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LISTEN: Tempura Nights – ‘Mr Tone’

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The only note I took on first listen to this song was ‘PIXIES’– cause although Brisbane four-piece Tempura Nights have shown varied influences in their short life span, this track sits firmly in the late-’80s, early ’90s alternative territory. The wordiness of Rezende’s verses also recalls a bit of Speedy Ortiz, more in the way the lyrics sound than the words themselves. Just have a listen to that abrasive guitar tone and how low the bass grinds along, and tell me you get anything other than 90s teen movie angst.

It’s never a good idea to say what YOU think a band is writing about, you almost always end up looking like a moron, but if ‘Mr Tone’ isn’t about that weird old white guy who eats whole onions on the TV, then it should be. Cause there’s plenty of spite here. It’d be cool to see Rezende get more fired up, break through that smart snarky voice that she does so easily and really get into a bit of yelling. But you get the point anyway: Tempura Nights have no time to take shit.

Though they do seem to have a lot of time to spend in the studio – Tempura Nights work on songs for ages. This can often be a bad sign, cause there’s nothing worse than good music being way overworked and picked over. Thankfully, on ‘Mr Tone’ the band have stayed away from anything too tricky (though it could do without the gang vocals at the end – sounds like PNAU or something) and brought us an extremely solid single from a group that’s delivering on its promise.

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INTRODUCING: White Gums

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White Gums is a brand new solo project out of Newcastle, dealing in pristine, laptop-crafted music birthed over “countless nights of insomnia, passion and dreaming”.

Of the three tracks on White Gums’ solid debut EP, Float, ‘DesreveR’ is the one that has grabbed everyone’s attention, and it’s not hard to see why. Built around crisp 808 flicks, warm, pulsing sub-bass and a Jónsi-style falsetto, the track masters the subtle climax and drops some nifty glitch work near the end too.

The other two tracks, ‘Float’ and ‘Rattle’, are as textural as their names suggest – weaving chimes, gamelan hits and found sounds into dense rhythmic collages. It’s a small shame that the beats introduced towards the latter half of each aren’t as imaginative.

While electronic music of the ‘intelligent’ variety is eternally at risk of sounding designed for a menu screen, with Float White Gums has managed to craft a sound that is both serene and compelling.

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MAP – May 2015

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Our Australian MAP selection for May comes from Arvo Tanty – the solo project of Michael Dolan who formerly played in perth. Picture heavy, ostentatious synth accordion draped around your cerebrals in stereo sound. It sounds like luxury. IT IS IGOOD.

Some other gems worth noting include jazzy sounds from Brazil’s Otis Trio, and a track released in 2000 by Copenhagen band Speaker Bite Me which is receiving acclaim in Denmark and its first vinyl release in over fifteen years.

You can grab a zip file of the full 19-track compilation through Dropbox here.

 

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
El Gnomo – Suicidas Melodías

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This new musical project by Martin Reznik (La Filarmonica Cosmica) almost started as a game in 2012, when he recorded several songs on a weekly basis. Some time afterwards, while reviewing the material, Martin realised he had an album in his hands, so he spent the next months polishing the songs and re-recording some instrumental tracks. He also invited musical friends to participate in what became a folk album with a soft psychedelic vibe. Suicidas Melodías is one of these collaborations, in which singer-sonwriter Sofía Viola lends her wonderful voice. You can download the full album from Bandcamp.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Arvo Tanty – White Hum Valley (Hello)

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Arvo Tanty is an introduction to producer Michael Dolan’s solo material, following his work with electronic outfit Perth. White Hum Valley (Hello) is a grandiose, cinematic Casiotone orchestra track where slow, effacing rhythms pulse and dissolve at surface break. Dolan says the song was inspired by Joni Mitchell, Mort Garson’s Plantasia and his yearning to make a “Nintendo soundtrack of some kind”.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Otis Trio – Montag’s Dream

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Montag’s Dream, the opening track of Otis Trio’s debut album 74 Club, probably refers to the main character of the novel Fahrenheit 451. The dark jazz they create fits perfectly with the despair related in the book.

 

Listen to full song selections below:

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INTRODUCING: These Guy

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Brisbane fella Joe Saxby has been putting music out under the moniker These Guy just short of a year now, but what a year it’s been. He released his debut EP, To Say or Do, late last year, and the recent addition of two band members has seen These Guy (that grammatical awkwardness trips me up every time) gather momentum throughout 2015.

‘Always Right’ is the latest track from These Guy, and it builds on the EP’s clear strengths – namely Saxby’s penchant for harmonies that reverberate around your head and his ability to balance instrumentation so that it floats weightlessly above the vocals.

