Posts By Annie

LISTEN: The Zebras – ‘Chase’

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The Zebras

If all was right with the world, The Zebras would be a veritable Aussie institution. Instead, Tony Abbott is in the Lodge, the weather is fucking bananas and it’s near impossible to find any information on this band at all. These guys have been around since almost the turn of the century and were regulars on Brisbane’s live circuit before moving to Melbourne in 2007. Their second album, Worry A Lot, was praised by Rolling Stone and the Australian, and over the years they’ve supported bands like The Shins, The Mountain Goats and Lambchop.

The Zebras’ relative obscurity may be to do with the fact they’re named after everyone’s favourite stripey equid. Lord knows the people love their online safari ephemera, so a Google search leads to a lot of videos of hunting scenes. Plus, so far as I’m aware,  they haven’t released anything since the 2008 EP New Ways of Risking Our Lives. Whatever the reason, it’s a crying shame, because The Zebras’ Sarah Records-channelling power pop is damn near perfect.

The band is signed to Lost and Lonesome, the twee-revivalist imprint run by Mark Monnone of The Lucksmiths. With boy-girl harmonies and organ-like synth tones, The Zebra’s ‘Chase’ recalls the bittersweet gems of Rocketship. There are also intimations of fellow analogue obsessives Broadcast and Stereolab, especially in the timbre of Edwina Ewin’s lead vocal. ‘Chase’ features on Lost and Lonesome’s 15th birthday sampler. With charming contributions from The Icypoles, The Sublets, Captain Coach and more, it’s well worth a listen.

 

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INTRODUCING: Mallee Songs

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The first Mallee Songs material was recorded by Michael Skinner, alone in his room, with an acoustic guitar and whatever equipment was to hand. The result is an introspective collection of songs, rustic and close sounding – like he were strumming quietly to himself from the armchair in the corner of your bedroom.

 

Becoming tired of the constraints of bedroom production, Skinner recorded this year’s Stolen Flowers b/w Egyptian King with his brother, Lucas (Atolls, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard), and friend Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard) on guitar and drums. Elaborated by a full band, Skinner’s songs achieve a balance between intimacy and squall similar to the work of Phil Elverum (the Microphones, Mount Eerie). On ‘Stolen Flowers’ guitar feedback hangs low over Skinner’s acoustic guitar, with the incremental addition of bass and a rumbling kick drum coming before a cathartic outro that sounds like the whole edifice is collapsing.

 

Skinner is currently working on a full-band album to be released in 2014. In the meantime he’ll be putting out a compilation of remastered early solo demos. Mallee Songs will be playing their last show before heading into the studio this Friday, 27 December, at the Post Office Hotel. Both sides of Skinner’s project will be on display, the band kicking off at 9.30 p.m. with two sets – one quiet and harmonious, the other a showcase of the noisier, more badass collaborative material. Details here.

mallee songs post office gig edd

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INTRODUCING: Driffs

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driffs

Driffs are four housemates from Sydney who make loping pop of the supine kind; the sort of thing critics like to call ‘the soundtrack to summer’ (see? couldn’t help myself). Their music does have a beach-ridden feel. I imagine that when they decided to form a band they were reclining with the sun in their eyes; someone tried to say the word ‘drifts’ but couldn’t quite be bothered.

New single ‘Back to Bellevue’ was recorded at their home in Annandale and mastered by Mikey Young. These guys clearly have a thing for Underwater Peoples (the US label that handles Real Estate, Julian Lynch and Australia’s own Free Time and the Twerps). Their bell-toned guitar is heavily refracted, like a glimpse of something discarded on a creek bed, and the vocals are gentle and hazy. ‘Back to Bellevue’ is a pleasing step up in tempo for Driffs; sharp, cheerful and concise.

 

Driffs have an official release slated for early 2014.

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INTRODUCING: André

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andre

After he released Do Whatchya Wanna in February this year, André (solo project of André Vanderwert from Pencil and Hot Palms) is back already with debut single ‘Friends’ from his upcoming album Smooth Move.

If the promo pictures are to be believed, André is nothing but a tousle-haired bandit afflicted with a thousand-yard stare, who never strays far from his trusty motorised stallion. Along with his band, which features members of the Ocean Party, Soda Eaves and Hot Palms, he makes slow-burners heavy on the fuzz and meandering guitar solos.

