New Music

PREMIERE: Nathan Roche – ‘Call Back’

, , No Comment

nathan roche

Next month Nathan Roche will deliver the second instalment of his glorious ‘Newtown Trilogy’. It comes only five months after the release of part one, his first solo effort, Watch It Wharf. This guy is as prolific as he is self-deprecating: he’s played in seven different bands from Townsville to Sydney (most recently Camperdown and Out, alongside members of Royal Headache, Dead Farmers and Raw Prawn) and has described earlier albums as “shambolic, poorly recorded, unstructured and rapidly conceived”. He’s also written a couple of books (there’s a sterling promo video for the latest), with red pens provided at one launch party “for those who wish to personally edit” his work.

He may be underselling himself, but Roche’s breezy, piss-taking attitude sure is charming. It’s all over Watch It Wharf, a record packed with Lou Reed-channeling tracks set around the pubs and docks of the (formerly) blue-collar inner-city Sydney.

Follow-up album Magnetic Memories wears its influences proudly, drawing on Brian Eno’s early pop output and the Americana-laced oddities of post-Big Star Alex Chilton. Mind you, it’s still pretty dinky di, with tracks celebrating the Hollywood Hotel in Surrey Hills and contemplating the relative merits of Walsh and Gordons bays.

Magnetic Memories is smoother than the predecessor album, with woodwind from Millie Hall (Destiny 3000, Bridezilla) and Caroline de Dear (Day Ravies), and cello by 2SER’s James Newman. Roche seems stuck at a point on the cusp of the 1970s and 80s when old-style rock’n’roll was taking a second glance at the saxophone. So you can just relax and let the arrangements on the title track lick you behind the ear while Roche huskily croons, ‘Magnetic memories/I got a tropical disease’.

New single ‘Call Back’ is even better – a punchy number that rails against the lifestyle impositions of the modern mobile phone device. It’s got bouncy, Roxy Music-style keys and back up vocals drawn from Lou Reed’s seedy take on American soul music.

Magnetic Memories is coming out in April via Glenlivet-A-Gogh (which has taken over Roche’s own Fartpound Records imprint) on vinyl, CD and digital.

Facebook / Soundcloud

Read Post →

LISTEN: Hawaii94 – Nightvision EP

, , No Comment

hawaii94-nightvision

I think something got lost in translation in the presser from Hawaii94‘s Paris and Bordeaux-based record label: “Inside his room in Melbourne, Hawaii94 produces a fruity and intoxicating music”. Maybe ‘fruité’ has heaps of sexy connotations for a native French speaker. Whatever; I’m going to go with it.

Have a listen to the Nightvision EP from the Melbourne producer and try to see yourself anywhere other than a Malibu paradise with Toro Y Moi and Twin Shadow taking turns to serve you tropical fruit cocktails. Hawaii94 makes the ‘fruity chillwave’ genre so much his own that anyone attempting to snare that title would be kicked to the gutter as an imposter.

Hawaii94 is the pseudonym of Lee Nania, who subscribes to the bedroom ethic of artists like Flume and Bored Nothing. He takes that ethic and folds it through a soft lens, creating a dreamy haze not unlike local acts Kilter and RÜFÜS. The result is an EP packed with delicious, sunny tunes to dance the night away to. Instead of being a made-up fad, Hawaii94’s fruity chillwave could be one of the most selfless examples of bedroom pop going round.


Facebook / Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Tumblr

Read Post →

WATCH: T54 – ‘AC Parade’

, , No Comment

T54_1

 

I like to imagine that the conversation around this video clip, from Christchurch three-piece T54, went something like this: “Hey man, we’ve gotta do a video for this clip, whaddaya reckon?” “How ’bout we just go down to those sweet mountains past mum’s house and stand around and throw rocks and shit?”

And it totally worked, thanks to the casual beauty of New Zealand and the casual excellence of this song. There’s something sweetly strange about the video; the camera lingers for awkward close-ups on band members who are obviously finding it very hard to keep a straight face, and any attempts to look brooding are fruitless.

YouTube Preview Image

The song itself is that very popular mix of distorted rhythm guitar, pretty lead melody and high vocal, but these guys pull it off by keeping the track short and packing it with plenty of hooks and different parts so it never gets boring or repetitive. It also feels like the kind of track that would go off way more live, if its droning, dreamy fuzz tendencies were let off the leash.

And what do you know! They’re coming to Australia for three shows, with dates below:

Thursday March 20 –  The Old Bar, Melbourne (w/ Claws and Organs, Glaciers and Popolice)
Friday March 21 – Yah Yah’s, Melbourne (w/ The New Pollution and The Sunday Reeds)
Saturday March 22 – Grace Darling, Sydney (w/ Contrast and Miniatures)

Facebook / BUY

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Food Court

, , No Comment

Food Court band

I met the guys from Food Court at a Halloween shindig in Redfern last year where they were playing support for Bad//Dreems.

