Dappled Cities Fly - ‘Within Hours’ (mp3)

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A new cut from the upcoming album Granddance, produced by Peter Walker and Jim Fairchild (ex-Grandaddy) and mixed by Jaquire King (Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse). Heard this song played live a couple times and they were of course brilliant. I was half expecting Tim Derricourt to go his usual high pitched ‘Ow!‘ in the chorus of the song, but I suppose that’s only for live shows. This is not the leading single from album, my guess is that would be ‘The Birds’ - which you can have a listen to the demo version on their MySpace. Since finishing the recording Dappled Cities Fly has been signed onto US based Dangerbird Records while in Australia the fine boys at Speak n Spell will be putting out their album. They’re on tour with Crayon Fields at the moment, and will later on in the year play at Pianos in New York as part of the CMJ Music Marathon - something like the college version of SXSW - with a lineup like a music blogger’s dream gig.

Previous post: Dappled Cities Fly: Live

dappledcitiesfly.com
www.myspace.com/dappledcitiesfly

From the archives, and as an addition to the Retrospective #1 post, here’s the filmclip for ‘Champion’ from my personal faves The Grand Silent System from their last release Everyone Lies Alone.

Previous posts: Retrospective #1

Sarah Blasko - ‘don’t u eva’

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During university I went through a phase of audio engineering and did some work experience in the Roundhouse, a venue at the University of New South Wales. One night I was helping out the house sound tech doing the university band competition and I saw band called Acquiesce belting out folk rock tunes, complete with a violin. They were the most professional out of the usually crappy entrants, but what set them apart was the female singer’s voice. It was just so beautiful I stopped and watched the entire set. They won that competition of course, I got the EP and set out to see them again. But I never did. The band broke up and the vocalist Sarah Semmens disappeared from the music scene entirely. I couldn’t believe it. I asked around and scanned the papers for her name to appear solo or in another band but it never happened. It was very disappointing to think that such a talent had just given up on the music scene.

A few years later I had forgotten about the whole thing when I heard the same voice coming out of Triple J, this time much more mature and confident. It was Sarah Blasko and right at that moment I just knew it was the same Sarah from Acquiesce. Her voice was so unique it couldn’t be anyone else. I went to one of her solo shows and talked to her. She never did explain why she changed her name, but I was just glad she was back singing. That was before she released her EP Prelusive. Two years ago she went to LA and recorded The Overture and The Underscore – it’s one of my favourite Australian albums of all time. I think a lot of people dismissed it as another sooky solo singer songwriter record, but this record had such incredible melodies that only Sarah can pull off.

The good news is she has a new album coming out called What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have. The track ‘Explain’ has been on high rotation on Triple J and it is just fantastic, backed by piano and sweeping string arrangements. I couldn’t get an mp3 from her label, so this video will have to do for now. Directed by Lucy Dyson & Isobel Knowles.

www.sarahblasko.com
www.myspace.com/sarahblasko

Welcome to the first in what may be (depending on how we feel) the first of many retrospective posts for Who The Bloody Hell Are They. Basically, the premise behind these posts are to highlight amazing Aussie acts that have now split up but didn’t reach the heights they should have. The idea is that if these bands were still together today, we’d have blogged about them.

Courtesy of FasterLouder.com.au

The Grand Silent System - ‘Seems’ (mp3)

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Hands down, The Grand Silent System were, and still are, my favourite Aussie band. Though they only came to NSW on three occasions while I was of the legal gig-watching age, I managed to see them seven times.. or maybe it was more? Their music appeals to everything I like about music - variety, experimentation, complexity, melody and rhythm. Live they were phenominal; they possessed a massive wall of sound courtesy of their six-piece lineup. Vocalist Sean ‘Jova’ Albers also doubled as a percussionist, and he would play live surrounded by a mammoth percussive setup. Couresty of a huge internet buzz, many American sites would often lauder TGSS.

