Posts By Annie

LISTEN: Sures – ‘Waste’

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Sydney band Sures came to our ears in 2011, then resurfaced again in March last year with the EP Stars – a slickly produced collection of surf rock tunes with bubblegum melodies that sounded a helluva lot like the Drums. Fittingly, Sures went on to support acts like Wavves and Vampire Weekend, they signed with Ivy League and now they’ve got a follow-up EP in the works.

New single ‘Waste’ is more Surfer Blood than Best Coast, the band setting aside the 60s-girl-group inspiration and teen-heart-throb vocals for something a bit heavier. It feels like there’s a lot of anger behind this track, which opens with the line ‘I don’t know what to do but I can tell that you’ve been wasting my time’. Tension builds throughout, as elements accumulate and the melodic motif circles, releasing emphatically in the song’s furious final third with a shouted refrain backed by insistent drumming, the fuzzed out guitar growing louder and louder. Exhausting itself in under three minutes, ‘Waste’ is a satisfying ride for anyone with some baggage to discard.

‘Waste’ is available now through iTunes, and Sures’ new EP is due out on 23 August. In the meantime, Sydneysiders can catch Sures at the Standard with Glass Towers on Friday, 16 August.

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LISTEN: Bad//Dreems – ‘Badlands’ EP

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Adelaide’s Bad//Dreems have come a long way since recording their first demos at the Fish Shop with a bloke going by the charming name of ‘Fester’. Coming from a town that’s sometimes seen as a bit of a cultural backwater, the guys are getting some serious attention in the lead up to the release of their debut EP, Badlands.

The EP was named for the southern capital’s derelict northern suburbs – an area of disused factories, abandoned motor tracks and dried-out grasslands. In songwriter Alex Cameron’s words, it’s ‘the weird murder hamlet’ of his hometown. The songs are about the frustration of feeling out of the metropolitan loop. They deal with ‘isolation, claustrophobia, doomed relationships, bad Sundays, fear of home life, paranoia, dreaming, kicking against the pricks …’.

Badlands opens with the misanthropic ‘Chills’, which was inspired by one of those intense heat waves that only South Australia can produce. ‘Take me away where the sun don’t shine / Give me chills, give me darkness all day / Make me sick, let my soul rot away,’ vocalist Ben Marwe sings. ‘I’m only happy when nobody’s happy’.

‘Chills’ is the first single Bad//Dreems released, back in January 2012. It’s notable for being the only track on the EP that was recorded by Jack Farley during the band’s first Melbourne studio session. Farley’s known for his work with groups like the Twerps and Scott and Charlene’s Wedding, and ‘Chills’ fits right in with bands like these, referencing the sound of Australian and Kiwi music from the late 70s and 80s.

The rest of the songs on Badlands were produced by Woody Annison, a guy the band describes as having ‘the energy of a jack russell and the constitution of an elephant’. These recordings really pack a punch, separating themselves markedly from the lo fi, ‘jangly’ aesthetic so common in the Australian indie scene. The new tone is forceful and jagged. Merwes’ rich, throaty delivery is a cut above earlier takes, sounding as compelling and frayed as a young Paul Westerberg.

We’ve already played you the brilliant ‘Hoping For’; lead single ‘Caroline’ is also a ripper. It opens with rollicking drums, which sticksman Miles Wilson says were inspired by Paul Kelly (Paul Kelly on a high dose of amphetamine, maybe), vicious chords and a fast-paced lick. The chorus is cathartic, releasing what sounds like months or even years of pent-up anger. ‘Home Life’ is a dark number that calls to mind the post-hardcore sound of Lync, and the searing guitar and icy post-punk textures of ‘Tomorrow Mountain’ are a world away from the affable band we used to know. Merwes rasps on the track with an almost frightening disaffection: ‘I am bored / I am lonely / I’m scared / I’m scared’.

Bad//Dreems have got to be one of the best bands Adelaide’s produced in decades (agreeing to pretend, for one pleasant minute, that Barnesy never happened). They’ve got a sound that’s distinctly Australian, but frankly, they’re a mile ahead of the pack.

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Badlands is out through Mirador today. Get it here and here.

These are the launch dates – don’t miss them:

Friday, 26 July – the Gasometer, Melbourne with the Clits, Velcro, the mysterious and shit hot Destiny 3000 and the Angel and Baby Chain

Saturday, 27 July – the Hotel Metropolitan with Summer Flake and the Ocean Party

Saturday, 3 August – Spectrum, Sydney with Drown Under and special guests

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INTRODUCING: ESC

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ESC are a Melbourne four-piece making music in the great Australian tradition of depraved pub rock spliced with post-punk  – a sound conceived in the Old Country by expats like the Birthday Party. Singer Max Sheldrake cites Rowland S Howard as an influence, and there’s definitely a whiff of Crime and the City Solution about ESC.

The band’s latest single, ‘Atomic Shadow’, is both menacing and danceable, with a tight rhythm section and harmonies that lighten Sheldrake’s terse vocal (‘Do you wanna fight? Then come and fight’). Their mate Mick Bell has made them a video, which features the band jamming in silhouette. The blokes all seem to have lost their shirts (hawt), and bassist Bonnie Knight is paying a rad, translucent-bodied guitar that I now fiercely covet.

