photo by Esther Mitchel

Augie March – ‘One Crowded Hour’

Sometimes a song would get played hundreds of times on the radio and I wouldn’t pay much attention to it until all of a sudden it would hit me just how good a tune is. And that’s how it is with this Augie March ballad, which has a Jeff Buckley feel of emotional reprieve attached to it, though upon closer listen it’s all about scoring with a girl the singer has known since school:

“Should you expect to see something that you hadn’t seen,

In somebody you’d known since you were sixteen.

If love is a bolt from the blue, then what is that bolt but a glorified screw? “

Augie March formed in Melbourne in ’96 and has so far released three albums, all through Sony/BMG. They’re one of those bands that work the United States a lot so chances are most people into this kind of music would’ve heard of them. Their latest album Moo, You Bloody Choir got rave reviews in Australia though I believe it’s still unreleased overseas? I could be wrong. The album was nominated for the J award, a yearly prize given by music station Triple J. I get the impression that they ride that success-overseas-now-back-for-local-shows wave here, but it’s alright for this band because they actually had a core fanbase since early on in their career. I’ve missed both their tours here this year so if anyone has seen them live let me know what they’re like.

http://www.augie-march.com
http://www.myspace.com/augiemarch

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photo by boudist.com

Lenka – ‘Follow’

Lenka started out her career as an actor in tv and films but soon discovered a true a bigger passion for music. I find it impossible not to fall in love with her voice. Dom has blogged about Decoder Ring previously, but thanks to some lucky myspacing I discovered that she is writing and recording solo material. She has kindly given us the exclusive on her solo track ‘Follow’ produced by Decoder Ring’s Xavier Frjac. Opening with sweeping harmonies, this track’s minimal production is what I’m used to hearing from her, but I’m excited to think what she would come up with in the future. Lenka is heading off on an international writing trip to LA, NY and London, hopefully we get to hear some new tracks before too long.

http://www.myspace.com/lenkamusic

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Here’s my take on The Presets. Australians seem to over magnify the success of local bands that when they get criticised overseas people adopt the “why-are-they-picking-on-us?” sentiment. I like the Presets, they play fun party music and everytime I’ve seen them I have a great time, but that’s because the only expectations I have from them is to be a decent live version of their recordings, nothing more.

I mean how adventurous can they get on stage when they play to a backing track anyway? This video shows how strict the Presets can be on the live stage, even with singer Julian doing his best electrospaz dance moves. In the booming atmosphere of a club surrounded by frenzied partygoers, you’d probably have a good time. But watching in retrospect through the sterile microscope of YouTube, it’s clear that they have limitations performing as a two piece.

Previous post: The Presets 

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Digger and the Pussycats

About 4 years ago blues-infused two piece rock bands become fashionable, especially if they were colour coordinated / good looking. White Stripes were the world leaders while the locally Mess Hall boys got well known. So how to set a band apart from the pack? By having a stand up drummer and touring non stop! Digger and The Pussycats are guitarist Sam and drummer Andy, originally from Melbourne but now based where ever their current tour takes them. I saw these two noisemakers about two years ago at Spectrum in Sydney, they were selling 7 inches they made in Prague, merchandise made in Holland and other worldly things that only a few fortunate bands can casually boast. They were quite a sight; drummer jumping around singing while sharing the mic with guitarist, different from the other duos.

Now I’m not really that into two piece rock bands anymore, they all come to a point where their music hits limitations and then they’d have to either get collaborators involved or try more instrumentation. The White Stripes hit this limit with their last album, trying out more acoustic songwriting with marimbas. I think that was the end of the rock scene’s flirtation with that sub-subgenre. So here’s a song to close that off:

Digger and The Pussycats – ‘Coming To Get You’

http://www.diggerandthepussycats.com
http://www.myspace.com/diggerthepussycats

Other notable two piece bands in Australia: The Mess Hall, The Whats, Fire Underground

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Faker

Sydney based Faker had a troubled start to their music career. Singer Nathan Hudson allegedly fired the entire initial lineup and had difficulty settling on permanent band members. Rumours of being difficult to work with started spreading around, and for a moment it seemed the band was never going to get anywhere. Many people in the music scene were surprised when their debut album Addicted Romantic came out; a strong collection of new tunes and reworked old favourites that showcased a band who’s not only very tight but seemed to show promise of lasting beyond a debut album.

I’ve met Nathan a few times and he’s very likeable and easy to get along to, nothing like what I heard from rumours. On stage he gets pretty wild, I’ve watched him carry songs while hanging off a speaker bar upside down ten meters off the ground without missing a lyric. The first and standout single out of this album is ‘Quarter To Three’, a very Cure inspired tune that was so in time with the rock scene’s obsessions of early 80s dark tinged sound at the time of its release. There are other standout songs in the album, some sounded like they’re written specifically for mainstream rock radio. But this song has that long lasting timeless quality about it that will outlive this album.

Faker – ‘Quarter to Three’

http://www.faker.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/fakertheband

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Operator Please

I’ve only heard very little about Brisbane based five piece Operator Please. I heard that they formed the band in jest of the coolsie scene bands that were entering a high school band competition. I heard that they were only 16. And I heard that a certain US major label is interested in them. Without seeing them live, I can only assume that they are a five piece version of the Grates, who are also from Brisbane. A few months ago their ping pong song, a very quirky, jumpy, short number, got some plays on Sydney’s tastemaking radio station FBi 94.5fm. I don’t really dig their other songs on their site, some sound a bit half baked but they probably have new ones by now. Operator Please are playing next week in Sydney, so if you’re around and you dig this next tune come and join me at their show in Spectrum next Wednesday 30th September.

Operator Please – ‘Just A Song About Ping Pong‘

http://www.myspace.com/operatorplease

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End Of Fashion

End Of Fashion has been remixed by Australia’s foremost proponents of fashion Van She. This reworking of the very radio friendly pop song has stretched its length almost 3 times to 7 minutes.

End Of Fashion got together after two of their members got booted out of The Sleepy Jackson. Their open love of pop music and Beatles-referrencing vocal harmonies easily found them an audience in Australian radio. Frequent MySpace users might also recognise the photo from their long online marketing campaign. Van She came into the scene earlier this year, able to mash disco and pop effortlessly while still simultaneously holding rock music instruments, they made name through both live and DJ-ing gigs.

So what do these two sound like put together? You heard it here first folks, exclusive to Who The Bloody Hell Are They:

End Of Fashion – ‘Oh Yeah’ (Van She Tech Electric Remix)

http://www.endoffashion.com
http://www.myspace.com/endoffashion

http://www.vanshe.com
http://www.myspace.com/vanshe

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