Hands down, the best part of my childhood involved stumbling upon a coin in the street. The glimmer of a $2 coin was like a lighthouse beacon shimmering across a windy storm for me. I was a sailor, barely surviving in the storm that was kindergarten and early bedtimes, and this coin was my safety, my portal to dry land and a cheeky can of Coke. Screw you 6pm bedtime, you will never take me alive.

Melbourne’s Shiny Coin remind me of those days – their gorgeous lo-fi tunes are the right mixture of slacker and power pop that throw back to both the happiness of stumbling across a rare coin, as well as the shock-effect that soft drinks have on a child, and which garage bands have on a man-child.

Two EPs in, and not a single track that these guys have written breaks the three minute barrier. Isn’t that such a beautiful sentiment? The track names are pretty fantastic as well – ‘Mr Tofu’, ‘My Friends’ and the sharp ‘C*nt’ are all fantastic jams that insist on being played as loud as possible.

For people that have been craving some of that Speedy Ortiz/Joanna Gruesome action in Aus, well, here’s your opportunity. Shiny Coin kick tremendous amounts of ass, and are an essential addition to any lover of fuzz pedal.

Soundcloud / Facebook / Bandcamp

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Kitchen’s Floor are practically punk royalty; this is a group that has been around for absolutely forever. They formed in roughly 2007, released their first material in 2009, and for a while kept up a steady stream of records that satisfied many who found a certain solace in Matt Kennedy’s stories of irrevocable sadness and depressed observations of mundanity.

However, after a few years of hearing nothing from the Kitchen’s Floor camp, it seemed as though the band had run it’s course. Five years is a long time to maintain a band, and it’s not like Matt Kennedy wasn’t busy with other stuff: his long running radio program Underground Australiana on 4ZZZ, and label/distro Eternal Soundcheck, have done heaps in promoting incredible Australian music.

So it came as a pleasant surprise to see that Kitchen’s Floor were releasing new music. And on the new Sydney label Paradise Daily, who have put out excellent stuff from Orion, Seating Plan and Video Ezy. However, for those assuming the old Kitchen’s Floor whose sound defined ‘ramshackle’ – please leave those expectations at the door. This new tape is filth and scuzz incarnate. Whereas the seminal records of Loneliness Is A Dirty Mattress and Look Forward to Nothing created sparse, barely audible landscapes of pain, ‘Resident Dregs’ unleashes that pent up frustration that admonishes the very thought of subtlety.

The A-side of this tape, ‘Resident Dregs’ and ‘Strength’ are clamouring snarls; full of resentment and bitterness. These two tracks are allegedly off an upcoming album, which points to something far more aggressive on the horizon for Kitchen’s Floor. The B-side is an eight minute instrumental #exclusive, picking up where the Bitter Defeat 7″ left off – incessant violins, lulled strokes of the guitar and Matt Kennedy’s strangely piercing sorrows.

Whatever Kitchen’s Floor have prepared, this little tape appears to be a necessary stopgap for any fan of punk music.

UPCOMING DATES:

27th June – Crowbar, Brisbane (supporting Bad//Dreems, Mining Boom)

11th August – Shadow Electric Bandroom, Melbourne (Bedroom Suck Records Presents feat. Terrible Truths, The Ocean Party, Milk Teddy & more)

Facebook / Bandcamp

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