The Basics – ‘Just Hold On’

I’ve only recently heard the music of The Basics, although I’ve been aware of the band for some time.  I heard ‘Just Hold On’ on the radio and instantly fell for their retro-pop sound – it brings to mind acts like The Monkees, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and The Hollies.  It’s a welcome change from a slew of retro inspried bands who seem to be “influenced” by the same core groups.

If that voice sounds slightly familiar, that’s because drummer/vocalist of The Basics is Wally de Backer, the man behind the Gotye project.  The Basics maintains the pop sensibilities of Gotye, except unlike that project The Basics is a three-piece made up solely of drums, guitar, bass and the vocals of all three members.  They have an album entitled Stand Out/Fit In due for release early 2007 and two other tracks from the album ‘Speak to Me’ and the rocking ‘Rattle My Chain’ can be heard on The Basics’ MySpace page and a bunch more songs can be heard at their official page.

http://www.thebasics.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/the3basics

Although we haven’t actually posted about the Sick Puppies yet, I think that it’s still important to post their clip for ‘All The Same’ which has over 2 million views on YouTube and has been gaining significant media attention in Australia.  The film clip tells the true story of Juan Mann who walks around Sydney offering people free hugs.  It’s an interesting clip because on one hand it demonstrates the (often unfounded) trepidation we have towards others, but on the other hand the film clip shows how compassionate and loving people can be.  On top of that, ‘All The Same’ is actually a pretty cool tune. The Sick Puppies are originally from Sydney but now reside in LA.

http://www.sickpuppies.net
http://www.myspace.com/sickpuppies

Intense.

Previous posts: Witch Hats

Cog – ‘Resonate’ (mp3)

I was gonna get on my soapbox and make some rant about the general state of the music “scene” and the scenesters and everyone’s love for dirty synths and all that kinda shit that pisses me off as a music fan because while everyone goes nuts for bands without bass players that believe Wham! was the best band of all time, there’s Australian bands like Cog that get overlooked.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of some of the cool kids’ bands, but when it comes to overall music brilliance and world-beating ability, it’s hard to look past Cog. They’re as good, if not better, than most of the bands that sell millions of albums overseas. They’ve constantly made amazing music ever since they started. In terms of the Sydney music scene, their residency at the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills is legendary – every Wednesday for three months they sold out the place, and they hadn’t even been together for a year! It helps that you’re playing music light years ahead of your peers, that your drummer is one of the best Australia has produced, and your live show is an phenominal tour-de-force.

So who are Cog exactly? Well, they’re a three piece from Bondi in Sydney, they were kicking around the Aussie scene for a couple of years and released two great but poorly recorded EPs called Just Visiting Part 1 & Just Visiting Part 2. Then in 2004 they jumped on a big ol’ jet airliner and travelled to Weed, California to record their amazing debut album The New Normal with producer Sylvia Massy-Shivy (Tool, R.E.M), which was released the following year It was the first time that Cog captured their massive live sound on a recording. The album shed some of the progressive rock/Tool comparisons Cog were generating, and it showcased a more mature and succinct act.

The band have also been quite political in the past – on one of their tours they screened the John Pilger documentary Breaking the Silence – The Truth and Lies on the War on Terror and much of their lyrical content deals with political issues. In their filmclip for ‘Run’, drummer Lucius Borich has “Bush, Howard, Blair Fuck Off” written on his drum kit and the filmclip itself was set in a detention centre to highlight the plight of refugees being detained by the Australian government. Check it out below!

