Saw these guys last week in Melbourne. The singer Kiss is crazy, he was running into crowds and shouting into people’s faces and generally being a punk. Great show.

www.myspace.com/thescare

www.myspace.com/jacksonjacksonmusic

A Friend Like Mine – ‘Cry Like You Mean It’ (mp3)

A full and fierce debut EP from the ambitious songwriting team that is A Friend Like Mine. Heavily informed by a late-period Radiohead, the boys also cite Mogwai, Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails and Neutral Milk Hotel as influences and bear the marks of all these bands. Rich, dark and deeply creative, they move from glitch-based dreamscapes to murky ballads to industrial gothica in an album length collection of oblique but powerful tunes. Very, very interesting.

www.myspace.com/internetwhores

bluejuice – ‘Vitriol’ (mp3)

I’m not sure why I’m really writing a blog on bluejuice because I really don’t know much about them at all.  But I do know this: they won a MusicOz Award in 2003, they’ve released two EPs – Zebraaazz and The Good Luck Pig – and they’re about to release their first full-length album, Problems, next month.

I also hear they’re funny as fuck and one of the greatest Sydney bands to see live.  I haven’t heard anyone say they didn’t enjoy a bluejuice gig.  Because these guys don’t really take themselves all that seriously.  You get that vibe from their funk/hip-hop hybrid songs. 

They’re getting lots of radio lovin’ from their new single ‘Vitriol’.  And you can hear it here!  It’s one of my favourite tunes at the moment – the organ is just awesome.

http://www.bluejuice.info
http://www.myspace.com/bluejuice

Melanie Horsnell – ‘Kiss You Again’ (mp3)

I became aware of Melanie Horsnell purely for the fact that a few of my mates were members of her backing band The Inflatable Girlfriends.  But it wasn’t until she released ‘Kiss You Again’ from her record The Adventures of that I actually heard any Mel Hornsell material.

Invoking images of ’60s pop acts such as The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, ‘Kiss You Again’ is a really sweet singer/songwriter tune, in the vein of more contemporary artists like Regina Spektor, Cat Power and KT Tunstall.  She’s currently on tour with Red Ghost and Laura Imbruglia on the Once, Twice, Three Times A Lady Tour.  The dates are:

Thursday July 12 – Sodens Bar, Albury, NSW
Friday July 13 – Yahoo Bar, Shepparton, VIC
Saturday July 14 – Wesley Anne Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
Sunday July 15 – The Grace Emily, Adelaide, SA
Thursday July 19 – Oxford Tavern, Wollongong, NSW

http://www.melaniehorsnell.com
http://www.myspace.com/melaniehorsnell

Evermore – ‘Never Let You Go’

Like a bicycle with only one gear, Evermore are only good for the seamless flatland that is the middle of the road. ‘Never Let You Go’ opens with the trademark harmonies of Evermorean standard and builds through the verse towards a chorus of soaring vocals and orchestral drums. I swear to God, they’re just changing the lyrics at this point.

www.myspace.com/evermore

Lost Valentinos – ’17 Deaths’

The begot Los begot Lost… so now we arrive at Lost Valentinos, a name change for the Sydney four piece to avoid a throng of lawyers syphoning money from them. It begs the question: what’s the big difference between “The Valentinos” and “Lost Valentinos”??

Along with the name change comes two things: a new drummer, replacing Dan Stricker (who’s now behind the kit for the Midnight Juggernauts), and a new single, ’17 Deaths’ produced by uber-rad UK-via-Berlin producer Ewan Pearson. He’s worked with bands like The Rapture and Goldfrapp, and that electro-dance element is noticable from the first few seconds when the rave synths kick in. It’s more of a progression for the band, whose popularity has plateaued somewhat since the release of their EP Damn and Damn Again.

You can only buy this one on iTunes and it’ll be on their album which will be out sometime – I don’t think the band even know!

http://www.myspace.com/lostvalentinos