The band released two EPs - the difficult to find One and the amazing They Who Built. Their debut LP Gift or a Weapon is one of the best albums I own, and the follow up Everyone Lies Alone was solid but didn’t live up to its predecessor.

http://www.myspace.com/thegrandsilentsystem

Clann Zú - ‘Five Thousand More’ (mp3)

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Like The Grand Silent System, Clann Zú is another brillant Melbourne act who sadly aren’t around anymore. I never got to see these guys live, which I’m still kicking myself about. They were an odd group who found a lot of success overseas, especially in Europe and I think Canada as well. Their music was predominantely rock, but it had a strong Irish influence, thanks to the background of vocalist Declan de Barra and the instruments used. They were another band who rebelled against the commercial standards of music and created their own unique art.

They released a couple of albums, the best being Rua which was their debut. They also released a fantastic self-titled EP, and Black Coats and Bandages, the follow-up LP to Rua, was a solid effort but I never quite got into it. Maybe I need to listen to it more… Anyway, two members of this amazing band have formed a post-rock three piece called My Disco and Declan de Barra is now performing as a solo artist.

http://www.clannzu.com/
http://www.myspace.com/clannzu

Courtesy of FasterLouder.com.au

Switchkicker - ‘A Kiss Becomes A Coma’

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Switchkicker is the pseudonym for Many Machines on Nine frontman Dan Sutherland and his solo project. Started before joining MM9, Switchkicker had a couple of radio hits on Triple J including ‘Drown’ and ‘We’re Not Apart’ off the album 17102. The songs were catchy but not in the commerical pop sense - they had a dark industrial feel to them, but they weren’t heavy nor alienating. 17102 was heavily influenced by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, but it was really Switchkicker’s second release, Method 2, that showcased Sutherland’s abilities as a songwriter and as a vocalist. The album was a far more mature effort, taking in influence from the 80s new-wave movement but still maintaining an industrial feel, garnishing the album with strong rhymths behind a layer of melody.

Despite having a massive amount of potential and being signed to an independent label, Switchkicker was never pushed as much as Many Machines on Nine and as such the project has sadly fallen by the way-side. There are rumours of a final show at Sydney venue The Basement, so one can only hope we get to see this fine music performed live for one last time.

http://www.switchkicker.com
http://www.myspace.com/switchkicker

Vendettas - ‘Running’ (mp3)

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Vendettas combines the very hip talents of Peter Mayes of PNAU and John Hardy of Soundworks Studios, who recently produced the new records by Van She, The Valentinos and Children Collide. I’m very selective when it comes to listening tunes from the so called ‘new rave’ movement, this song though makes the cut. Singer Larissa’s voice reminds me of a lot of mid 80s pseudo-club/rock tunes which I’m not a particularly big fan of but the chorus is just too catchy to ignore. Played at full club volume this song can be easily dropped to most hipster DJs setlist. Rumours are they already had a deal with a major label in Australia. They’ve got a few gigs coming up in Sydney but I’ve yet to meet someone who’s seen them live, though they will play a lot more support slots in the next few months.

http://www.myspace.com/vendettasrock

Josh Pyke - ‘Middle Of The Hill’

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There was a time when you couldn’t turn on a non-commerical radio station and not hear ‘Middle Of The Hill’ by Josh Pyke. But it’s not like you cared, because the song was so gorgeous in all its simplicity; the honesty of the lyrics combined with Josh’s great vocals made the song an instant winner and it ended up at number 19 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2005 (a listener-voted countdown of the 100 favourite tracks of that year).

Seemingly Josh Pyke apparaited onto radio waves, but in fact he had been kicking around for a numer of years under the Night Hour moniker. Once he dropped the pseudonym and assumed his real name, Josh catipulted onto radio playlists and into the hearts of many Sydney-siders, and it wasn’t long until his name spread around the country. I caught him live for the first time on tour with WA’s Bob Evans and both performers were fantastic - I really hope they tour together again because they compliment each other so well. They performed a bunch of songs together and it was amazing how well their vocals suited each other.