ESC’s debut EP was recorded, mixed and mastered by Nick Hoare, who’s also worked with Absolute Boys – another forward-thinking local post-punk outfit. The band is launching it at the Tote this Friday. Make sure you get there early, because there are going to be free copies of the EP on the door. Supports will be Strangers From Now On, an amazing bunch of Melbourne musicians led by a little guy with a lot of presence and a great head of hair (we know cos they played our warehouse party last month), and newcomers Yum Yum Cult. Sheldrake told Beat, “I get a bit angry and let it out a lot” during live shows, so perhaps steer clear of the front rows if you’re the nervous type.

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LISTEN: Scott and Charlene’s Wedding

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The first time I saw Scott and Charlene’s Wedding was at a 2009 Halloween party at the Empress Hotel in North Carlton. Frontman Craig Dermody was flitting round the venue like everyone’s favourite blow-in, tall with long, blond hair and an easy smile. He eventually took to the stage – in a wedding dress, no less, which stood no chance of buttoning up over his broad shoulders – and proceeded to emit a loud caterwaul over a scruffy take on 90s indie rock. I’ve been a fan ever since.

The band’s first album, Paravista Social Club, and their contribution to a split LP with Melbourne’s Peak Twins (reissued this year on Critical Heights as the Two Weeks EP) feature a bunch of tunes about playing basketball, moping around Melbourne train stations, driving trucks and generally working whatever crappy job you can to earn a buck. Dermody’s songs are a cheerful mess, with bright riffs, loose strumming and earnest, doleful lyrics (here’s a sample: ‘I don’t care anymore if my bands do well / I don’t care anymore if my paintings sell / I don’t even want to eat sausages anymore’). They borrow in equal measure from the Beat Happening’s endearing DIY aesthetic and the Lemonhead’s laid-back, melodic pop. Dermody even looks a bit like Evan Dando.

A couple of years ago Dermody moved from Melbourne to New York, taking the Scott and Charlene’s Wedding moniker with him. He’s been working the same odd jobs – waiter, security guard, set designer – and writing the same kind of songs over there, but with a brand new set of cultural and geographical references. We’ve heard ‘Fakin’ NYC’, which recounts his experiences as a bouncer at an A-list nightclub. The job was basically to bar entry to anyone who wasn’t sufficiently famous; our Craig didn’t fare so well – failing to recognise people like Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Scarlett Johanssen and the Strokes, and turning them away. He also rejected Lindsay Lohan, kind of ironic given he used to be in a band called Lindsay Low Hand. Now we’ve got ‘Lesbian Wife’, the second single off the forthcoming record, which is set in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Dermody gets a call from some friends in Australia, which sets off a series of reflections about ex-girlfriends, missing home, a badly behaved dog and the eponymous lesbian wife – who, from what I can gather, is a good mate and fellow NBA fan.

Tough times are starting to pay off for Scott and Charlene’s Wedding. The band’s second record is being released on UK label Fire Records later this month, and having played a debut set at Glastonbury, they’re now headed off on a two-month European tour. Like Dermody sings on ‘Lesbian Wife’, “‘Keep On Keeping On’ is my favourite song / that’s what I do even when I’m wrong … You’re never gonna know what’s happening next, hey hey”.

Any Port in a Storm is out on 22 July through Fire Records and Bedroom Suck.

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LISTEN: Kirin J Callinan – ‘Victoria M’

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It’s fair to say that Kirin J Callinan is a pretty divisive figure in the Australian music scene. He’s played guitar with Lost Animal and Jack Ladder, and as a member of Mercy Arms he had a tendency to cross dress on stage. As a solo artist, he’s already infamous for his unsettling videos and live performances, which fall into some uncomfortable place between the grotesque and hilarious, art and farce.

I was at Sugar Mountain Festival for that show, which became an instant cause célèbre for its dubious relationship with ethics and the truth, not to mention for treating the audience to an intimate knowledge of Callinan’s nether regions. Although a lot of the commentary was negative, for me it was probably the most interesting and engaging part of the night (sets by ESG and the Dirty Projectors notwithstanding).

Callinan has certainly never seemed afraid to expose himself. His new album is called Embracism, and as Callinan told Faster Louder, ‘one of the dictionary definitions of embracism is “the opposite of escapism”‘. (For the record, the word ’embracism’ doesn’t appear in any dictionary that I own, but I take his point). He’s described the record as an exploration of his own ugliness and masculinity. In fact, to date he’s achieved this vision so comprehensively that I was staggered to discover a guy who in the flesh is both charismatic and handsome.

Given all this, his latest single comes as a bit of a surprise. Instead of the more usual pummelling by a compressed and tortured bed of noise, with ‘Victoria M’ listeners get a stadium rock banger. Callinan’s previous single has been likened to the more fist-pumping Bruce Springsteen moments, and the comparison holds in this case too. The strings, synths (played by none other than Kirin’s old Dad) and rolling drums ascend to a crescendo that induces a kind of Chariots of Fire moment.