A few quick notes to finish off – Justin Cotta of VAST fame was going to sing for the band. In 2003 Cog recorded a cover version of Leftfield’s ‘Open Up’ which opened them up (no pun intended) to a national audience. The band are about to go back to Weed to record their second album. They are planning on touring North America in February. They are touring Australia right now. Cog are the most promising act in Australia. Go!

http://www.cog.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomcog

Midnight Juggernauts – ’45 and Rising’

“Dude, this crowd is so scene…”

A phrase often overheard at Midnight Juggernauts‘ gigs, where old highschool buddies Andy and Vincent proceed to blow indie kids’ minds, especially in their hometown of Melbourne. Though they have only just released their EP Secrets Of The Universe, the boys have supported with some rock’s premier acts. Wolfmother, DFA 1979 and songstress/DJ Annie are all quick to praise the duo, currently labelled as the “hardest working touring act” in Australia. And the gigs just keep on coming, as the Juggernauts hit the road with Canadian wunderkind MSTRKRFT.

Their sound is truly inventive, mashing up pretty much every electro subgenre of the past few decades, leaning heavily towards the moody synth-club sound which echoes New Order and to a lesser extent, Daft Punk. First single ‘Shadows’ showcases this sort of zombie-flick-vs-neon-disco concept which has catapaulted the Juggernauts to stardom. They’ve got an album in the pipeline, a headlining tour in the next month, followed by a slot at the prestigious Homebake Festival in December, the lauded, annual all-Aussie festival which takes place in the heart of Sydney. These guys don’t even need the promo; friends like Cut Copy, The Presets and Chromeo speak for themselves.

http://www.midnightjuggernauts.com
http://www.myspace.com/midnightjuggernauts

Jet – ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’

So the big sophomore release from one of the biggest Australian band in recent times, is out this week. Jet face stiff competition from other big releases this week; indie hero Beck has an album out, hyped up folk rock outfit The Decemberists are putting out their debut, and fellow corporate rockers The Killers are pushing their second album as well. Beck of course gets favourable reviews no matter what he puts out, and most bloggers has collectively fallen in love with The Decemberists so they’re safe. A lot of venom is flying at The Killers’ Sam’s Town, so that leaves Jet with whoever has the energy left to post. So far the general consensus is this: if you like your retro rock and don’t mind the formula of the first album, then you’ll like this one. Otherwise stay far away. Which can be hard to do if you live in Australia, with Triple J radio and all commercial stations picking up on the album.

I’m not a big fan of this retro rock genre, it was fun when the Strokes and White Stripes were good but all recycled fashion has their use by date and it is now long gone past. Unfortunately Australia seems to have an endless supply of these type of bands, just look at the previous post (ok they’re from NZ but close enough). While Wolfmother is busy rechannelling Black Sabbath into the 21st century all over the world, Jet tries to rework the other big 70s rock sound: AC/DC. Now I can go on listing who else they’ve tried to be this album, but I thought it’d be more fun if I just pick the best bits of the other reviews out on the net so far this week. As said earlier, most of the American blogs and zines are focusing on three other big releases this week, so there hasn’t been that many on Jet yet.

Let start with NME. The UK rag took a break from promoting nu-rave and witch hunting emo bands and gave Jet a 7/10.
Excerpt: “…can they follow an album [Get Born] that owed such a huge debt to others with something that shows the essence of themselves? It’s a question that’s obviously plagued Jet… for about two minutes. With a typically Aussie lack of concern for daggy conventions such as ‘development’ or ‘progression’, they’ve simply made another joyfully old-fashioned rock’n’roll album immersed in the classics.“

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The Datsuns – ‘System Overload’

The Datsuns started out in 1997 in New Zealand, and for six years released vinyl only singles on their own label and travelled back and forth to Australia for gigs before taking the plunge to London and scoring a deal with V2 records. They excited a lot of the UK music press but quickly went cold soon after the retro rock movement got a bit tiring. The band came out into the public’s consciousness in a time when there was a flood of garage rock bands, and was quickly dwarfed by the White Stripes, The Strokes and Jet. Their last album got caned by critics and the first one didn’t fare too well either. They’re back with a third album out this year, the lead single System Overload sounds pretty good to me and is getting fair airplay on Triple J radio. A massive round of promo dates in the UK and Europe is going to keep them busy throughout October. Shame about the video though, the song doesn’t really fit into the whole retro sci-fi vibe.

thedatsuns.com
http://www.myspace.com/thedatsuns