Red Riders – ‘My Love Is Stronger Than Your Love’

Sydney four piece Red Riders have been kicking around the scene for around four years now.  Throughout the years they’ve gained a tonne of supports, most notably Franz Ferdinand, The Shins, Kaiser Chiefs and Death From Above 1979, as well as release two popular EPs in Red Riders (2004) and The Plan A (2005).  The band’s momentum culminated in October last year, with the release of their debut full-length LP Replica Replica. 

The first time I saw the band live I have to admit I wasn’t entirely sold on them.  They were one of those bands that had the potential, but just weren’t pulling it together live.  But Replica Replica actually surprised me: I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I do.  The firsr single off the album, ‘Slide In Next To Me’, went to #96 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown this year.  That’s not a bad effort really, considering there’s tens of thousands of songs released a year. 

The Red Riders create music with an indie inflection but which manages to maintain a driving pulse; good enough to dance to.  They’re obviously influenced by British acts, and you can definitely hear it in the vocals.  But their new single, ‘My Love Is Stronger Than You Love’, is one of my favourites off their album.  Definitely a band to keep an eye on.

http://www.redriders.net
http://www.myspace.com/redridersmusic

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The Hiptones – ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’

OK these guys are cool.  Not in the modern sense of the word, but more in the vernacular circa 1950s, like “Frank Sinatra is a cool cat”.  The Hiptones blend contemporary Australian blues and roots with a New Orleans sense of funk and soul.  Hammond organ and guitar thick with slap-back echo create a mood akin to a hazy lounge bar.

Vocalist Snooks La Vie, utilising the great vintage sounds of old-school microphones, has a smoky R&B style voice that suits the retro-inspired music of the band.  The 62 T-bird. the clothes and the music all scream retro, and the band are riding the current pre-60s trend that acts such as The Basics are leading the way in.  It was through a glowing review of their debut album Right Now in The Brag magazine in Sydney that I decided to give these guys a chance, and it is one of the coolest (there’s that word again) albums I’ve heard in quite a while.

They’ve recently signed to Sony BMG, but from what I can tell this Adelaide four piece has been kicking around since 2001.  But info on their beginnings is fairly hazy, but they’ve supported Chris Isaac and played at a number of jazz festivals.  They’ve got a previous recording to their name – Meet Me At The Sands – but I reckon you’d be hard-pressed to actually find a copy of it.

The coolest cats this side of the equator.

http://www.thehiptones.com
http://www.myspace.com/thehiptones

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photo by Micheal Curtis

Dead Letter Circus – ‘Lines’

Here’s the next offering from a band who are fast becoming the darlings of the Brisbane alternative scene.  Dead Letter Circus are making some powerful friends in The Butterfly Effect, Karnivool and renowned producer Forrester Savell.  This track ‘Lines’ comes from their debut EP, which was produced by Forrester and is getting the final touches put on it before the band launch it in April.  Just like the previous track ‘The Mile’ that we previewed here, the boys lay on a healthy does of delay-soaked guitar and falsetto vocals, giving the track a rather dramatic feel, which is combined with the light and shade of the music.

Dead Letter Circus will be traversing the East Coast of Australia over the next four to six weeks, so check out their MySpace page for all the dates.

Previous post: Dead Letter Circus

http://www.myspace.com/deadlettercircus

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Courtesy of FasterLouder.com.au

Switchkicker – ‘Ever Wonder’

A couple of months ago – 4 months to be exact – I wrote up a post entitled Retrospective #1: Where The Bloody Hell Are They?; a post which basically highlighted some lesser-known acts that aren’t around anymore and if they were around, we would have blogged about them.  And I promise I’ll write up #2 soon!

But then one band went and screwed everything up by coming out of a self-imposed exile.  Switchkicker was presumed dead (not literally) following their last show at the Annandale Hotel in May 2006, but lo and behold Dan Sutherland, the brainchild behind Switchkicker, has resurrected the music and reinvigorated it by taking on an acoustic/electronica lifeform.  This means new songs, but a farewell to possibly a lot of the older material that was written in the vein of Nine Inch Nails electronica.  No doubt radio favourites such as ‘We’re Not Apart’ and ‘Drown’ will still remain though; songs which sound just as good acoustic as electric.

Not much is known about the new form of Switchkicker except that it will contain Dan and drummer Ben Ellingsworth, both of whom play in Many Machines On Nine, and from what I can assume they’ll run a backing track as well.  I think the acoustic format will definitely help differentiate Switchkicker from the more metal/industrial sounds of MM9.  It seems a natural progression for Switchkicker too as the most recent record Method 2 contained a fair dose of melody and acoustic guitar, as compared to the more Nine Inch Nails-influenced debut 17102.

But although it’s completely ruined my previous post, it’s great to have Switchkicker back live.  Those living in Sydney can catch him tonight at The Basement in Circular Quay.

http://www.switchkicker.com
http://www.myspace.com/switchkicker

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The Hate Game – ‘Don’t Pretend’ (mp3)

New name, same old sound… because of legal threats the Vendettas have had to change their name to The Hate Game.  So don’t go to their old MySpace site, because some 39 year old guy from the States named John has stolen the URL. 

Anyway, none of this is going to stop the band, who are currently recording their debut EP at Soundwork Studios in Sydney, after which they’ll be playing a slew of shows, including taking a trip to Melbourne in March.  Check out a demo of their new track called ‘Don’t Pretend’ – kinda reminiscent of The Cure at the beginning.

http://www.myspace.com/hategame

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Every Australia Day (January 26), national broadcaster Triple J hold their Hottest 100 countdown where listeners vote for their favourite tracks of the previous year.  Last Friday Triple J held their Hottest 100 of 2006 countdown, in which Augie March’s ‘One Crowded Hour’ was deemed the best song of last year by JJJ listeners. 

But my personal fave came eighth, which was ‘Heart A Mess’ by Gotye.  Not a bad effort really – just to get in the top 100 is no mean feat!  Now Brendan Cook has put together a Tim Burton-esque animated clip for said song.  The synopsis for the clip is that “a pied piper character walks the Earth, calling on its strange inhabitants to leave the wasted planet and follow him to a new world”.  Dark and beautiful, just like the song.

More on Gotye

http://www.gotye.com
http://www.myspace.com/gotye

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Birds Of Tokyo – ‘Believer’

OK, I can be the first to admit that we here at Who The Bloody Hell Are They tend to focus a lot of Sydney and Melbourne bands – after all, that’s our home towns and these are the bands that a lot of us come in contact with weekly.  (So if you have any suggestions of bands please email them to music@whothehell.net.)  So I thought I’d step out of our respective states and point to microscope to Western Australia, in particular at Perth and the band Birds Of Toyko.

Keen-eared Aussie music fans will probably recognise the voice of Birds Of Tokyo to be none other than Ian Kenny, best known for his vocal work in that other Perth band called Karnivool.  Birds Of Tokyo is quite a departure for the demure, but extremely talented, front man who’s proven his wares with his far more metal-based project.  Birds Of Tokyo straddle the pop/rock line, but don’t let that description put you off: they still pack quite a punch live.  They’re about to pack their bags and travel around the country for their Day One Tour to launch their debut LP of the same name.  The track ‘Believer’ comes from an old Birds Of Tokyo release.  Check out their MySpace for some more material, including their new single ‘Off Kilter’ which has been getting a good spin on Australia’s national broadcaster, Triple J, recently.

http://www.birdsoftokyo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/birdsoftokyo

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