The creeping melancholy of ‘Always Right’ will be an absolute treat for any fans of Deerhunter, or even Saosin’s acoustic tracks, but for god’s sake don’t listen to it if you’re pining over someone. Or do – emotional purging will probably ensue. Beautiful track though.

These Guy are playing shows sporadically around Brisbane, so keep an eye on Facebook to catch them.

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Retiree – ‘Gundagai’

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In this new series, ‘First Impressions’, we’re going to subject a bunch of songs to the immediacy test – getting our contributors to review a track they’ve heard only once. In this round, Jackson Rumble takes a listen to the new single from Retiree.

Retiree have drunk the Arthur Russell kool-aid big time with their newest minimal dance pop jam, ‘Gundagai’. With this track the band firmly aligns itself with Andras Fox’s appreciation of esoteric new age Australiana (if the title didn’t give it away), and the video – African dude gyrating in front of lush fields and reclining on a lilo – and Awesome-Tapes-from-Africa-styled cassette art put us on a bus straight to the beach bar of your dreams.

Comprised of tasteful analog drum programming, frolicking fretwork, Casio keys and a crisp vocal that really is doing its best to channel Arthur Russell circa ‘Get Around to It’, ‘Gundagai’ is a very pleasant five minutes of tropical electronic pop. Although the song could see out its run time on the strength of the arrangement, these chaps reach for something of a climax and come off like they’re trying a bit too hard to coerce mum onto the dance floor. On the whole, though, that doesn’t diminish the fact that Retiree’s latest would be a welcome accompaniment to most sun-dappled cocktail hours.

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INTRODUCING: Beef Jerk

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More Australian than getting workers comp for six months after spraining your ankle and then spending it all on Winnie Blues and schoeys at your local. Born in Sydney’s incestuous inner west, Beef Jerk drop the ‘y’ from everyone’s favourite chewy strap of cow, and induce a feeling of catchy ambivalence in whoever is lucky enough to be near the stereo when their music comes on.

They’ve just released their debut LP, Tragic, which is packed with dark humour, a constant backbone of off-kilter strumming and the occasional sax-breakdown courtesy of Millie Hall (Destiny 3000, Bridezilla). The songs come thick and fast, and at 15 tracks there was the possibility the music would become stale. However, Beef Jerk’s consistency is remarkable as they unnervingly inject their deranged, saturated pop sensibility into songs with titles like ‘Footy’, ‘The Last Chiko Roll’ and ‘Stay At Home Dads’.

Beef Jerk are destined to become a layman’s new favourite – their music is lackadaisical, but naturally so. There’s no force to it, the tunes oozing and grunting their way from Jack Lee and Mikey Branson’s mouths and fingers as naturally as a foreman yelling, “Tools down, boys!”.  Armed with just wry humour and a sweet but slightly out of tune guitar, Beef Jerk are gonna be on high rotation for a while.

Beef Jerk have some gigs coming up in Sydney and Melbourne:

12 June – Grace Darling Hotel, Melbourne w/ Black Vacation, Chook Race, and Gentlemane (RSVP on Facebook)

15 June – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, supporting Cool Sounds

27 June – Hermann’s Bar, Sydney

10 July – Brighton Up Bar, Sydney

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INTRODUCING: Twelve Point Buck

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Twelve Point Buck have been making beautiful fuzz rock for a hot minute now, but 2015 has seen them develop into a fully-fledged four piece, putting out their first EP Boris this March.

It was a long wait (they had me drooling over their sad-girl shoegaze track ‘Twenty Two’ for almost a year in the interim), but Boris made me forget the delay entirely. The Blue Mountain outfit’s debut EP is essentially what would happen if Kim Deal and Billy Corgan were mashed into one person and that person’s mouth made melodic noise whenever it opened, like one of those perpetually-gaping clowns at a fair. In fact Twelve Point Buck’s music has that kind of lingering, ethereal air that would make it the perfect soundtrack for exploring dilapidated showgrounds.

Despite delighting in the melancholy of it all, I was pleasantly surprised at the EP’s sunny turn when ‘Callie’ popped up two tracks in. I can’t tell if it’s the song’s title or the bright, jangly guitar line and almost mindless repetition that makes me think of a Californian road trip. The off-kilter vocal arrangement creates the dynamic the song needs to stop it from melting into the sound wall that comes with gals-just-wanna-make-a-pop-song (and have fun) guitar pop. It’s also a necessary break from the spread of luscious distortion and droning vocals that fills the remainder of the EP. (You don’t want to spend ALL of your time wandering around a terrifying showground, do you?)

Head along to the Oxford Art Factory on May 30th for the EP release party.

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