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

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.

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

(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.

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Weekly News - 30th March

• 4ZzZ are looking for volunteers for their programming committee. Have a look at their website for more information.

• There's new music online from Kissy Trouble Company, Dead Set Love, Jim Grundy, The Bloodpoets, and, my top pick for the week, Dick Desert & The Shotgun Club.
  

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Weekly News - January 7th

• If you haven't already heard, Skinny's is no longer closing down. Instead the store will remain open under new ownership, but no other major changes. This is great news for anyone made a purchase or witnessed an instore performance at Skinny's over the years. Fingers crossed there will be many more to come.

• A new year means a new Hot 100 from 4ZzZ. Congratulations goes to Texas Tea who took out the number one spot for the second year running with their song 'Whiskey And Wine', as well as eight spot with another song. Six Ft Hick and I Heart Hiroshima also performed strongly with two songs a piece. Head over to the 4ZzZ website to see the whole list.
  

• Congratulations also goes to the John Steel Singers who have won the Queensland leg of Triple J Unearthed, giving them the opportunity to play at the Gold Coast Big Day Out.
  

• Finally you should check out the new tracks from Violent Soho and Capital.
  

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Weekly News - December 7th

• Its December and that means end of the year lists, and locally there's none bigger then 4ZzZ's Hottest 100. Anyone can vote, however 4ZzZ subscribers go in the running to win 10 CD's. Entries close Christmas Day, so get in quick and vote here.

• Undertow, the Gold Coast's resident street press, is releasing a compilation showcasing the city's musical talent. The featured artists cover the spectrum of the Gold Coast music scene, ranging from the internationally and nationally recognised (Operator Please, Winnie Coopers), to local favourites (The Daisycutters, The Presidents Bush). Proceeds from sales of the CD go to charity so make sure to pick up a copy when its released next week.
  

• Garage-punks The Busymen are launching their debut album this week (a decade after they formed!). Distort All Levels is being released on Turkeyneck Records and promises to serve up a uniquely 'Brisbane' take on the proto-punk sound of the 60's.
  

• Things are on the up and up for Del Toro. The band have recently finished recording their debut album, Hydra, with veteran producer Casey Rice (Tortoise, Veruca Salt, Dirty Three). The first evidence of this is the stellar track 'Unlimited', available to hear on the band's Myspace. The trio have also scored support slots in January for US alternative heavyweights Low and Built To Spill.

• Brisbane's very own supergroup (of sorts), Rooftop Nightwatch, have unleashed a bunch of demos. Don't let the tag put you off though, these are excellent quality recordings so be sure to check them out.

• For those lamenting Brisbane's prodigal instrumental hip-hopper's Briztronix (Who have recently released their debut LP), I suggest having a listen to the latest release from Monster Monster. The track 'Nine Minutes And Fifty Something Seconds' is to be released as a single in the future, but for now you can listen to part of it in the Monster Monster's myspace.
  

• Bit of a public service announcement to finish off. Mary Trembles bassist Tanzie had three guitars stolen last Saturday in Bowen Hills and would probably like them back. Check out the details here if you know anything.
  

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Weekly News - November 30th

New segment coming at y'all! This one's fairly self-explanatory.

• Post-punk revivalists Yves Klein Blue have signed to Brisbane's foremost independent record label, Dew Process. Apparently the label was attracted by Yves Klein Blue's "clashy blend of classic pop, old punk, gypsy jazz and indie rock." Personally I'm a little skeptical about Yves Klein Blue's "gypsy jazz" origins, but you can find out for yourself December 11th when the band plays The Zoo alongside The Grates, Dr Dog, and Whitley for the Dew Process Xmas Party.

• Virgin has announced the first lineup for 2008's V Festival. The list is short but sweet, including luminaries like Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus And Mary Chain, Queens of the Stone Age, Duran Duran, and Air. Unfortunately the only Australian acts announced are Sydney's The Presets, and Melbourne's Plug In City, so fingers crossed some Brisbane acts fit into the final lineup. The local leg of the tour occurs March 30th on the Gold Coast, with tickets on sale next Thursday.

• December is a month of birthday celebrations for Brisbane's musical institutions. 4ZzZ is in line for a mid-life crisis at 32, while The Zoo ups the ante with some teen angst 15 years after they opened their doors. Both 4ZzZ and The Zoo will be holding shows to celebrate so keep an eye on Cam's gig recommendations.

• Local folk-poppers Rialto Decibal Choir are set to drop their debut release, The Parade EP, in January next year. Head over to their MySpace page to check out the first offering from the EP, 'Four Posts'.

• Tragic/Athletic are also gearing up for their latest EP, Brakes, which will be available sometime in December (or possibly June/July 2008 as I've heard elsewhere, I'm going to give December the benifit of the doubt though). Two of the four tracks, 'Three Months At Sea' and 'We Set Sail When The Wind Came', are available on their MySpace so I recommend investigating.

• If you can't wait for the above two releases then be sure to pick up Joel Saunders Girly Music EP which will be launched at Lofly Hangar tomorrow night. The EP features Joel covering songs by female artists, including an impressive remake Rihanna's 'Umbrella' (To the point were the song is no longer annoying!). As a lead up to the launch Joel has been blogging about his favourite cover songs, among which sits local band Shakes' cover of Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time'. I recommend having a look at the post here.
  

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