed by Baltimore's Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - introspective, lovelorn pop that mixes the ramshackle nature of DIY with something a little bit more tech-savvy.

The album starts out with it's most overtly DIY sounding track in the 47 second long 'Coblers Pegs', which features vaguely out of tune guitars playing a rudimentary 4-note melody over a cheap sounding Casio beat. 'Decide' follows up with something more substantial, all driving Ramones-punk guitars and a simple drum beat. It's a subtly catchy number that finds the middle ground between I Heart Hiroshima and Sekiden (with Ralph's Angie Hart-esque vocals). On the other side of the coin, third track 'Now You've Fucked It Entirely' is a more downbeat, electronic sounding track. From there the album continues with most of the elements introduced in those first three tracks, most songs consisting of various combinations of guitars (sometimes strummed and acoustic, sometimes driving and distorted, sometimes nimble and clean), synth-pop keys and drum machines moving along at a medium tempo plus or minus a few bpm. My personal favourite track would be 'Bruises', a song that starts out as just guitar and vocals but gradually introduces sheets of guitar noise and rhythms, eventually building to something that almost sounds like it could fit on My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything. Penultimate track 'City' is notably different from the rest of the album - while it starts out with another Casio drum beat, instead of introducing a pop melody it does away with vocals entirely and places the focus on some slinky synth lines and guitars for the first half, before finishing with some interestingly treated electronic drums. It sounds more like some IDM/post-rock thing than bedroom pop.

The minimalist tendencies of Ralph's previous bands (the aforementioned I Heart Hiroshima and Kicks) are still very evident in Jane Woody Big Breaths Little Lungs, with most of the songs clocking in between 1:30 and 2:30 and rarely consisting of anything more than a verse riff and a chorus riff. Indeed, the album itself is somewhat short, but in a good way - I imagine that if it were any longer its charms could well start wear thin and it may become guilty of the accusations of being somewhat samey. As it is, this certainly isn't an 'exciting' album in any way, it won't get you pumping your metaphorical (or actual) fists, though if you give it the chance it will probably make you do an awkward little dance around your bedroom on a Sunday morning. That's the sort of record this is, it's a charming little piece of pop that's perfect for lazing around at home with on the weekend.