Josh released the EP Feeding The Wolves this year which was produced by renowned producer Wayne Connolly (You Am I, Youth Group), and that’s where ‘Middle of the Hill’ came from. There’s a new album Memories & Dust in the works…

For those in the UK, these are the final tour dates for Josh’s UK tour, but hurry because they’re this week:

September 25 - Cardiff Point, Cardiff, 8pm (w/ The Walkmen & Soundteam)
September 26 - Enterprise, London, 8pm (w/ The Mike Rosenburg Band)
September 27 - Koko, London, 8pm (w/ The Walkmen & Soundteam)

http://www.joshpyke.com
http://www.myspace.com/joshpyke

Mercy Arms – ‘Half Right’

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Completely unrelated to Melbourne’s Damn Arms, this Sydney four piece is one of the biggest buzz band around at the moment and I thought I better jump on the wagon before they get their record out. Much of Mercy Arms’ music is centered around Guitarist Kirin J Calinnan’s amazing guitar work, often hovering around early U2 sounding riffs, partnered with vocalist Thom’s thin Smiths-influenced vocals. It’s hard to describe how good Kirin is on the guitar, when he’s on the melody the whole room seem to be transfixed on his craft, the audience is just sailing through each song on his lead.

Kirin was once member of the Valentinos before leaving to form his own group. He hooked up with some producers based out of Big Jesus Burger Studios to record the now well known demos on their myspace. Manager Todd Wagstaff of Engine Room fame (The Vines, Holly Valance, Veronicas) then picked up the band and put the big wheels in motion. They went on expenses paid showcases for major labels to the US and London and had a few big music industry names flying in for some local gigs, often filled with journalists, agents and A&R reps slipping in to have a look. Rumours of the band signing multi million dollar deals with Capitol, Universal and Modular soon floated around industry circles. We’ll never know if any of them were true, but I have heard recently from reliable sources that the band has signed an international deal so there should be an announcement pretty soon.

So will this band be next big thing? They have all the industry on their side and the songs and live skills to back it up. Recent tours saw them opening huge shows for The Strokes and now they’re on another national tour with Wolf & Cub. The fans are flooding in on myspace and everything else look sweet for these guys. I am very keen to hear the debut album, here’s hoping it’ll stand up to expectations.

www.myspace.com/mercyarms

This duo from the Sydney Northern Beaches are recent signings to the UK label Independiente, home to Gomez, Travis and Martina Topley-Bird (ex-vocalist for Tricky).

Previous post: Angus and Julia Stone

Witch Hats - ‘Jock The Untold’

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About ten years ago, I reckon I would have absolutely hated this band. But I guess that just goes to show how much your taste in music can change… Recently signing with In-Fidelity, Melbourne band Witch Hats have finally found a label to unleash their blood-curdling and at times, really quite scary, music on the world. Or at least Australia for the time being anyway. With evident Birthday Party and Pixies influences, the band have an EP coming out soon, including great tracks such as Jock The Untold and Pepperman. I can’t imagine Kris Buscombe’s vocals appealing to everyone, but even so, there’s so much else going on with the rest of the band to keep you more than satisfied. And apparently their live shows are a spectacular riot worth witnessing.

witchhats.com.au
www.myspace.com/witchhats

Quarter Acre - ‘Casual vs Fulltimer’ (mp3)

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That promo photo should tell you everything - Quarter Acre are an odd three-piece. Try to find info on them and it can prove an arduous task. Here’s what I know: the band formed back in 2000 and realised their first EP Live From The Traffic Islands in 2003, which you can actually download from the Wash Records website. They then released their debut full-length album this year which is called Bored So I… Kicked The Shit Out Of Him (though the cute cover with coloured pencils has it listed only as Bored So I…) Singer/drummer Andrew Burgess is/was a member of a band called The Drugs who, to be completely honest, I know pretty much nothing about.

Bored So I… is an album that I loved the first time I heard it, and basically haven’t listened to it since. Which is odd. I think I loved it so much the first time that I’m scared I’m not going to love it as much the second time. It’s a short record that clocks in at just over 36 minutes, but has such a fantastic musical diversity. It’s constantly shifting, always keeping you interested. It ranges from Pixies-esque rock numbers to alt-country and cute pop numbers. It’s a rough record, with Andrew’s vocals being slightly lower in the mix compared with many other albums - plus he doesn’t have a great voice, but it has a vulnerability to it that makes it endearing. His lyrics are of the same nature - his tales of suburbia are innocent and honest. I’ve never seen these guys live, and they seem to run under the radar of most music media outlets in Australia, which is a surprise because I would of thought that there’d be a lot of fans of Bored So I…

http://www.quarteracre.info
http://www.myspace.com/quarteracrekids

‘Test Pattern’ clip - Directed by Buzzard Mountain Ranch

Previous post: Damn Arms

Damn Arms - ‘Test Pattern’

