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INTRODUCING: Main Beach

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Newly formed Sydney garage-surf-slackers Main Beach have been hard at work in their short existence, releasing no less than half a dozen singles since February. Their Bandcamp reveals a band driven by nostalgia for simpler times and endless summers, with music that walks the line between sugar-coated and bittersweet.

‘Down By The Wall’ features a lazily strummed guitar, bright and snappy drums and a healthy measure of distant ‘oohweeoohs’. The song’s sleepy, jangle-y vibe will make you long for the sea and won’t leave your head all day. The vocal hook is frankly heartbreaking, and the wash of reverb reflects the glare of the summer sun or the haze of sea spray at your favourite secret surf spot.

Main Beach will release a video for ‘Down By the Wall’ early next month. If the band’s first six tracks don’t satisfy the need in your life for garage surf jams, their debut album is due out on 12 September.

Main Beach will play a series of shows in their hometown over the next few weeks. Here are the dates:

21 August – Captain Cook Hotel, Surry HIlls

24 August – Valve Bar, CBD

12 September – FBi Social, Kings Cross

13 September – Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst

20 September – Tokyo Sing Song, Newtown

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LISTEN: Rolls Bayce – ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’

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Dean McGrath’s Rolls Bayce continue on their path of psych-pop exploration with the release of their new track ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’. The production has been polished up since the release of prior track ‘Arrows’. The song sounds quirky yet familiar, and it’s catchy as hell.

With a tight and dry rhythm section chugging along throughout, McGrath lays down sweet falsetto over raw, warped guitar lines. The track moves at a driving pace, leaving little time to notice how much detail this band can pack into less than four minutes. All that’s missing is a soaring, fuzzed-out guitar solo – but maybe that’s not their thing. Perhaps they’re saving it for the live show.

Bouncy, to the point and just a little psychedelic, ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ is one for the summer festival-goers and spaceheads alike.

You can catch Rolls Bayce live over the next couple of weeks on the tail end of their three-week Saturday night residency at Black Bear Lodge, and in September at BIGSOUND.

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PREMIERE: MKO – ‘Puddles’

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Brisbane’s MKO sent this song to us a few days ago, describing it as a “sub-aquatic, other-wordly plea”. I don’t know what that means, but it’s probably no coincidence that all your wild ideas and short moments of genius come to fruition when you’re mid shower.

Lathering aside. The arrangement begins sparse. It’s the same way MKO (Hannah Macklin) makes her foray into previous songs – lulling your ears along with that coy vocal, backlit by giddy tryptich beats. Soft R&B twists and turns hold this track by the shoulders, but it’s MKO’s subtle delivery that wins here.

‘Puddles’ is available to purchase via MKO’s Bandcamp from tomorrow.

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PREMIERE: Singing For Humans – ‘Walk Don’t Run’

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‘Walk Don’t Run’ is the brand new single from Melbourne four-piece Singing For Humans. The group has been gathering momentum for a little while now over a bunch of new releases, and we are happy to offer you the first taste of their upcoming album.

The song is a rousing track of simple yet elegant pop with the volume turned up to 11. Crystal clear vocals, pristine musicianship – Singing For Humans know how to write a tune. ‘Walk Don’t Run’ has a distinct UK indie-rock feel, channelling bands from the ’90s and early 2000s, combining the sonic qualities of acts like The Big Pink and The Verve.

After a few opening bars of acoustic strumming an electric guitar is introduced that sounds like an air-raid siren (if it were powered by failing Duracell batteries) and lyrics that provide a warning: walk, don’t run; simple but sound advice.

Singing For Humans will be releasing their self-titled EP on the 30th of August via Shock Records. 

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INTRODUCING: Mermaidens

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Dual guitar and drum-kit toting Wellington trio Mermaidens last month put forth a new three-track EP of icy, self-recorded guitar music that may very well send shivers down your spine.

Following on from the release of Bones earlier this year, O sees the band embrace a slower pace and a more spacious sound. In a show of brevity and skilled songcraft, Mermaidens lead you down a grim path with ambiguous intentions. Dark and swirling, O achieves a great sense of depth and movement in the space of three tracks and little more than 12 minutes of music. It’s an almost gothic experience, but it also carries the lo-fi grit of a noise band trying in vain to play quietly late at night.

Their sound is much bigger than their simple instrumentation would have you believe. O is a charming and brief experience that gives you enough in the way of spooky vocal melodies to make you want to listen again and again. Ideally on headphones, alone, and at night.

 

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INTRODUCING: Klo

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The musical gene is strong amongst the kin of I’lls singer Simon Lam. The Melbourne producer has enlisted his cousin Chloe Kaul to produce some lean, polished electronic music as Klo.

Their latest track, ‘False Calls’, is a brooding electro-pop tune with R&B influences. It combines a carefully constructed rhythm section with snippets of Kaul’s soulful vocals to create some compelling electronica.

Kaul’s voice is enveloping and badass, like lounging around your jacuzzi in a silk robe. The vocal melodies sound like they were carved right out of a stick of butter and smeared artfully over some subdued, polished production for the perfect R&B/neo-soul sandwich.

The vocal layering mirrors UK experimental pop act Tirzah, and ‘False Calls’ is similarly beautiful in the simplicity of its composition.

Klo will be performing at BIGSOUND in September.

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INTRODUCING: Mere Women

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‘Heave Ho’ is the second single off Mere Women’s latest album, Your Town. It’s a super dark and often sinister look into regret and our uncanny ability to make the same mistakes over and over again. Their last record, Old Life, came out around two years ago, and I’m really kicking myself for letting them pass me by for so long. This track, and the rest of Your Town, has so much to love: bad arse vocals, dark,  post-punky synths, and off-balance but totally catchy guitar lines.

‘Heave Ho’ is the sound of someone begging to be bailed out. Singer Amy Wilson’s voice is powerfully beseeching when she sings, ‘This love’s too hard / this love’s too hard’. That line, repeated again and again in combination with the tight and stony drums, pounds her pain right into your heart.

We get a moment of respite in the middle of the track with a spiralling and spare piece of synth. The tight drums skipping along underneath make sure that none of the momentum is lost before a tough and striking guitar line comes in and it’s all hurt and struggle again. But then, another switch – in the last minute the song throws us a taunting hook: ‘It would be so easy / it would be so easy’. Wilson’s voice is stronger now, and more authoritative. It sounds like she really could make a change and leave this hard love behind.

The number of distinct parts to this song, and the record as a whole, is impressive. There are enough great melodies and beats on here to fill at least a couple more albums from a lesser band, but these songs never feel crammed in or suffocated. With Your Town, Mere Women have made it clear that they can’t be slept on any longer.

Your Town is out now on Poison City Records

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