Forces have their self- titled EP out now on limited edition 12″ vinyl through Midnight Juggernauts’ label, Siberia Records and digitally via technodissidents.bandcamp.com.
Tour dates for promo:
Feb 8th, Sydney @ Club 77 w/ Silk Rd Band, DJs Kirin J Callinan, DS (Siberia Records) and Angelo Cruzman
Feb 22nd, Melbourne @ The Liberty Social w/ Kangaroo Skull, Nun, White Hex and HTRK DJs
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Australia is being spoilt rotten this summer. If it wasn’t enough to see tours from Japandroids and Cloud Nothing. We also see the first visit from Civil Civic, two Aussie ex-pats Aaron Cupples and Ben Green, who met back in 2009 whilst both living overseas. Next month will see not just their debut Australian shows but the release of a long-time coming debut record Rules. A thrilling track lifted from it is ‘Run Overdrive‘, which has been well-rehearsed and will set off every show when they hit our shores. It’s a power-ballad for fans of instrumental, pop-driven guitar reverb with drum-kicking cinematic atmosphere that is as catchy as HPV. The full length LP continues in this vein, with some surfier numbers but all having a pop sensibility driven by minimal synth pinged over walls of guitar sound. Dig this press shot too!
Dates:
Thur 7 Feb – Black Bear Lodge, BRISBANE
Fri 8 Feb – Brighton Up Bar, SYDNEY
Sat 16 Feb – ATP, I’ll Be Your Mirror, ALTONA, (Victoria)
Tue 19 Feb – The Tote, MELBOURNE
Thur 21 Feb – The Crown And Anchor, ADELAIDE
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The Removalists is the spawn of Liam Halliwell, a resident of Osbourne St. I use a geotag rather than list his many bands because for guys like Liam, geography is probably a more relevant way of placing him in some musical context. He plays with different folks who hang about Osbourne St and this is his latest personal recording output. We should see some live stuff when he gets together with fellow Melbourne friends to put together a live set. The Removalists have released two EP’s on Bandcamp and Semi-professional will see a limited physical release real soon.
It’s hard to step back from a sound that has saturated my brain for a week or so. After being strangely confused by the artwork on these (Liam did mention he wasn’t pregnant), I reached an even deeper sense of confoundment when I played them back a few times. The Removalists’ crackling phone-sampled/ heavily overdubbed, home recording should sound like this but it’s fair to say I had a sonically muddled head-space after listening to Local News . Semi-Professional sunk in a lot faster and I’m running a track from that EP called ‘Better With Age’.
It has an upbeat pop melody that is undercut by a vocal that is equal parts bleak, critical and desperately honest. It opens “every opinion that I state, contradicts the former one as soon as I hear the words come out of my mouth. You keep repeating and confirming that there’s nothing new under the sun, your self-fulfilling well of wisdom is weathered, cracked and running dry”. It’s the accent in the lyrics, the way they’re not just spat out but bled over and over and the urgency of the tracking is a little suffocating which makes it even more addictive. This is really effective and despite it falling near a slacker sound it comes across more heartfelt. It’s a sound that is Australian and part of what’s happening with these jangle-pop bands but at the same time this crushing despair sung with hope is how this guy distinguishes himself.
Presented by Secret Sounds by arrangement with Artist Voice:
Wednesday, Jan 30 – The Toff In Town, Supported by City Calm Down
Thursday, Jan 31 – Oxford Art Factory, Supported by City Calm Down
Friday, Feb 1 – Laneway Festival, Brisbane
Saturday, Feb 2 – Laneway Festival, Sydney
Sunday, Feb 3 – Laneway Festival, Melbourne
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Very well-edited video from Oh Mercy. Taken from their sublime record Deep Heat, released last year.
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The Trouble With Templeton are in the midst of a tour for their single ‘Six months in a cast’. We caught them in Newcastle before they broke for drinks. They finish up in Melbourne this Friday, the 28th Dec at the Worker’s Club. Tix here.
Kicking off back in February 2003, My Disco performed two all ages shows at Good Morning Captain and Missing Link in their hometown of Melbourne, Australia to launch a demo cassette recorded a month earlier. Initially forming for a short-term project, My Disco have gone on to affirm their position as one of the most innovative Australian bands of the last decade. Having toured almost thirty countries Worldwide, released three excellent LP’s: Cancer (2006), Paradise (2008) and Little Joy (2010) together with heaps of singles and EP’s; this February will mark their tenth year as a band.
Wow, I remember how weird it was watching the hypnotic spell that My Disco placed on their cultish fans that would flood their shows. It was young kids that seemed to really ‘get it’ early on. The repetition in their sound took over the audience and somehow the intense guitar noise, relentless drums and thudding bass would come together to fuck your brain hard against the walls of the room.
Word is that the trio are currently working on a fourth album due in September 2013 through Temporary Residence. In addition to the forthcoming album, My Disco will release a new single in April through a well-respected North American label. Details to be revealed shortly. The band will celebrate their anniversary with a show at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, on Friday February the 8th, with a pretty decent line-up of Australian bands.
Supports:
New War
Standish / Carlyon
Max Crumbs
Absolute Boys
Brain Children
+ very special guest.
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Latest Comments
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Still trying to purchase!!!ANTHONY J LANGFORD
Cool track. Congrats Joshua. Hope the release is a success.Tristan
Man I love these guys. I can't believe they are not releasing any new music. I've been to so many…sophie
^^ I love Grimes! Banoffee is one of my new favorite music artists! :) I love With Her, Reign Down,…Ace
Read your review then listened to the EP. Fantastic ! Different to most hardcore punk I listen to. Somewhat more…