Recent Posts

EVENT: Bermuda Float #2

, , No Comment

Pearl-Oyster-960x642

I’d eat what he’s serving. In fact, I have. Would you like to? Join Pearl Oyster serving deliciousness with the sounds of merry bands of colourful musical pleasure, onboard the BERMUDA FLOAT with King Tuff and other gangs of awesome including UV Race, Mighty Duke and the Lords, Made For Chickens By Robots, and Peace Pipe DJ’s. Yep, those are all real band names. Bermuda Float is back for another wet stroll down the yarra… or maybe out on the ocean – I don’t know but it’s not stopping so take your floaties and get tropical. Presser time:

King Tuff is the brainchild of garage-rocker Kyle Thomas. Known chiefly as King Tuff to the rock-nerd underworld, he has moonlighted in a multitude of bands, such as psych-folk band Feathers, garage punk and Sub Pop affiliated outfit Happy Birthday as well as J Mascis’ doom band Witch. Gracing our shores with his lo-fi garage pop for the first time ever!

+ Catch UV Race before they head off on their 2nd US of A tour this May.

BERMUDA FLOAT #2 THURSDAY 25TH APRIL – That’s ANZAC Day – (not Australia day)

Tickets on sale here. Get ’em while you can. You can check out Wing and Gill for more shenanigans and a very trippy background image.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR: The Eversons

, , No Comment

 

Love_Thy_Neighbour

 

Four graphic designers hanging off a wire fence. Who knows, this could be the start to a successful sitcom. Here’s our third in the ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ tune swap series with our pals over at Under the Radar. This week, Courtney Sanders introduces you to The Eversons. 

_____

The Eversons

Did you know we’re totally proud of our New Zealand accents? We’re also a self-depracating lot so you may not have heard us talk about it much, but there are a growing number of New Zealand alt-rock bands embracing their Kiwi-dom by singing about it like they mean it.

Enter Welington group The Eversons, who released their first material a mere couple of years ago and were booked for Laneway Festival 2013. That’s a testament to their rambunctious live show and catchy-as-hell hooks. If Weezer and Pavement had an Antipodean baby, this is what it would sound like. ‘Could It Ever Get Better’ is one of their earlier tracks, but so definitive of their college-rock sound and slacker ‘tude it had to be the single to introduce you to these loveable tykes.

_____

Facebook / Buy their tunes

LISTEN: Olympia

, , No Comment

Olympia_

In the bible of band must-do’s, making the obligatory video clip out of retro stock footage apparently sits somewhere high on the list. We’ve seen it all; grainy snippets of atomic bombs juxtaposed against old cars, against childhood vids, against old hollywood movies, against flower buds opening in slow-mo.

So whether you prefer visual euphemisms or super8 nostalgia, when well edited clips turn up in the eternal retro stock waste pile – you can’t help but pay some damn attention. This clip by Olympia tops it for the best use of footage I’ve seen so far. Build a giant pool at MGM studios, pay some synchro swimmers to dive into coloured flares, add in this singer’s ‘Jazz Buckley’ stylings – stuff just works.

Olympia is Melbourne based singer/songwriter Olivia Bartley. She’s just released her debut EP, which includes contributions from Pat Bourke (Tex Perkins, Dallas Crane) and Brous among others. She’s got a really sweet tone to her voice too. It sits on the borderline between pop/jazz, but for all the indecision; that languid guitar really adds something quite special. There’s something really comforting about Bartley’s tone; it has that honest, late 90s vibe that makes you need a hug. Olympia doesn’t really need that string section in ‘Atlantis’, it’s kind of a noise filler. After listening to other tracks ‘Through It’ and ‘Sleeping Wolves’, it’s really clear that this lady should just be content with a guitar with generous distortion, a room with fairly large ceilings and hey, Fiona Apple’s your pal quicker than you can mumble “Jai Guru Deva…Om”. Or something.

YouTube Preview Image

_____


Facebook / Bandcamp / Web

LISTEN: Cherax Destructor

, , No Comment

cherax

Cherax Destructor may be the fancy name given to the Australian freshwater yabby, but meet your new favourite (human) Cherax Destructor: singer/producer Patch Hutley.

The Sydney-based musician is pretty much Australia’s answer to Baths. If you’re unfamiliar with Baths’ sound, think atmospheric, squelchy beats with electronic hooks aplenty. Hutley dropped his ‘Objects In Space’ EP in October last year, but it’s his new material that has reeled us in (which you can find scattered across his various music and social media pages).

The adventurous ‘<3’ is jam-packed with fiddly samples and joyful melodies – all chopped up and twisted into one another. His songs generally move from instrumental hip hop to collaged IDM beats and tricks. Although he’s labelled his sound on his Soundcloud page as ‘friendship-hop’, it’s also bang on, as his songs are as warm and cuddly as good friendships generally get. 

It’s not all samples and beats for Hutley though. He’s also branched out a little and released a killer cover of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’. It’s a stripped back rendition with simple vocals and acoustic guitar, and it’s a charmer.

Catch Cherax Destructor at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney on Friday 26 April as part of the Lonely Kids Club winter range launch party.

_____

Facebook / Soundcloud

LISTEN: Mt Warning – ‘Burn Again’

, , No Comment

Mt_Warning

 

You know those bands. Their name latches on in your subconscious; sort of like a that foreign wad of sticky tape that magically appears under your shoe. I’ve seen Mt Warning’s name turn up in various places – on gig posters and in several conversations with pals. I only really took a closer look when I saw their name appear again on the Field Day London lineup recently. They haven’t had a proper release just yet…so better late than never I guess.

Mt Warning are a five piece. I think they’re from Byron. Or half of them are from the UK or something. It’s kind of hard to find out basic facts when the person who wrote your band presser has a thing for commas, overbearing prose and then fills in ‘Shakespeare and Hemingway’ in the ‘Sounds Like’ description on your Unearthed page. But the music is good. We forgive you.

If you haven’t stumbled across Mt Warning, then ‘Burn Again’ is a fantastic introduction to this band. It’s a stark, moody track that banks on a built up thud of percussion and strong vocals. I would have liked the huge decomposing wall of guitars at around the 2.39 mark to linger around for a lot longer, but I’d imagine this would be stellar live. 

There’s a bit of a A Dead Forest Index vibe here. Sounds a bit like The National when they aren’t all collectively on their periods.

If you’re in the UK, these guys are playing Field Day London on the 25th. Locally, Mt Warning are touring with the Temper Trap all through April.

_____

Facebook / Soundcloud