Mosman Alder – ‘Raisin Heart’ (mp3)

Mosman Alder, hey? I first noticed this band’s name on the poster for the epic Richard In Your Mind/SPOD gig tonight at the Fans club night at Alhambra (for the Brisbane folks) and thought nothing much of them other than “how did these randoms land the support slot for a relatively high profile gig (at least in the indie/blogging sense).” But then this guy said I should check them, and so I actually went to all the effort to hit up their Myspace page.

And you know what? Turns out they’re pretty good. It shoots for the same kind of grandeur as Arcade Fire and early Doves and actually reaches that level pretty well without falling back on the whole ‘let’s get lots of people to sing loud at once to sound epic’ kinda way. Yeah, they bring some of that in toward the end, but when it works it still works (and when it doesn’t work… well, see that latest Little Red single. WTF is that shit?). Largely, though, the vocals are restricted to a smooth baritone and the song relies on the actual instruments to create crescendos.

Above is ‘Raisin Heart,’ the clear stand out amongst their tracks so far. I won’t go pronouncing these guys as an impending ‘big thing,’ but I can confirm that they have at least one pretty great song with a serving of ‘potential’ on the side. Hopefully they can turn it on tonight and win some more people over.

www.myspace.com/mosmanalder

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Sticky Fingers – ‘Juicy Ones’ (mp3)

Sticky Fingers – ‘Murderous Nerves’ (mp3)

There are always those bloody festival punters I get stuck next to in the pit who put their dreadlocks so close to my face that I can taste henna ointment and lentil chutney. I’ve sat through too many awful consecutive renditions of ‘No Woman, No Cry’ by neigbourly compatriots camping next to my tent at Falls Festival to ever appreciate anything associated with reggae again.

I’m no expert in reggae, so if it sounds somewhat coherent, in tune and adopts some kind of swaying cohesion, it’s sweet music to my ears. When these guys described themselves as garage/pop/reggae I wasn’t quite sure to pull out my serious scorn or take the piss. While Sticky Fingers sounds more like the name of a roving kids craft centre or the title of a b grade porno, I’m getting into this.

Juicy Ones delivers translucent layers of jewel toned riffs over a vibrant pop melody.  Dylan’s crisp tone has chutzpah, but an added effortless restraint to it that guides SF’s sound through this with absolute ease. Loose tuning on the ends of most phrases add a nice tempered dimension to the track too.

Murderous Nerves serves up the band’s reggae leanings. And as ugly as you’d imagine the spawned offspring of british hued indie pop and reggae to be, the end product ain’t all bad. Smokey, musky atmospherics here that could easily slot straight onto one of those dub mixtapes most bars seem to whack on between sets.

At the 1:43 mark I’m picturing Kyle Falconer from The View staggering around stage blowing smoke rings and donning raggamuffin beads and hemp-dyed pants. Oh! What a turn on. There’s something about reggae dub beats that brings out the best of stoned ‘come-hither’ faces in most people. Whatever it is, it’s working it’s charm.

The band have managed to develop a fresh, clear-cut sound without flaunting too much studio polish. They’ve glazed that ‘r’ word with a nice twist, and I’ve just given in.

www.myspace.com/stickyfingers_

* Sticky Fingers will be playing with a hoist of other schweeet bands (Howl, Puta Madre Brothers, Traps, Guineafowl, Parades & more) at Oxford Art Factory’s 3rd Birthday on the 20th of Aug.

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Ride The Tiger – ‘Danny’ (mp3)

Ride The Tiger is a band from Tasmania, made up of veterans from the state’s punk/rock/hardcore scene. ‘Danny’ is the second track from their debut EP Ambush, and combines sing-a-long choruses with a nice groove and a sneaky harmonised guitar solo. It’s often a struggle for songs in this genre not to sound samey, but the guitar playing is what grabbed my attention and sets this song apart from similar tunes.

www.myspace.com/ridethetigerrock

I first heard this song on the excellent D.I. Wireless podcast, a must-listen for anybody into punk rock.

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Flight Facilities & Aeroplane (with Giselle, Au Revoir Simone and Friendly Fires) – ‘I Crave Paris’ (mp3)

OK I know this is confusing but bear with me. One of the year’s best electronic tracks, Flight Facilities & Giselle’s ‘Crave You‘ has received the mashed treatment by Belgium’s hot electronic duo Aeroplane, whom I just found out has now become just a solo project by Vito de Luca. The beat that Aeroplane used was originally their remix of Friendly Fires’ hit Paris. They took the vocals of that remix, sung by Au Revoir Simone, off that beat, and put Giselle’s vocals. So technically, this should be credited as Aeroplane featuring Giselle, but I’ll leave it as it is so everyone’s happy.

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www.scottspark.com

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Our Husband – ‘Villages’ (mp3)

Our Husband is a new side limb for Nathaniel Morse of Adelaide band Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! and Freya Adele formerly of now defunct act Bing Goes to Monaco.

Woodland hymnals for melody lines, tangles of glistening guitar, Villages carves another elegant figure into the realm of narcoticised folk-pop.

Freya’s spectral vocals add to the thoughtful construction of this track, leaving you feeling as if you’ve had your head immersed in a jar of liquid hydrogen for a week.

Villages works as a solid opening track, but seems incomplete in it’s wider narrative scheme.  Our Husband’s debut will be released later on in the year, so for now, this has to suffice on repeat. If you’re into Beach House, you’ll like this.

Definitely giving Big Scary a run for their money on my list of top local acts this year so far.

www.myspace.com/weareourhusband

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OTOUTO – W.HILLIER (Dir. Alice Glenn) from two bright lakes on Vimeo.

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