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LOOK: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Melbourne
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WATCH: The Gooch Palms – ‘Trackside Daze’
It is a sad, sad day for Australian music indeed. Loveable ruffians/serial nudists/one of Australia’s best bands, The Gooch Palms are relocating from humble Newcastle, to USA. Everyone’s favourite twosome named after the bridge between two genitals are waving goodbye to the home. It’s not that Newcastle has ever been short of amazing acts – Bare Grillz, King Single and a lil’ band called Silverchair all call the ‘Steel City’ home. The Goochies’ relocation means adieu to arguably the best mullet in NSW, no more covers of Twisted Sisters’ ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, and less of the usual shenanigans that will be spoken of in slack-jawed awe.
The Gooch Palms have made a huge impact with their sweaty and chaotic bubblegum punk. However, there is always a silver lining – they’ve released a crazy new video for their latest jam, ‘Trackside Daze’. Besides being a funner than a night out with the Kardashians, the clip is a visual smorgasbord that defies rhyme or reason. It’s like Tumblr got hacked by Anonymous. It also contains lots of sexy neon undies. Enjoy.
The Gooch Palms are playing their last Australian shows for a while. The band just played MATES Festival on the weekend, with a tour to follow in February. Make sure to check out the dates here and buy tickets for all the looseness that will inevitably ensue.
INTRODUCING: Slum Sociable
Mordialloc’s a town that isn’t known for much. It’s got a funny name though: think about it—more-dee-al-oc, (weird hey?) Beyond that, it’s nothing but another blip on the radar of Melbourne’s sand belt. Until now, that is.
For a town which you’d think would induce a certain kind of suburban ennui—the kind where RM Williams reigns supreme—comes Slum Sociable, who have just released new track called ‘Anyway’. They’re certainly not like label mates, Husky, but both acts produce a certain kind of genteel indie-pop. Lush is a word you can’t help but to come back to on listening to ‘Anyway’, but unlike with Husky, you aren’t prompted to run through the woods toting a beard.
In Sociable’s case, lush means chopped-up harps, layered vocals, and a dub-inspired bass line. Together, this makes for an easy listen, to be placed on your lo-fi list somewhere between Toro y Moi’s ‘My Touch’ and Moby’s ‘Porcelain’.
Slum Sociable will be playing their very first show, and previewing their debut EP, at Sugar Mountain Festival on Saturday, 24 January.
STUFF WE LIKED IN 2014
2014 has been another great year for Australian music, cementing the perception both here and abroad that there’s something very special going on down under. Courtney Barnett continued her project of total world domination, touring the globe, selling out show after show back home and putting out a lovely little mixer on her label, Milk Records.
We heard stunning new albums from Total Control and Blank Realm, which were utterly deserving of the international acclaim. Cut Copy gave the Melbourne dance scene a critical shot in the arm, bringing some terrific acts together on the Oceans Apart compilation. The managers behind Pond and Tame Impala launched their own imprint, Spinning Top Records, bringing the charming Peter Bibby into our lives, with his drunken burble and shifty grin. Sydney label Plastic World expanded its catalogue of stylish retro club music, curating EPs from the likes of Retiree, Savoir and GL. The local hip hop scene did what had hitherto seemed impossible and produced a number of very promising MCs and producers. And, in one of the biggest surprises of my year, old mate Chet Faker put out a track that didn’t make me feel nauseous (though it did sound quite a lot like James Murphy).
Faced with such an embarrassment of riches, we figured it would be unfair – not to mention too difficult – to fashion a definitive list of the year’s best releases. Instead, our contributors have come up with their personal top three moments of the year in Australian music. If you’re a real stickler for lists you can always check out our newest Spotify playlist, featuring 100 of our favourite tracks from 2014.
Read the team’s contributions below.
LISTEN: Flower Drums – ‘Bad Websites’
It’s been a big year for Perth’s Flower Drums. The four-piece made their breakthrough at Laneway Festival in February thanks to Triple J Unearthed, and have since released a string of impressive singles. While their latest single ‘Don’t Wait’ looks set to propel the band off into a Flume-ian trajectory, ‘Bad Websites’, their previous single is also an intriguing listen.
