The Inches – ‘Dress Like Gods’

Hot young things out of Melbourne, The Inches are living proof that the Aussie music industry does work in weird and wonderful ways. Signed before they had even played a single show, these boys are now part of the Red Label roster, an underground subdivision of the behemoth that is SonyBMG. With an average age of about twenty-one, the group posses a proficiency which far outstrips their years, as they rip through their modern take on 70s glam in the vein of T-Rex, Bowie, and perennial favourites, Deep Purple.

But it would be wrong to label The Inches as yet another ‘scene’ band who wear their influences like a second skin. For they also meld punk-funk, disco and most importantly (for this author) extended psychedelic jams into their numbers, which makes for a highly unique sound. There’s alot of buzz surrounding these guys, and it’s pretty easy to see why. As drummer Manny Bourakis explains “Melbourne is a city with a good rock community, but lots and lots of shit bands.” Good to see that this outfit managed to inch their way to the top of the heap. Who needs the metric system anyway?

http://www.theinches.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/theinches

A cut from their older repertoire this was the first song from the Juggers that earned rotation on Triple J and put the national spotlight on them. They are currently touring the world, bumping into other Aussie bands breaking in the UK such as Children Collide, The Valentinos and Bang Gang DJ Ajax.

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Film clip for Josh Pyke’s new song ‘Memories & Dust’.  This probably won’t be available on CD until next year though.

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I Heart Hiroshima – ‘Candy Cut’

Right from the name, you can tell that these kids are going to be scruffy “scribble-our-name-on-your-schoolbooks” indie-pop darlings. Like every good lo-fi outfit, I Heart Hiroshima met at a house party last year, did some jamming, decided to ignore bass guitar (who plays bass these days anyway? That’s so 1990s..) and record a cute little EP. The result is A 3 Letter Word for Candy, a debut which, rather impressively, manages to encapsulate the spirit and fervour of some of the best indie acts of the recent years.

Equal parts Pavement, Sonic Youth and Tapes ‘n Tapes, the trio all share vocal duties, making for some interesting Subways-esque texture changes as boys and girls constantly swap from lead to backing. Needless to say, the girl’s a lot better, with a sexed-up yet eerily detached voice that would probably give Interpol’s Paul Banks nightmares. The production is, naturally, mediocre (as was probably intended), but the songs are tight – and the twin-pronged guitar attack actually works, rather than simply sounding contrived. When a grassroots label pumps some serious money into their studio time, these guys will be huge.

http://www.ihearthiroshima.com
http://www.myspace.com/ihearthiroshima

Sia – ‘Breathe Me’

Born in Adelaide to musician parents Sia Furler had to relocate to London before finding deserved worldwide success. With background in the South Australian jazz circuit her worldwide travels took her to the UK where she scored a gig as backup singer for Jamiroquai. This in turn led her to collaborations with Massive Attack, William Orbit, Beck  and the current band she’s touring with, Zero 7. With a smooth, fragile voice that balances itself right in between jazz and soul stylings Sia gained more attention after ‘Breathe Me’ was featured in a scene of the TV series Six Feet Under.

The story was that she had some resistance from her old label in the UK about releasing an album overseas. So she wrote a pop album – Colour The Small One, and they responded by dropping her from the roster altogether! Luckily a music supervisor at HBO heard ‘Breathe Me’ and included the song in the series. Immediately after it was aired labels came calling – including the one that dropped her. That song saved her music career. It’s got a pretty cool video too.

www.myspace.com/siamusic
siamusic.net

In a comment by ‘ad’ in response to my post about Cog, he mentioned that they’re the best live band he’s seen.  So I’ve done a bit of digging around and thanks to everyone’s new favourite website YouTube, I’ve managed to find a live clip from Cog which was recorded back in 2002, just after the release of their first EP Just Visiting Part 1.  Recorded for a TV show called The Gig which airs (or used to air) on the Australian cable music station Channel [V], this clip demonstrates Cog’s great live performance and presence.  You also get to see the amazing drumming skills of Lucius Borich.

The band used to always open their sets with ‘Moshiach’ and now thankfully on their current tour, they’re opening with it again.  This song demonstrates the old progressive nature of Cog’s songs, and you can definitely tell by this song that the band started as an instrumental act.

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