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Three out of four members of Damn Arms were in a previous band called Snap! Crakk!, before they replaced some members and picked up the pace of their songs upon the name change. Much of their sound lingers on that electro tinged new-rave sound, though that’s probably not a fair description because they were there before NME decided to push this new sub genre revival. The name came from the Matt Groening animated series Futurama, when the main character Fry exclaimed ‘I could fit [into the drain] if I didn’t have these damn arms!’ You probably have to be a fan of the series to get it. The band have had a few tours through Europe, and even got on the road with the now imploded Test-Icicles. I believe they are heading out to the UK soon early next year after they recorded their new album with producer Lindsay Gravina of Birdland Studios in Melbourne.

damnarms.com
www.myspace.com/damnarms

Gotye - ‘Coming Back (Faux Pas remix)’ (mp3)

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Two of whothehell.net’s favourites has been doing some remixing. This one is available off Faux Pas’s site.

Previous posts: Gotye, Faux Pas

Smoke & Mirros video clip shot by Steve Mcallum in Perth.

Blue King Brown – ‘Come and check your head’ (mp3)

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I’m not a big fan of the roots music scene – I can’t tell much difference between the songs. They all seem to revolve around politics, anti war creed or legalising weed. The message is usually about getting along with one another by way of discouraging racism, sexism, classism, materialism, or any other (insert here)-isms. Don’t get me wrong I’m not an ignorant bigot – I’ve had my share of discrimination. It’s just that I get tired of listening to acts who are hell bent in getting their ‘message’ out there that they don’t work hard enough on the melody or the actual music of the song.

So I was quite surprised to be cruising along in my car when this song came on and I really enjoyed it. Blue King Brown has managed to put the rhythm, melody and beat so far in front in this song that they are the highlight, not the message. And that’s the way it should be. Two members of the band are originally from Byron Bay but they packed up and drove down to Melbourne to find the right crew to eventually form the current line up. They play all the usual rootsy festivals like The Great Escape, Blues and Roots Festival and Woodford Festival, and this month are the main support for Michael Franti’s Spearhead national tour of Australia. As suspected, they are active in the political field, and they have important messages in all their songs, but it seems that aspect of songwriting isn’t so full on as Spearhead. The female voice makes it a much easier listening.

http://www.bluekingbrown.com
http://www.myspace.com/bluekingbrown

photo by Josh Logue

Howling Bells - ‘Setting Sun’

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I don’t like the name Howling Bells (sounds like a bad 80’s glam-metal act, possibly fronted by Bret Michaels), and for a while I didn’t like their music either. It took me quite a while to warm to their shoegaze/dark indie rock - plus I’m always wary of ‘hype’ bands ’cause quite often they’re shit, it’s just that the ‘right’ people think they’re cool. OK, enough of my tirade against the fickle music industry. Also, it helps when shit TV shows passed off as “drama” like The OC play one of your tunes (oh yeah, I hate The OC too - I watched half an hour of it once and had to turn it off. Come on, the acting is so bad, the script is full of cringe-worthy lines and the plot… well, who are we kidding, there is none! Oh, and people think I look like Seth!)

So, who are Howling Bells? Well most people only care about sexy frontwoman Juanita Stein (there was a rather obsessive-like tone to a certain Howling Bells article in Sydney street press music mag Drum Media a couple of months ago) - but the band consists of three former members of Waikiki who found a small amount of success in Australia with their pop/rock tunes. One minute they were there, and then they disappeared! And then, just as magically, Howling Bells appeared in Waikiki’s place.