‘Bad Websites’ opens with the kind of hiccupy rhythm you’d expect to hear sputtering from a bastardised Casio. However the track quickly changes course – dropping some lush synth pads that fall on just the right side of chill-out soundtrack cheese. Leigh Craft’s cooing vocals and gentle guitar ramblings blend subtly into the chorus, which is a near-perfect synthesis of delicate falsetto, silky-smooth synths and funky guitar licks.
With their debut EP 28 Mansions due for release early next year, it’s looking like 2015 could mark the start of even bigger things for Flower Drums.
SEQUENCE: Klo
Klo, a fresh electronic duo out of Melbourne, are kinda a big deal. They’ve had a litany of press, been shot by the right photographers and contacted by major labels the world over. Their debut single, ‘Make Me Wonder’, set the ball rolling, even drawing them attention from BBC Radio One’s Zane Lowe.
This is no small feat for cousins Simon Lam and Chloe Kaul, who recently released their EP, Cusp—and it’s largely thanks to the mothers who brought them together in the first place. For this electronic duo, playdates have given way to rehearsals in Simon’s home studio, which we were lucky enough to be invited to.
Located in Melbourne’s sandbelt, Simon’s shack, tucked behind his parents’ house, is something of an enigma in a region renowned for Alex Perry-laden housewives, Liz Hurley cameos and lads.
Kaul’s voice is also an enigma of sorts, sharing a lineage with the likes of Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon) and Martha Brown (Banoffee)—artists who have demonstrably shifted R&B vocals into new contexts.
One of the most striking things about Klo is Kaul’s vibrato. It really does hit you like a train. Klo’s minimalist electronic palate aids this to a degree, but even on less vocally oriented tracks like ‘False Calls’ Kaul deploys an understated range with precision.
Their influences are more or less a melange, spanning Fantasia and James Blake to early cuts by the Streets.
Lam’s studies in audio engineering are readily apparent in the EP’s production. The intricacy of Kaul’s layered vocal parts is in no small part thanks to Lam’s experimentation, which you may have previously heard in his work with I’lls.
Next time you chuck on the velveteen textures of ‘Make Me Wonder’, please pay your respects to Mama Lam and Mama Kaul.
LOOK: Paradise Music Festival 2014
Photography by Bec Capp & Ed Gorwell
A friend described Paradise to me as a combination of his three favourite things: Lake Mountain, clubbing, hot chicks. That aside, shooting Paradise Music Festival was a photographer’s wet dream. The best aspect of the festival was the landscape, and the local bands and artists who filled the giant mountain clearing with some great tunes. The toboggan run turned amphitheatre is surrounded by dead white snow gums from the 2009 bush fires. Despite the stark reminder, it’s a dramatically beautiful setting. Compared to larger local festivals, the humbler crowd numbers meant for ample lounging during the day, and elbow space in the crowd at night. Festival creature comforts were all there; flushing toilets, hot showers (!), good coffee, lentils for dinner and a three level indoor ‘club’ inside a ski lodge.
Femi, Klo and Rat and Co played leisurely daytime sets, while Young Franco and Oscar Key Sung were first night standouts. I think most who attended would agree that arranging I’lls, Kirin J Callinan, Total Giovanni and Kirkis‘ back-to-back sets on Saturday night was curation goodness. Retreating indoors after midnight for an eight hour dance was fun and was a great way to beat the cold temperatures at night. Otologic and Harold closing Clubland to the backdrop of the sun rising over the mountains was more of a good thing that any dank city basement could afford. It may only be in it’s second year, but Paradise did live up to its name.
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Latest Comments
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Still trying to purchase!!!ANTHONY J LANGFORD
Cool track. Congrats Joshua. Hope the release is a success.Tristan
Man I love these guys. I can't believe they are not releasing any new music. I've been to so many…sophie
^^ I love Grimes! Banoffee is one of my new favorite music artists! :) I love With Her, Reign Down,…Ace
Read your review then listened to the EP. Fantastic ! Different to most hardcore punk I listen to. Somewhat more…