Drawn From Bees – ‘Long Tooth Setting Sun’ (mp3)

What do you do when your band has built up a reputation for playing a certain type of music, but you find yourself ten years older and moved on both emotionally and musically? Kill the old band name, find a new one, write new music.

The members of Drawn From Bees played melodramatic modern rock in a band called Glasshouse for over ten years until they called it quits approximately 18 months ago. Clearly they missed writing music and hanging out with each other – they’re releasing a new E.P. every six months with this new, more indie rock project.

If you like music along the lines of Crowded House, Something For Kate or Travis, give these guys a go.

“Long Tooth Setting Sun” is from Drawn From Bees’ second E.P. And The Blind Shall Lead The Way. They will be launching it at The Troubadour in Brisbane this Friday night.

www.myspace.com/drawnfrombees

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Streamer Bendy – ‘Boy Oh Boy’ (mp3)

Streamer Bendy are BFFs and a very very attractive band.

Named after the childhood imaginary friend of singer Erinn Swan, band member-wise Streamer Bendy is a mixture of now-defunct pop rockers Repeat Offender (RIP), pop-metallers  Nina May and Some Kinda Magic, the world’s best Queen tribute band. Pick which guy plays Brian May as his day job.

‘Boy Oh Boy’ reminds me a bit of Fever To Tell era Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The highlight of this track for me is the chorus lyric “I could get you off behind my uncle’s tractor/doesn’t mean I like you, I’m a real good actor” – the harmonised riff behind it is pretty great too.

Streamer Bendy’s self-titled EP is out on Friday. I’ll bet you my flawless GPA that these guys will be huge.

www.myspace.com/streamerbendy

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Skinny Jean – ‘Anhedonia’

To view the correct video, click on the article link above.

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Melodyssey – ‘All Your Way’

The Australian melodic rock scene is a crowded place to be. The Butterfly Effect, Cog, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, Sleep Parade and dozens of lesser bands are headlining shows and pumping out music that dudes can sink piss to, but also enjoy with their girlfriend.

Melodyssey are a hard rock band from the Sunshine Coast who formed and released their debut album Distance and Regret in the earlier part of this decade, long before the genre became overcrowded. “All Your Way” from their latest release The Two Windows sees vocalist Lance Howard’s slightly disconcerting alto pierce through a grinding mesh of guitars and drums, like a more mature version of nu-metal.

The band isn’t touring much now that drummer Luke Williams is a permanent member of Dead Letter Circus, but you should buy their album The Two Windows. It’s really good.

www.myspace.com/melodyssey

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Tex Perkins & His Ladyboyz – ‘Hold The Line’ (mp3)

Whether it’s his work with Beasts of Bourbon, his collaboration with Tim Rogers or his most recent piss-take work with “the fifth-best covers band in the country” The Ladyboyz, Tex Perkins is yet to disappoint me.

In light of Tex Perkins and His Ladyboyz’ stellar rendition of “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar” on 2007’s No Man’s Woman compilation, they’ve released Number Ones and Number Twos, a collection of cover songs usually relegated to cover bands in RSLs and cruise ships worldwide.

Dodgy harmonies notwithstanding, Perkins and his Ladyboyz’ version of Toto’s “Hold The Line” is surprisingly faithful to the original. Check out the hilarious infomercial for Number Ones & Number Twos.

www.myspace.com/texperkins

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megastick fanfare – ‘musing’s heartthrob’

megastick fanfare are a bunch of young multi-instrumentalists from Sydney. They play experimental psychedelic pop, occasionally in support of bands such as Cuthbert and The Nightwalkers, Seekae and Expatriate.

The band opens each show they play with a different ‘fanfare’, a piece of music unique to that night’s performance. I think it’s a pretty cool trick. While there is no denying this band is incredibly skilled and engaging ,the Vampire Weekend influence is inescapable  – I’ll be interested to see what they can do given a few more years of life and touring experience.

megastick fanfare are playing a few shows in Sydney in the next month or so, including Hopetoun on February 20 as part of the Spunk! Records Singles launch and a headline slot at MUM on March 13 . Check out their MySpace for more details.

www.myspace.com/megastickfanfare

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Do you live in Melbourne? Do you have a passion for finding new Aussie music? Are you able to write engagingly, articulately and intelligently?

The Who The Hell team is looking for a Melbourne-based gig goer/music lover to contribute to the blog. If you can contribute at least once a week and find your own MP3s for said posts, email music@whothehell.net with some examples of your work.

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