Juanita Stein, live at the Annandale Hotel - photo by boudist.com

Howling Bells recorded their self-titled debut album with Coldplay producer Ken Nelson (interesting note - Juanita recorded her vocals in the dark), and there’s a definite Coldplay-esque sound to the recording, especially in the tone of the instruments and the mix. The album has been criticised for lacking variety throughout, and while they’re not a band I’d actively seek to see live, there are a couple of really solid tracks on the album which helped me to enjoy it more. At the end of the day, it’s nothing spectacular, but it’s not offensive, nobody’s gonna be pissed off ’cause it’s on, and it’s got a handful of solid tracks. Everyone’s gonna have a different opinion on this band… mine is that I like them, but I don’t love them. Listen and judge for yourself. The band are touring round Australia at the moment supporting Placebo before they embark on their own headlining tour of Australia and the UK.

http://www.howlingbells.com
http://www.myspace.com/howlingbells

P.S. Big shoutout to Daniel Boud (boudist.com) and the bloggers from whiteboydancefloor and The Sandwich Club who I met for the first time on Thursday at Candy’s Apartment for the launch of The Knife Factory. Excellent guys who run excellent blogs - we’re looking now towards a meeting of all Aussie blogs… kind of like a Blogapalooza or Blogacon…

photo by Glen Wilke

Adrian Klumpes - ‘Weave In and Out’

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Thanks to the lovely folks at The Leaf Label, we’ve been given an exclusive track off Be Still, the debut solo record by Adrian Klumpes, who you may know as the keyboardist from Triosk who I blogged about a little while ago. ‘Weave In and Out’ further explores similar territory to Triosk, with Boards of Canada-esque beats and rhymths beneath sparse, ambient piano melodies. If you check out Adrian’s MySpace page, there’s another track off the album that’s more piano-based, whereas ‘Weave In and Out’ demostrates Adrian’s more experimental edge. Can’t wait to hear the album - I was a big fan of Triosk’s LP and I’m sure Be Still will be just as good!

http://www.adrianklumpes.com
http://www.myspace.com/adrianklumpes

Coda -‘Rocking Horse’

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Coda sounds like they came from a place I’ve never been, some eastern European country I haven’t travelled yet. A lot of people compare their music to gypsy music, I wouldn’t know if this is true because I have never met an actual gypsy or done much research into the culture. There are seven members of this band, and they all just love to dress up in costumes on stage and put on a real big event, often featuring showgirls, aerialists and projections. In fact, I would say that the visual aspect of this band defines and lifts their image from mere world music contenders to almost performance art level. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re touring with Cirque du Soleil sometime. They are regulars performers in all sorts of music festivals around the world so it shouldn’t be hard to catch them live. The new album Calling Mission Mu is out soon.

http://www.codaplanet.com
http://www.myspace.com/codaplanet

Dukes of Windsor – ‘The Others’

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The five boys in Dukes of Windsor all originated from the Melbourne suburb of Prahran, and contrary to local rumours they did not take that name from the now defunct rock venue in Fitzroy. Their music sounded nothing like the rock/punk/alternative description displayed on their MySpace, but lean more towards the heavier electro-rock territory dominated by low synth-like bass grooves and streaks of high vocal yelping that highlight the bulk of their songs of their debut album. Vocalist Jack Weaving has no trouble hitting those Darkness-like high notes when I saw them at The Espy a few months ago.

They’re getting decent airplay on national youth broadcaster Triple J, and the band are on the road as unlikely supports for hard rockers The Butterfly Effect. I wasn’t particularly taken by the whole album, there are some two or three standout radio tracks, but most of the songs just aren’t my kind of thing. But what I really find interesting about this band is how the whole record was made possible and brought together by some smart thinking management.

The traditional way of getting a commercial album funded is to record an EP, get some songs on radio, invite record label people for a showcase and if one of them was impressed enough, they band would sign a deal, get an advance to record with a name producer, and have a record that would hopefully get do well on radio. The Dukes and their management have completely gone around this whole process and married their music business approach with product endorsement and sponsorship. Taking a page out of professional sports marketing, portable music player manufacturer iRiver came on board the project agreeing to fund the album in return of logo placements on their website, CD, bass drum skin and all related advertisements. The Dukes of Windsor bravely took on corporate sponsorship in return of album funding, while still maintaining ownership of masters.

