Posts By Madeleine Laing

INTRODUCING: Blonde Tongues

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blonde-tonuges

Oh, you’re bored of shoegaze are you? Well suck it up for five minutes because Brisbane’s Blonde Tongues have released a couple of tracks that might just bring you back round to the dark, reverby side.The two singles, ‘Wedding Bells’ and ‘Kisses’ work well as teasers for a forthcoming album. Sure, they’re a bit rough, but both tracks are a clear indication of a band with strong ideas and the guts to back it up (if that seriously wacky lead guitar in ‘Kisses’ is anything to go by.)

Lead single ‘Wedding Bells’ is dense and strangely uplifting – building and then crumbling, with melancholy vocals buried under the rubble.The band have also adopted the genre ‘twee-gaze’, which is definitely one of the more fun arbitrary labels I’ve seen recently. A cool and worthwhile addition to a maybe-not-just-yet saturated scene.

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LISTEN: Horror My Friend – ‘Nothing’

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horror my friend

There’s something about Adelaide that just breeds a kind of toughness. With Adelaide bands like Bad//Dreems and Summer Flake bringing their sound into the spotlight, it’s clear that Australia’s most maligned city is punching well above its weight.

Horror My Friend (surprisingly not a terrible grindcore band) have joined the fray with their latest singe ‘Nothing’ – a tricky, hook-laden track that lands just on the right side of pop punk. This is only their third single in three years, but judging from the amount of well-crafted riffs crammed into this three minute song, they’ve been spending that time wisely. The production on this track is also great – the vocal cuts through all that shredding without being too clean, and some high tension drumming builds excitement till the very end of the song.

With a few headline shows coming up, it’ll be interesting to see if Horror My Friend can maintain this kind of energy live – and if we’ll see more frequent releases from them in the future. Dates for the band’s upcoming shows are below.

Feb 21 – The Captain Cook Hotel, Sydney

Feb 22 – The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle, (Tiki Bar) (w/ Maids, Archers and Model Youth)

Feb 27 – Trainspotters at the Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane (w/ Columbia Buffet, and Cactusdemondoom)

Mar 1 – The Loft Chevron Island, Gold Coast (w/ Dead Books, Take Me North and Pirates of the Tempest)

Mar 13 – The Rosemount Hotel Perth

Mar 14 – The Beat Nightclub, Perth

Mar 15 – The Swan Hotel, Freemantle

Mar 21 – Cats at Rocket Rooftop, Adelaide (w/ Pretty City, Archers and The Sunbirds)

 

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INTRODUCING: Curlew

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curlew

Curlew is a brand new project from Brisbane musician Sam George-Allen, who’s previously turned heads from behind synths with space hippies Mega Ogre and hardcore punks Low Season (who also perform this song live, though very differently).

Curlew is not much like either of those bands. ‘Blood Disease’ is built around George-Allen’s vocals, with low synth that growls and pulses while the beats stay upfront. It’s not until the vocal loops come in that you get the true impact of this track, with aching harmonies where George-Allen shows effortless control over her subtly interesting voice.

There’s something here that reminds me a little of Kid A. Or maybe in what seems like a sacrilege to say, what I refer to as the ‘pling plong’ synth. This is an excellent debut from an artist who’s sure to keep impressing.

‘Blood Disease’ is available as a pay-what-you-want download from Curlew’s Bandcamp, where you can also check out a very pretty cover of The Drones‘ ‘They’ll Kill You’ too.

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INTRODUCING: No Sister

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no sister

No Sister are a Brisbane four-piece who’ve been around for less than a year. They haven’t played many shows, and have only released two songs. Those two songs though? Pretty cool.

The first half of ‘Portrait In A Rearview Mirror’ is the kind of the almost-shoegaze, downer alt-rock that’s showing up more and more in Brisbane lately. The track really steps up halfway through and becomes way more excitingly punk, buoyed by Tiarney Miekus’s youthful but direct and icy cool vocal, speak-singing disaffected lyrics about ‘watching people watch themselves’. There’s also something of The Eternal era Sonic Youth in the guitar too. This track is dripping with attitude and spite, in a way that not a lot of young bands can pull off.

You can download this track, as well as ‘Muscle Beach’ on the band’s Unearthed page.

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LISTEN: Roku Music – ‘Collider’

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Roku Music

 

Impressively spearheaded by Donovan Miller of No Anchor and Innez Tulloch from Tiny Spiders, Roku Music are a Brisbane four piece who make heavy shoegaze music that feels drawn-out, but always bloody tough.

After a few lineup changes, the band now feature bassist Jody Gleeson of Brisbane throwback girl-group The Madison and Thomas Roche of The Rational Academy on drums. Late 2013, the band entered the studio (Miller and Tulloch’s own) to record their first album. ‘Collider’, the name of the band’s forthcoming album and first single is the most solid statement of intent we’ve seen from this band yet.

Miller and Tulloch are both formidable guitarists. Both get an incredible amount of power out of their instruments; layers of distortion turn to whirlpools under a sweetly expansive vocal. The production here is epic and tense without ever being cluttered – and the track still weighs down around your shoulders, but in way that’s more comforting that claustrophobic.

Roku Music’s debut album Collider will be released through Sonic Masala Records in March.

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LISTEN: Naked Maja – ‘Disillusion’

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Disillusion

Naked Maja are an ambient four piece from Brisbane. The band’s first EP was a curious shoegaze pop jaunt which built strange downbeat gems out of sparse synth and distorted vocals. ‘Disillusion’ is their latest offering. First track ‘#59’ comes at your ears with a straight-up rock guitar that’s both heavy and sharp at the same time. There’s an atmosphere of dark cynicism that permeates through the rest of this strange, sinister record. The band take a step back on ‘Soft Edge’, while glitchy percussion eases you into standout track ‘Disillusion’. ‘Mind Not Thinking’ earns the experimental tag that the band has evolved into with this record too. This is a listening experience that’ll leave you feeling unsettled and oddly moved.

 

If you’re into the devastating combo of babes, bright colours and optical illusions check out the video for ‘#59’.

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LISTEN: The Phoncurves – ‘Heartstrings’

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the_phoncurves

Sometimes when I get sent press releases that describe a band as the ‘darlings; of a particular scene, I like to set my laptop on fire and throw it out the window.

Luckily, in the case of excellent Brisbane two-piece The Phoncurves, I restrained myself and listened to the song. The duo’s latest single ‘Heartstrings’ is actually pretty sweet. Abbie Roberts and Naomi Burrell’s voices are the most immediately striking; their harmonies are open and resonant – filling up all the space in what appears to be a seemingly simple acoustic pop song. But multiple listens reveal a depth in their songwriting. This is a track that swings and moves in waves; it’s well-structured and smart while still being soft on the surface….

‘Heartstrings’ is the first single off The Phoncurves second EP to be released early next year. Catch the duo heading out on these dates in December:

Thur, 5 December – SYDNEY @ Factory Floor

Fri, 6 December – MELBOURNE @ Victoria Hotel

Sat, 7 December – BRISBANE @ South Side Tea Room

 

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