Anyway, I was struck by how nice the guys were, as well as their drummer’s Prince costume, crucifix earring and everything. And when they hit the stage, by which I mean the living room, they blew me away so hard I thought there was a gale force wind tucked into their amp or something.

Thankfully, Food Court can capture their live nature pretty easily on tape. In fact, there’s almost no noticeable difference, besides the considerable lack of guitarist sweat. Food Court’s debut EP Smile At Your Shoes (now available for free from their Bandcamp page), is a rag-tag slice of ordinary guys doing extraordinary things.

New single and the final track from the EP, ‘She’s Away’ is a strong reminder of what makes these guys so great. Why dig for your old Screamfeeder and Jebediah records, when there’s amazing Aussie rock like this popping up?

Facebook / Bandcamp

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Babaganouj

, , No Comment

Babaganouj

Yet another band to have risen from the ashes of the dearly departed Yves Klein Blue, Babaganouj was formed by guitarist Charles Sale in 2011 – just months after YKB split due to ‘creative differences’. Named after a ridiculous 12-second song by Sydney legends Smudge (not to mention a delicious eggplant dip) Babaganouj has something of a Brisbane all-stars line up. Originally featuring Jack Gleeson of Inland Sea on drums and Harriette Pilbeam from Go Violets on bass, they’ve recently added a second Violet, Ruby, who’s also part of lollypop behemoth Johnny and the Fembots.

Babaganouj draw on bands that represent the rougher side of twee pop: the Lemonheads, the Pastels, the Vaselines. In fact, they’d just about pass as a Lemonheads tribute band, with their boy-girl harmonies, 90s hairdos and derpy sense of humour (the line ‘I fell for you and I hurt my knee’ could rival any of Evan Dando’s silly puns) – if it weren’t for Sale’s genuine knack for writing power pop hooks.

(more…)

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Heart Beach

, , No Comment

Heart Beach

There’s something uncompromising about Heart Beach. Their music is spare but rough, its few elements swiping at you from a blank background in the way a Malevich claws at your vision. The songs all feature Jonathon McCarthy and Claire Jansen’s intertwining vocals – his a caterwaul, hers a disarming coo; a guitar sound like shredded sheet metal; and the restrained, ever-patient drumming of Daniel Butcher.

So far the Hobart three-piece have four releases to their name. The first, 2013’s Holiday/Weather, has a hint of surf rock, but as though it were soaked through by the chilly Antarctic waters that creep up to meet the Tasman. The stark, droning vocals of ‘House’ sit atop an icy layer of feedback that gives the song an illusion of industrial echo. ‘Record’ is short and sharp, a punk tune that’s the closest Heart Beach have come to sounding optimistic. And, from January this year, the insistent, driving ‘Hours’ has to be the band’s most emotive track to date.

Heart Beach have just returned from a stint in New Zealand playing Camp a Low Hum. For now they’re taking a little time to recuperate, but we’re sure to hear more from them soon.

Facebook / Bandcamp / Website

Read Post →

WTH PRESENTS: Morning Harvey – East Coast tour

, , 1 Comment

Morning Harvey

 

Brisbanites Morning Harvey are setting out on a tour of M̶a̶d̶c̶h̶e̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ the East Coast to mark the release of their new single ‘Girl Euphoria (Come Back to Me)’.

I used to think that unnecessary uses of parentheses’ were just superfluous things you used when you weren’t really sure if the first line of your chorus was better than the second – or just stupid gimmicks Iceladic people applied for their own entertainment. Beyond the brackets, ‘Girl Eurphoria (Come Back to Me)’ is sharp slice of psych-pop. Much like The Laurels, Morning Harvey aren’t slinging anything ‘new’, but their dreamy re-appropriations are comforting for anyone who finds solace in big melodies, pedal panning and the rest that comes with deft hands and a great sound guy.

The new track follows on from the band’s 2012 debut EP Well For Wishes, which we reckon is worth revisiting if you like what you hear. 

We’re presenting Morning Harvey’s upcoming tour with Spark & Opus and have 2 double passes to give away to the band’s Melbourne and Sydney shows. Email us at editors@whothehell.net.

MORNING_HARVEY-01

Who The Hell + Spark & Opus present:

MORNING HARVEY – East Coast tour

Saturday April 5th – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane w/ Salvadarlings

Thursday April 10th – Brighton Up Bar, Sydney w/ The Jones Rival & Dead Radio

Friday April 18th – Alia Arthouse, Melbourne w/ The Citradels & The New Pollution

 

Facebook / Twitter / Bandcamp / Soundcloud

Read Post →