With big dosh to spend the five piece enlisted no less than hot producer Jonathan Burnside (The Sleepy Jackson, Dappled Cities Fly, Faith No More) to track the album in Melbourne and sent it off to Tonteknik Studios in Sweden to be mixed by famed hardcore producers Pelle Henricsson and Eskil Lovstrom. In case the names don’t ring a bell, Henricsson produced one of the all time best punk albums: Refused’s Shape of Punk To Come, which is on par with what Radiohead’s OK Computer is to alternative/rock music.

So with some ingenuine thinking, the band now has a top notched produced record with a promising live schedule to expose them to win new fans. Could this be the way independent records will be funded in the future, with corporate sponsorship? This strategy could not work with all forms of music, but it sure beats getting owned by major labels. This is a very different case from the Lenny Kravitz /Absolute Vodka cash in deal, and I’m looking forward to hearing more product endorsed bands and albums like this.

http://www.dukesofwindsor.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/dukesofwindsor

photo by boudist.com

N’fa - ‘Universal King (Left Right Left)’

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It’s a momentous day for Who The Bloody Hell Are They - our first hip-hop blog! Though you overseas folk may not know, there is actually a booming Aussie hip-hop scene, and I’m sure many of the acts will be blogged about in the near future.

N’fa started his career in a hip-hop outfit called 1200 Techniques, who released two LPs - Choose One & Consistency Theory - before “going on hiatus” in 2005 after 5 years together.  1200 Techniques’ breakthrough hit was the track ‘Karma’ which entered the Top 40 charts in Australia, and had a great film clip which won Best Video at the 2002 ARIA Awards (the Australian equivalent of the Grammys).

So while 1200 are on “hiatus”, N’fa gathered some of his mates together including Roots Manuva, Mr Yoshiaki from the Black Eyed Peas, DJ Peril and the Deceptikonz and made his debut solo record, Cause An Effect.  While 1200 Techniques were more of a live hip-hop act, incorporating guitars and (I think) sometimes drums (someone will correct me if I’m wrong), Cause An Effect is more of a straight-up hip-hop release.  In typical Aussie hip-hop fashion, it contains a lot of solid grooves and the Australian lyrical flavour.  Some of this album I really dig, other tracks I’m not so sold on - it’s probably a bit long and can get a tad repetitive, but then again I’m not the world’s biggest hip-hop fan.  However, I love ‘Universal King (Left Right Left)’ - it’s got that great groove and you’ll be singing “left, right, left” for hours.

http://www.nfamusic.net
http://www.myspace.com/nfamusic

Dappled Cities Fly – ‘Cream’

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One of the best bands in Australia, if not the world, just got better. Tonight I had the pleasure of watching Dappled Cities Fly showcase new material from their upcoming album Grandance. What Dappled have in store for us lucky listeners are amazingly crafted indie future classics, accentuated with typical high pitched filled with even more layers, courtesy of new touring member Ned (formerly of Sydney band Oblique/The Glass Age). I was very impressed with the sounds that came out from the four/five piece tonight, they’re very fortunate to have two vocalists both capable hitting high notes, giving them a large palette of songwriting material. Without a track of the new album it’s difficult to say how great the show was, so you’ll have to do with an old favourite ‘Cream’ – one of my favourite songs ever - taken from their debut album A Smile. Listen out for the incredible dual guitar riffs in the bridge.

www.dappledcitiesfly.com
www.myspace.com/dappledcitiesfly

HTRK

I’m not even sure if I could call this music. It’s definitely not popular music, maybe like sound art, definitely sound effects-y. HTRK (pronounced hate-rock) are a mysterious trio from Melbourne who recently relocated to Berlin, for what I assume is an artistic led decision in order to develop their curious musical leanings. The band was formed as a middle finger gesture to the retro rock revival that dominated their hometown scene of Melbourne (think Jet). Good friends of other rock haters My Disco, their shows are also played in excessively loud volume. So the song below, or maybe I should say the next piece, should be played the same way. Crank it up.

