Witch Hats – ‘Check The Centre’

Witch Hats’ debut was full of equal parts spiky and sludgy post-punk and it won them plenty of praise amongst bloggers back in 2007. Their new EP is a mix of tighter compositions and looser performances, at times sounding fairly coarse but generally complementing the songs well. As the band themselves say, ‘Check The Centre’ and its unwavering two-note plod of a verse is the closest thing to a single they’ve yet produced and it’s surprisingly catchy. It won’t be for everyone, but if you get through to the chorus then it’s hard to not get hooked.

www.myspace.com/witchhats

Read Post →

Neon Love – ‘Holiday’

Neon Love are a talented bunch of guys from Ballarat, some of whom have already drummed up a bit of buzz as part of Unearthed High winners Howl. Being in just one of those bands would be a respectable feat for young’uns from rural Victoria, so ‘Holiday’ comes as a welcome and impressive surprise.

The vocal inflections and arrangement (including the shouted refrain at the end) heavily recall Tokyo Police Club, but it’s not direct cribbing/hero worship because the song beneath it is pretty darn catchy. in itself You know, it’s jaunty indie rock and it’s fun so more power to these guys. They’ll probably go far. Much further than Ballarat.

www.myspace.com/theneonlove

Read Post →

Smarter Than The Average Bear – ‘It’s Not A Tumor’

FYI, I have no idea whether this is a joke and I have no idea whether this is good, but as I listen to this on repeat it just feels like the perfect antithetical comedown to three days of music industry seminars. (Not that BigSound wasn’t fun – checked out some rad bands, rad speakers and scored some free lunch/drinks).

Anyway, if you like repetitive electro-punk that samples ill-advised Arnie forays in comedy then this is the song for you!

Read Post →

Ernest Ellis – ‘Heading For The Cold’

According to the press release, Ernest Ellis went out to a farm in the Blue Mountains with just a mobile studio and an engineer to record what will be his debut album, Hunting. It sounds a bit like the narrative behind Bon Iver’s album, and ‘Heading For The Cold’ also sounds a bit like Bon Iver – not to be reductive or anything. That same sense of intimacy rubs against wide open spaces and soaring, multi-tracked vocals, making this far from your typical singer-songwriter stuff.

Ellis isn’t a shallow impersonator, there’s definitely an unique stamp on this track (and most of the others I’ve heard so far) that can’t be readily compared to other ‘nu-folkies.’ A good song with good production that is hopefully indicative of what we can expect from him early next year. Check it.

www.myspace.com/ernestellis

Read Post →

Bridezilla – ‘Beaches’

So, Sydney’s Bridezilla are only just about to release their first album? It feels like these guys have been around for ages now, mainly because they’ve rightly pulled so many festival and support slots. There’s too many to list here, but noteably they’ve gotten cosy with the respected crew at ATP by playing the inaugural Aus event (curated by Nick Cave and Co.) and are about to rock out at the Flaming Lips’ New York counterpart. Meanwhile, the aforementioned debut, The First Dance, is still two months away. Nice.

The first official single is ‘Beaches’ and it’s a lush, moody, folkish outing; whispery vocals and wilting strings float around above a subtle, driving beat. A fairly vague description, I know, but I’m trying to avoid comparisons.

Just listen to it. This is good stuff.

www.myspace.com/bridezillaa

Read Post →

The Mint Chicks – ‘Don’t Sell Your Brain Out, Baby’

NZ’s The Mint Chicks have just put out their third album Screens on Flying Nun and, well, it’s probably my fav album from these parts this year. I won’t gush too much – instead I’ll just direct you to this review at Polaroids of Androids, which pretty much sums up why you should go and buy it.

The third and latest single to be released off it is streaming above and the rad film clip for the even-better ‘Hot On Your Heels’ is below. Yes, two songs, mainly because it deserves two songs and also mainly because that video clip is awesome. So nice one on all fronts.

FYI, The Mint Chicks often get tagged with generic labels like ‘noise rock,’ ‘punk,’ ‘experimental’ or even ‘shit-gaze,’ but not only do none of these labels fail to fully describe their sound, they also play down the fact that The Mint Chicks’ songs are some of the most catchiest power-pop around. I literally haven’t stopped singing some these choruses since I first heard them.

So, so very good.

Mint Chicks – Hot on Your Heels from Mint Chicks on Vimeo.

Read Post →

AXXONN – The Second Death (featuring Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson) from Tom Hall on Vimeo.

www.myspace.com/axxonn1

Read Post →