Streamer Bendy – ‘Boy Oh Boy’ (mp3)

Streamer Bendy are BFFs and a very very attractive band.

Named after the childhood imaginary friend of singer Erinn Swan, band member-wise Streamer Bendy is a mixture of now-defunct pop rockers Repeat Offender (RIP), pop-metallers  Nina May and Some Kinda Magic, the world’s best Queen tribute band. Pick which guy plays Brian May as his day job.

‘Boy Oh Boy’ reminds me a bit of Fever To Tell era Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The highlight of this track for me is the chorus lyric “I could get you off behind my uncle’s tractor/doesn’t mean I like you, I’m a real good actor” – the harmonised riff behind it is pretty great too.

Streamer Bendy’s self-titled EP is out on Friday. I’ll bet you my flawless GPA that these guys will be huge.

www.myspace.com/streamerbendy

The Scare – ‘No Money’

If the press release is to believed then the title ‘No Money’ is an apt summation of the past two years for The Scare. After only a few listens I can’t quite make out all the words of the verses but I assume they large spin tales reflecting the band’s (if not the world’s) financial woes that they shout about in the song’s refrain. ‘No Money’ continues the band’s pursuit of producing songs that make sense within both a pop and and post-punk context, again managing to balance each element equally and cleanly and with an energy that practically bleeds through the speakers.

The song is driven by a metallic, distorted bass groove and a thumping floor tom/back beat combination. Singer Kiss Reid shrieks like Jack White fronting a punk band while the guitars add fuzzy punctuation to the verses and wirey 8-note lines throughout the chorus. It’s not all bleak though – if anything, the song sounds like a party designed to distract from the titular economic woes, an attitude accentuated in the ‘woo’-ing backing vocals and Reids percussive ‘ha ha ha!’ vocal turns.

‘No Money’ is from The Scare’s forthcoming sophomore album, ‘oozevoodoo,’ which I’m now officially really excited about.

www.myspace.com/thescare

Mountains In The Sky – ‘X-Gamma’

Mountains In The Sky is the work of laptop extraordinaire John Lee, one of the leading lights in Australia’s burgeoning experimental electronica scene. While it may have taken over three years for his debut long-player to emerge, in the lead up he released a mini album (Celesstial Suns), had a song (‘Noah’s Arkestra’) featured in the NBA playoffs in the US and produced a 21-minute opus (‘Accipio’) that had industry types buzzing.

October saw the release of Electron Suite, which features the above track. You have to constantly remind yourself that the cavernous, layered sounds were all recorded by one guy in his bedroom. The beats are tight and kept fairly simple and the squelching synth-bass grooves along with an unassiming determination with the majority of the experimentation left to the filtered guitar squall and the wailing organ drones that drop in and out. A myriad of other indistinguishable noises appear throughout the song, flashing across the stereo spectrum with an orchestrated abandonment that lends the song its expansive feeling and displays Lee’s wizardry with a mouse and keyboard.

I saw these guys live at Laneway and they manage to translate it live fantastically well so check it out if you haven’t already.

www.myspace.com/mountainsinthesky1

Harlequin League – ‘All Your Wars Are Won’ (mp3)

Cup your ears to this tasty offering from stalwarts of Perth indie-rock cum synth-punk Harlequin League. ‘All Your Wars Are Won’ is the first single to come from their latest EP ‘I Don’t Do Friends.’  It’s a slightly down pace successor to its ram-it-down-your-throat, full-body-flip-out ancestors, which nonetheless brews the same tempestuous vocal intensity and fits comfortably under the catchy eclectic pop umbrella.

Venture out to see Harlequin League in their party pants as they co-headline the New Hunting Grounds Tour this month.

www.myspace.com/harlequinleague

Lady Of The Sunshine – ‘White Rose Parade’ (mp3)

Angus Stone (Julia’s brother) has started his own side project to fill time in between Angus and Julia Stone albums named Lady of The Sunshine. I’m a big fan of the duo so I was keen to listen to this track for any hint of any new material from the sibling group, but it would be misleading to take this as an indication of their future compositions. White Rose Parade features the very familiar Angus voice, over plugged in blues-ish guitar that doesn’t overpower his narrative.  It’s a different vibe to what I’m used to, but a good start and I look forward to hearing more.

www.myspace.com/ladyofthesunshine

Who The Bloody Hell Are They? and Sounds Australia are throwing our very first ever SXSW party! If you are attending SXSW then come along to the opening party on Wednesday 18th March 2009 at the Lucky Lounge, 209A West 5th Street, Austin. Meet your favourite Australian music people over some fine Aussie wines provided by Wine Australia. DJs playing on the night are Miami Horror DJs, Dappled Cities Mobile Disco, My Disco DJs, Inertia Sound System and Nathan McLay of the Future Classic label. To celebrate we put together a mixtape of some of our current favourite remixes involving either Australian artist, producer, or both.

Who The Hell SXSW party mixtape tracklist (in no particular order):

1. Tame Impala – Half Glass Full Of Wine (Canyons Drunken Rage remix)
2. Cut Copy – Far Away (Damn Arms remix)
3. Feist – 1234 (Van She Tech remix)
4. Santigold – L.E.S Artistes (Ooh-Ee remix)
5. Van She – Changes (G.L.O.V.E.S remix)
6. Pnau feat. Ladyhawke – Embrace (Miami Horror & Fred Falke remix)
7. Cut Copy – Hearts On Fire (Holy Ghost remix)
8. Midnight Juggernauts – Shadows (Knightlife remix)
9. The Presets – This Boy’s In Love (Lifelike remix)
10. Muscles – Sweaty (Shazam remix)

Download party mixtape in zip file