Oh Faker… what the hell were you thinking when whichever God forsaken director presented you with the concept for this film clip?

Here’s a breakdown of Faker’s brand new filmclip, second by second:

00:00 – Oh, an electrocardiograph… how LITERAL!

00:04 – it’s our first look at the new Faker, because front man Nathan Hudson has made twenty three members of the band redundant in the ten years they’ve been around. Also, what’s with the O Brother Where Art Thou? get-up? Plus they’re in a white room with a green stripe… O-kay…

00:16 – after numerous frames of the band sporting stupid facial expressions, we get our first glipse of a girl decked out in fluoro nursewear. Oh crap, what’s the rest of this clip got in store for us if they’re bringing out fluoro-clad girls? FLUORO for christ’s sake…

00:23 – Phil, or Stefan, whichever guitarist you are… do you think you’re in Red Riders?

00:35 – we’re hitting the chorus people, get ready for the sing-along and ooh ahh ahhs

00:37 – the fluoro-clad girl-Faker equivalent have drips with fluoro colour in them? Huh?? If you’ve made it this far, could somebody please tell me what the concept for this video is?

00:50 – we’ve hit the chorus – “this heart attack… I gotta get away, not coming back.” I know how you feel dude.

01:13 – OMFG! What’s with that chick’s makeup?

01:17 – Oooooooooooooh! Get angry Nathan.

01:29 – oh no, it’s a mime-off between Faker and girl Faker! I thought Marcel Marceau was taking that artform to the grave?

01:33 – at least this girl is putting some energy into her performance.

01:47 – probably should have mentioned this earlier, but Paul Berryman, decked out in all black and a skinny tie, really looks like he belongs the behind the drums for an emo band…

02:00 – is anyone winning this mime-off, or is the audience the loser amongst it all?

02:30 – with limbs flailing and competing members getting up close and personal, really nothing much is happening. You haven’t missed anything up until this point. And here comes the bridge…

02:43 – rapid-fire frame changes, showing how girl Faker is perhaps the alter-ego of original Faker? So inside every boy is there a girl? And inside every man wearing braces, there’s a girl wearing fluoro waiting to be freed from the eternal shackles of introversion? Deep man, so deep…

02:53 – “I got your back. But you don’t got mine.” Hey Nathan, I’m sure you’re upset man, and I can see it in that arm-thrusting of yours, but that doesn’t excuse poor grammar.

03:03 – we’re at the climax of the mime-off… strap yourself in!

03:38 – girl Faker have decided to free themselves from their fluoro drips and throw it in the air. Yay, we’re all fucking happy little munchkins. I think they think they’re at Parklife. Look at them dance!

03:52 – it’s over…. what the hell was that all about??? What’s any of that mindless meandering got to do with a heart attack? I want 3:52 of my life back*.

http://www.myspace.com/fakertheband

 – quote courtesy of You Know Who from a magazine…

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Cloud Control – ‘Fine Teacher’

They’ve been building a bit of a buzz lately, and now Cloud Control, who hail from the more Western parts outside Sydney in a beautifully-named location called the Blue Mountains, are set to release their debut EP this week.

Our blogging brethren The Sandwich Club are sponsoring a new night at The Loft Bar at the University of Technology in Sydney called Art, Bitch (awesome name hah) and the Cloudies will be there this Saturday to launch their new EP.

‘Fine Teacher’ is my favourite song off the EP – I just love the honky-tonk piano line.

http://www.myspace.com/cloudcontrol

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photo by Joshua Weinfeld

Cog – ‘What If’

It’s always a nice thing to say… exclusive! Nowhere else on the internet can you hear the brand single from Bondi’s favourite sons Cog. Called ‘What If’, it comes from their sophomore record Sharing Space. This single will be officially released in November, coinciding with a massive Australian-wide tour (in true Cog form, of course) but its been sent to radio this week and we’ve got your first taste of it right here!

You gotta love a band who have the audacity to release as the first single a song which alternates unconventional time signatures – jumping from 5/4 to 3/4 throughout. The mood of this song is reminiscent of Cog’s older Just Visiting Part 2 EP, with ‘What If’ progressing from a melodic beginning into a epic distortion-drenched finale.

All the Cog staples are here: progressive song structures, Flynn Gower’s politically-tinged lyrics, Lucius Borich’s blindingly impressive drum skills and Luke Gower’s melodic bass lines. In that respect, Cog haven’t so much deviated from the sound found on their debut record The New Normal, but rather honed and refined their music more. ‘What If’ fits more within the dimensions of radio play but still maintains that left-of-centre, alternative/progressive edge.

Cog have been one of my favourite bands for many years, so I’m very keen to hear what the rest of their new album sounds like. They haven’t set a release date yet though.

http://www.cog.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/cogrockmusic

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Faker – ‘This Heart Attack’

Took me a while to get into this song, my first thought was that they could do better. But after a few listens I actually like it. Nathan’s voice does take a bit of getting used to before I could trust what he was singing, but now I’m sold. Taken from their upcoming sophomore record Be The Twilight.

www.myspace.com/fakertheband

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Cassette Kids – ‘We Are’

Another track from these hip Sydney kids, this one reminds me a lot of Comanechi. Caught them while I was in town last week, the guitarist had a lot of interesting ideas on some songs but doesn’t carry it well enough throughout the set to keep my attention. The girl sure is a looker.

www.myspace.com/cassettekids

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Roam The Hello Clouds – ‘Pretender’s Hand’

Most of the stuff get sent to this blog nowadays are either indie rock/pop, electro clash or singer songwriter stuff. So it’s refreshing to get this one that does not fit into any of the above. This is very obscure, so much so when the label sent me more info on another website, it’s in German. I guess that they’re some sort of internationally aimed laptop-jazz-world music outfit with little or no expectation of making dosh anytime soon. It features Laurence Pike of Pivot/Triosk on drums. This guy’s drumming skills is worth the price of admission, and he shows it off again on these songs.

www.myspace.com/roamthehelloclouds

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http://www.chairpage.com
http://www.myspace.com/silverchair

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