Scotch Of St. James – ‘The Happy Peacock’ (mp3)

The Scotch are possibly one of the most underrated bands to be poking their heads above the battlements of the WA music scene right now.

With each successive release their brand of Black Rebel-esque rock ‘n’ roll has slowly grown and matured. Starting as a bit of a mish mash of influences and gradually maturing into a well-honed sharp pointy stick of stoner-cool-as-fuck-rock.

I’ve seen them play at my local a couple of times and they can back up all the tight rock licks in their recordings with enough swagger to make Vince Noir self conscious.

The Scotch Of St. James have just finished the tracking for their debut album with Dave Parkin (Snowman/Sugar Army/Red Jezebel). I daresay it’s one release we should all be saving the change from our beer money for.

www.myspace.com/thescotchofstjames

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Umpire – ‘Streamers’ (mp3)

Umpire were one of those bands that everyone seemed to be talking about but no-one had heard. Now however, it seems the secret is slowly leaking out into everyone’s consciousness. They’ve been copping plenty of attention from the boffins at Triple J and the national street press seem to be quietly singing their praises as well.

Their single ‘Streamers’ is a controlled exercise in less is more. They’ve got these lovely jangly guitars and odd timings that are all wrapped up in this great current of melody that flows through the whole song. Think bands like Tortoise but with a little less of the experimental edge and more of an accessible ‘that chorus is stuck in my head’ kind of slant.

Umpire will be touring with the Tucker B’s through June:
Friday June 12th – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney.
Saturday June 13th – The Tote, Melbourne.
Saturday June 20th – The Amplifier, Perth.

www.myspace.com/umpiretheband

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