HTRK - ‘Hate Rock Trio’

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www.myspace.com/htrk
www.yourcomicbookfantasy.com

photo by Esther Mitchel

Augie March – ‘One Crowded Hour’

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Sometimes a song would get played hundreds of times on the radio and I wouldn’t pay much attention to it until all of a sudden it would hit me just how good a tune is. And that’s how it is with this Augie March ballad, which has a Jeff Buckley feel of emotional reprieve attached to it, though upon closer listen it’s all about scoring with a girl the singer has known since school:

“Should you expect to see something that you hadn’t seen,

In somebody you’d known since you were sixteen.

If love is a bolt from the blue, then what is that bolt but a glorified screw? “

Augie March formed in Melbourne in ’96 and has so far released three albums, all through Sony/BMG. They’re one of those bands that work the United States a lot so chances are most people into this kind of music would’ve heard of them. Their latest album Moo, You Bloody Choir got rave reviews in Australia though I believe it’s still unreleased overseas? I could be wrong. The album was nominated for the J award, a yearly prize given by music station Triple J. I get the impression that they ride that success-overseas-now-back-for-local-shows wave here, but it’s alright for this band because they actually had a core fanbase since early on in their career. I’ve missed both their tours here this year so if anyone has seen them live let me know what they’re like.

http://www.augie-march.com
http://www.myspace.com/augiemarch

photo by Wayne Dennon

Sunk Loto - ‘Help’

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No your ears don’t deceive you - there actually is a metal band being posted about in the predominantly indie-dominated blog scene. Let’s face it, metal ain’t the most popular genre at the moment. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t good bands out there, and Sunk Loto is one of them. These guys have had a very rocky history - they were signed to Sony at around the age of 18 after winning a band comp in Queensland, they then released a fairly popular EP entitled Society Anxiety, and followed that up with the less well-received Big Picture Lies LP, both of which were heavily nü-metal influenced. They were being pushed by their label to be the next Silverchair, and were gaining huge supports and travelling around the country on the Big Day Out tour.

Two years after the release of Big Picture Lies they dropped the pummeling Between Birth and Death, a complete 180-turn on their previous style. Instead of nü-metal, accessible songs, Between Birth and Death was a full-on metal album inspired by the likes of Poison the Well and Killswitch Engage, and dealt with issues such as a friend’s suicide, drug addiction and divorce. Of course, the old material was at complete odds with their new material, so the old fans didn’t like it and those who would of liked the new material had already been turned off from their old stuff. Geddit??

So the band were struggling with a falling popularity, as well as dealing with managers who were ripping them off. Then the SonyBMG merger resulted in Sunk being dropped from the label. Recently, the band lost their long-time bass player Sean Van Gennip, who has now been replaced by ex-Full Scale bottom-ender Robkaay. But now the band are about to hit the road with Cog and Mammal, and are holding auditions for a second guitarist and writing for a third album. So maybe things are on the up. Let’s hope so.

http://www.sunkloto.com
http://www.myspace.com/sunkloto

photo by boudist.com

Lenka - ‘Follow’

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Lenka started out her career as an actor in tv and films but soon discovered a true a bigger passion for music. I find it impossible not to fall in love with her voice. Dom has blogged about Decoder Ring previously, but thanks to some lucky myspacing I discovered that she is writing and recording solo material. She has kindly given us the exclusive on her solo track ‘Follow’ produced by Decoder Ring’s Xavier Frjac. Opening with sweeping harmonies, this track’s minimal production is what I’m used to hearing from her, but I’m excited to think what she would come up with in the future. Lenka is heading off on an international writing trip to LA, NY and London, hopefully we get to hear some new tracks before too long.

http://www.myspace.com/lenkamusic

The Crayon Fields - ‘Choir of Tiny Boys’

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When I was 18, Melbourne band The Crayon Fields were a three piece who made vaguely arty indie pop (I used to compare them to Pavement, but in retrospect I think I have compared every indie band I like to Pavement at some stage). When visiting their home town for a little less than a week, I saw them play twice. I also got two copies of their first EP, Worms, Worms! and a badge bearing their name in colourful writing that adorned whatever god awful v-neck sweater I thought was sweet at the time.