Some dissonant elements remain – like the dim wail in the background, which could be the sound of a crowd or a man’s scream. And there’s always Callinan’s vocal, its inebriated and unapologetically ‘strayan feel reminiscent of The Drones’ Gareth Liddiard. But more than anything ‘Victoria M’ is an anthem. Callinan’s cited Scott Walker as an influence before, but he seems to be on an arc that’s almost the exact reverse of the pretty-boy crooner turned experimental creep. If you’ve been put off by Callinan in the past, now’s the time to look again.

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Embracism is out on 28 June through Siberia Records and US imprint Terrible Records.

Callinan will be launching the album around the country on these dates:

Wed, June 26 – Yours & Owls, Wollongong with Standish/Carlyon
Thurs, June 27 – Terrace Bar, Newcastle with Standish/Carlyon
Fri, June 28 – The Standard, Sydney with Standish/Carlyon
Sat, June 29 – The Zoo, Brisban, with Standish/Carlyon
Thurs, July 4 – Northcote Social Club Melbourne, with Standish/Carlyon
Fri, July 5 – Jive, Adelaide
Fri, July 19 – The Bakery, Perth
Sat, July 20 – Mojo’s, Fremantle

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LISTEN: TV Colours – ‘The Neighbourhood’

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TV Colours is Bobby Kill – or Robin Mukerjee, to his mum. A key player in the tight-knit Canberra scene, he’s worked with Danger Beach and the sorely-missed Assassins 88.  Members of both those bands now play with him, along with the enigmatically named ‘Catfish’ from The Fighting League. Bobby’s debut album was 6 years in the making, with two versions ditched along the way, but it was well worth the wait – there’s not a dud on it. Packing 15 songs into 45 minutes, Purple Skies, Toxic River blasts you with its serrated guitars and petulant vocals, which sound like someone shouting at you from inside a padded cell.

Purple Skies is back-to-back impeccable garage jams in the style of Hüsker Dü. In fact, Bobby’s got a penchant for all kinds of late-70s Americana: mullets, muscle shirts and Mustangs – just check out his Tumblr. When the album isn’t gouging your ears with overdrive, it drifts into moody instrumental sections that sound like the score to a John Carpenter film.

While TV Colours’ sound is meticulously crafted, his major asset is an ability to write hooks that are tight as fuck. The guy’s devotion to melody is so complete there’s even a Beach Boys reference on the album, with a track entitled ‘I Soon Found Out My Lonely Life Wasn’t So Pretty’.

The first single off Purple Skies was the punchy ‘Beverly’. It caused immediate excitement, even copping a Pitchfork review within a few days of its release. Album opener ‘the Neighbourhood’ is now streaming on Soundcloud. It’s a furious number that reeks of alienation and teenage angst. A thoroughgoing introduction, the song walks through pretty much all the album’s aesthetic devices without losing any of Kill’s trademark concision. The lead-in riff sounds like early Sonic Youth, with its clear tones and pretty but slightly off-kilter chords, and there’s a frenetic verse that’s gradually slowed down and torn apart by a gut-wrenching guitar solo. The track closes with a dark synth passage that has the same mixture of parody and dread as a David Lynch creation – a fitting coda for a song raging against the deadening drag of suburbia.

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Purple Skies, Toxic River is out now through Dream Damage and Aussie-loving French label XVIII Records, with tour dates soon to follow.

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LISTEN: The Shiny Brights – ‘Deep Blue Sea’

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When you Google ‘the Shiny Brights’, you get an odd assortment of links to both music and laundry websites. Turns out that’s because this Adelaide five piece named themselves after their local laundromat, in honour of the fact that their rehearsal space is stuffed full of white goods.

The Shiny Brights first made an appearance in 2008 with debut EP, Let’s Not and Say We Did. They got a whole lot of Triple J love and went on to play the Big Day Out, Parklife and Fuse festivals amongst others, and were handpicked to perform at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton. They also toured with talent like You Am I, The Vines and The Grates. The band put out their Too Many Chiefs EP in 2010, but then went mysteriously quiet – apart from a handful of singles released over the course of 2011-12.

Late last year drummer Miles ‘Buns’ Wilson took to the band’s blog to clarify (in a rambling post that covered his parking fines, his grandma’s cat and what he had for lunch) that, contrary to rumour, the Shiny Brights were not breaking up. They had in fact been busy in the studio with Gerling‘s Darren Cross, coming up with new offering ‘Deep Blue Sea’.

The hiatus seems to have worked wonders – ‘Deep Blue Sea’ is a refreshing new direction for the band. Their earlier stuff was fine, but it just didn’t cut it for me. Their new single, however, is ridiculously catchy – with a breezy riff and a bass line that’s up there with the work of The Lucksmiths‘ brilliant Mark Monnone. All five Shiny Brights join together to bawl out the lyrics, which have an ambivalent slant that belies the song’s cheerful vibe. “I was out in the cold watching the rain / I was out of my mind, out of control / deep blue sea, devil and me,” they shout, invoking a saying that’s haunted pop music since at least 1931.

The Shiny Brights have some more stuff coming out this year, so keep your wits about you.

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