Sydney: Cassette Kids Roll on from SPIN visionary on Vimeo
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Got your finger on the music pulse in your city? Dom Alessio and I shot this video interview of the Cassette Kids at the Beach Road Hotel for SPIN Magazine’s new international video site, and it seems to be just the beginning of an amazing global network. We’ve been working hard to capture the best bits of the music scene around Sydney, but we obviously can’t cover the whole country on our own. That said, SPIN’s on the hunt for more contributors nationwide… So if you’ve got your own camera, some skills and enthusiasm for something like this, drop Domingo an email at drobledo(at)spin.com and let him know what you think you can offer.

http://www.myspace.com/cassettekids

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BMX – “Theme to BMX”

Just by looking at the title of this band you might ask the question, are they cool ’80s nerds, or just nerds?

We’re going to go with the first option. Far too many bands take themselves too seriously, and while this isn’t a sublimely perfected top shelf track, we think it’s kind of fun.

BMX are a retro-loving crew that bring ‘Material Girl’-era Madonna vocals to synthy pop beats. Throw in some oddball samples (doors creaking, bike bells ringing), and you’ve got the musical equivalent of rocket fuel. Skim from everything in sight, shake once, slam down and enjoy what follows – whatever that happens to be.

www.myspace.com/themetobmx

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Snob Scrilla – ‘There You Go Again’

It’s not a name you’ll soon forget, and with a new EP fresh on the shelves and a run on the upcoming Parklife tour, you’ll probably be hearing it a whole lot more pretty soon. Snob Scrilla take the grit out of indie rock, the master lyricism out of hip hop and wind up somewhere on the edges of the genre-playground, like those cool kids in school who didn’t quite fit in anywhere but wound up being friends with everybody.

www.myspace.com/snobscrilla

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The Dolly Rocker Movement – Get Up and Go Go

I first came across this band on a rainy Anzac day, wandering through the Essential festival at the Gaelic Club on the back of a rather large musical bender. The Dolly Rocker Movement were shoved into one of the smallest upstairs rooms. It was way too crowded, smelled vaguely of feet and a series of audio problems meant we stood there in uncomfortable silence for at least 15 minutes, but when the band finally started, well – it’s a tad clichéd, but it was all worth it.

They’re about town quite a bit these days, so if you haven’t caught their warm fuzzy percussion yet, move a little faster, people.

www.myspace.com/thedollyrockermovement

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photo by Boudist

Hell City Glamours – ‘White Trash Hot Love’

Word on the street is that those long-time stalkers of the night, the Hell City Glamours, have got a new self-titled album coming out in early July. There aren’t many bands left these days who dedicate themselves to tongue-thrusting, leather pants, long hair and sweat but shit if you’re going to do rock’n’roll, you may as well do it right.

www.myspace.com/hellcityglamours

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Art vs. Science – ‘Flippers’

Sydneysiders Art vs. Science seem to have a very clear game plan. They make upbeat music for excitable people. Their style is uncomplicated, energetic and most critically, fun. They even provide simple to follow instructions on how best to enjoy it. This, for example, is what you should do when listening to Flippers:

1) I see you dancing with your flippers
2) I see you swimming with your flippers
3) I see you clapping with you flippers
4) Getting Happy with your flippers.

Of course you don’t have to follow these rather cryptic instructions. You could just wave your hands and feet in a way that would look unbelievably stupid if you were to do it in any other context. Ah, the liberating quality of music. Everybody should know what it feels like to dance like a giant penguin in the snow.

www.myspace.com/artvsscience

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