The Gifthorse – ‘Awake and Waiting’ (mp3)

The Gifties are one of my favourite Brisbane bands, so of course they’re breaking up on Saturday. I’m a bit bummed to tell you the truth – their final single ‘Awake and Waiting’ gave hints of a band keen to look in new directions, but perhaps they feel they’ve done their dash. The good news is that they’ve rounded up a bunch of mates and split into two new bands.  It’s cheap and easy to draw comparisons between the new outfits and the old,  so let’s just move on and hear the new stuff.

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Headaches – ‘Boy Division’ (mp3)

Vocalist Shane Collins and guitarist Chris Anning make up the Gifthorse contingent of Headaches, a band on the Bad Religion/Rancid end of the punk spectrum. The songs are short, the pace is unrelenting and there is no screaming. There’s a bit of whinging from Collins though – the lyrics to “Boy Division” aren’t particularly inspired.  Their shows will be fun, at any rate, with their first one with Break Even on the Gold Coast.
www.myspace.com/headachesbrisbane

Fires of Waco
If you like Polar Bear Club and Hot Water Music; well son, Fires of Waco is the band for you! Gifties drummer Luke Gal and guitarist/vocalist Stevie Scott are in this band, with Allan Reid on lead vocals. Reid’s voice sounds best when supported by Scott’s rough shouts – without those, it sounds a bit thin and flat. Sorry for the lack of audio aid here – the band assures me their song ‘Risk and Reason’ is downloadable from their MySpace, but I think Rupert and his new music player have other ideas. Check it out though.
http://www.myspace.com/thefiresofwaco

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Fushia – ‘The Easy Cure’

Fushia have finally released their debut EP after almost four years of being a (very young) band.  It kicks off with ‘The Easy Cure’, based around a keyboard hook cribbed from that little tune played by doorbells all around the world. They’re fun and have tonnes of potential, even if it is a little easy to pick their influences at this early stage of the game.

If you want a low-risk excuse to check them out, they’re playing in the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane tonight.

www.myspace.com/wearefushia

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Operator Please – ‘Logic’

After the song about ping pong, after their keyboard player lost her shit and left the band to become a minor-league porn star, after massive national and international success, Operator Please have grown up and into themselves.

‘Logic’ doesn’t have the gang vocals, spiky guitars or buildups of their older work, instead relying on a bass hook and cowbell. Yes, cowbell. It’s much slower than their previous stuff and definitely cooler.
They’re on the touring lineup for this month’s Future Music festival, which gives a bit of an indication of the direction they’re trying to go in; indeed, it’s hard to imagine older songs like “Crash Tragic” fitting in with this new band.

You can download Logic after you sign up to their mailing list here.

www.myspace.com/operatorplease

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This is pretty cute. I particularly like the suspenders and the gigantic dancing voodoo doll.

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Elrazor – ‘Second Coming’

I don’t often put metal up on the blog. It’s partially because I’m scared Matt and Jerry will kick me off if I do it too often, but mostly because a lot of Aussie hard rock and metal bands aren’t very good.

While Melbourne’s Elrazor aren’t breaking any new ground in the genre, they do the Pantera/Iron Maiden/Metallica vein of metal well and tightly. They have everything – harmonised riffs, pinch harmonics, tasteful double kicks and shredding over palm muted chugging.

They’re currently #2 on the Triple J Unearthed metal chart – make of that what you will.

www.myspace.com/elrazor

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