Previous single ‘Mend’ was one of my favourite tracks of 2013; its washed-out cynicism permeating every chord change and crack in Vanderwert’s delivery. ‘Friends’ is executed in similar style, with Vanderwert crooning, ‘You know it isn’t easy to be your friend’. It’s perhaps less nihilistic than the chorus of ‘Mend’ – ‘I’m staring at the ceiling’ – but it’s up there.

 

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INTRODUCING: Milwaukee Banks

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 MB_Pluto_Bounce_Web

Before this year, I don’t think I’d ever heard an Australian hip hop track that I liked. More accurately: before this year, I don’t think I’d heard an Australian hip hop track to which I did not take active aversion. There was a passing tween phase where I listened to a lot of friendly, melodic hip hop like De La Soul and Jurassic 5, but generally the stuff that appealed to me was lean, lo fi and tough as shit. The garish samples and relentless optimism of groups like Hilltop Hoods made me feel a bit like puking.

In July, Melbourne’s Brothers Hand Mirror dropped the Picture Tape EP. ‘We Don’t Hide’, featuring HTML Flowers‘ odd flow and quiet lines on friendship, and Oscar Key Sung‘s honeyed refrain, became one of my favourite tracks of the year. In September, Dream Damage put out Psycho Shower Scene by POWER MOVES – a collaboration between Austin Buckett (Golden Blonde) and Thomas William. The EP’s tortured beats recalled some of the standout underground Southern rap of the previous year.

Then there was Milwaukee Banks, with beats by Adrian ‘Edo’ Rafter (Flight Tonight) and words by the happily named Dylan Thomas (Polo Club). For no particular reason their name’s a nod to both the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and Tyra Banks of America’s Next Top Model (and, more importantly, in my opinion, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). The vapour-logged synths and rolling snares of first single ‘Pluto Bounce’ have an unsettling effect that brings to mind the words ‘horror-core’, while heavily treated vocals and lopsided rhythms point to the influence of UK bass. The lyrics are understated – there are nights out, girls to impress and a broken ankle in jelly bean coloured socks – which in the Australian context, is kind of refreshing.

A video for ‘Pluto Bounce’ came out last week. It was filmed around Wonthaggi and Hayfield in Victoria, on 16mm infrared film (and if you’re not sure what that means, just watch and it will become apparent).

 

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LISTEN: Banoffee – ‘Reign Down’

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We introduced you to Banoffee back in July, when she released her brilliant first single, ‘Ninja’. Since then she’s been thriving, with a video for ‘Reign Down’ premiering on the Fader and appearing on a host of other international sites. It even showed up on SaintHeron.com, the website affiliated with Solange’s Saint Records, home to progressive R’n’B talent like Sampha, Kelela and Cassie.

‘Reign Down’ was produced by Oscar Key Sung and features the pitched-down vocal loops, dance floor-inspired synth arpeggios and sharp high hats familiar from his most recent output. Like ‘Ninja’, which closed with the lines ‘You thought you could kill me now/ Well, honey, I’d like to see how/ I’m a fuckin’ ninja now’, ‘Reign Down’ is a kind of Martha Brown-certified course in assertiveness and resolve. In her own words:

‘Reign Down’ was written in quite a pivotal period in my life, where I realised that not much ever eventuated with taking action. For me, it is about being in a place that you might be comfortable, even if its not particularly enjoyable – and choosing to take the grittier option in search of a better outcome. Whether it’s a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a destructive way of living or whatever, ‘Reign Down’ is kind of like a ‘screw you universe, I’m going to rule at doing things my way’ sort of song. If I was Mariah I’d be singing ‘Shake It Off’. Wish I was Mariah.’

Check out the video – which features outbreaks of quaint dance moves at some low-key Collingwood sites – below.

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LISTEN: Sunbeam Sound Machine – ‘Cosmic Love Affair’

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Sunbeam Sound Machine is Nick Sowersby, a young guy who’s been playing in bands around Melbourne since he was in short trousers. His debut release, double EP One/Sunbeam Sound Machine, is coming out through Dot Dash/Remote Control Records on 29 November.

First single ‘Cosmic Love Affair’ is psychedelic pop in the original sense – woozy and detached, it gives you the odd sensation of having stepped into someone else’s waking dream. The song staggers along, half asleep, as Sowersby’s multi-tracked vocal floats in: ‘Everyone changed / I stayed the same / Everything’s gonna be different from now’. Escapist and dissociative, this is sure to provide some lovely summertime listening.

 

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