That was 3 years ago. Since then I have purchased their The Good Life EP, as well as a three inch mini CD and a whole bunch of badges. I have organized poorly attended shows for the band and have spent an hour trying to find the then drunk, now ex-drummer in Surry Hills at 2am one Saturday night. I have been disappointed upon discovering that they did not make a patented Crayon Fields sweater in my size (borderline pregnant), and overjoyed when seeing them support amazing bands like The Unicorns, Deerhoof and Calvin Johnson.

Most recently I have been overjoyed while listening to their debut release, Animal Bells, out now through Trifekta/Chapter Music, two amazing Melbourne indie pop labels responsible for releasing some of the greatest indie records in my collection. And Animal Bells is possibly the greatest indie record either label has released, an incredible soup of harmonies, twangly guitars and sleigh bells.

I’m certain that every review is going to describe this record as “Melbourne’s answer to Brian Wilson, The Byrds, blah blah blah incessant comparisons”, but I think the most accurate way any writer could review Animal Bells is by simply posting a picture of their pasty mug, grinning madly as they listen to the doo’s, da’s, ooh’s and la’s heard throughout second track ‘Would it be so Strange?’, or to the handclaps that hold ‘Impossible Things’ together.

There are several songs available to listen to and download at the bands MySpace, but I thought I’d post album opener ‘Choir of Tiny Boys’. The album is full of longer, larger pop songs, yet I find myself continually coming back to this, a short, simple and perfect introduction to my favourite Australian album in years.

http://www.thecrayonfields.com
http://www.myspace.com/thecrayonfields

Snowman - ‘Smokes and Mirrors’

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Inspired by my post on Snowman a few weeks back I chatted to multi-tasking band member Joe McKee about what to expect from their debut full-length album, released on September 23rd. By chat, I mean via email, because real life is such a chore for me these days. Though not for Snowman, it would seem. Their album sounds like it’ll be kind of something… “It takes what we do live and feeds it with acid” (Joe McKee, Q&A with Sophie Braham, Who The Bloody Hell Are They? September 2006) would be the obvious contender for a press release. They’ve also heroically offered us their new single for a listen, which has been tearing up the airwaves on local sydney radio stations FBi, 2SER and national broadcaster Triple J.

How is this album different to your last one? You all played quite an array of instruments on you last album, have you picked up any more this time round?

Yeah…we like to attempt to play with all sorts of toys… trumpets, string quartets, sax, theremin, pianos/keys, toys (literally), violin, guitars, noises, harmonica, lots of percussion. The album differs from our first EP because the songs are far better and the sounds are more full… there are more colours in the sounds, they have more depth. This is partly to do with the chap we recorded with, Mr Dave Parkin. Basically, it is a completely different kettle of fish to the EP. It takes what we do live and feeds it with acid.

I reckon your music would make a great soundtrack to a horror flick. Do you watch a lot of movies?

I think that film is kind of the ultimate form of creation because so many art forms go into it, but it doesn’t really leave much to the imagination for the viewer like music does. We like the way sound complements imagery and we certainly take that on board to a degree when writing. As for horror flicks: I can’t really be bothered with them anymore… that was the ‘zombies…’ EP for us. The new album is vast in scope and covers more ground than the EP.

Have you made any video clips?

Yes, we have just completed shooting a video clip for ‘Smoke and Mirrors’. Lots of shadows and lamp lighting and smoke has been used. Keep an eye out.

Are there some other Australian bands you’re getting excited about at the moment?

Well… we like bands that don’t necessarily influence us. It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint what artists are influencing us… from this to that to whatever. I think we are currently more influenced by ourselves. As for new stuff: I think the new Liars record is good. And the new Wolf & Cub. I still get excited about the Dirty Three also.

Do you feel far away from the rest of Australia in Perth? Do you like the isolation?

I think the isolation has been a benefit for us… it gave us a lot of time to work on our sound before some bigwig fatcat purchased our soul!!!

Have you guys toured at all outside of Australia? Where would you love to go?

We have never played outside Australia. There are vague plans to do so next year. We would like to tour every corner… we are very keen on the idea of getting to Japan and playing. We like playing to virginal snowman audiences and getting a confused response.

The people who makeup your band hail from all across the globe [Snowman are pretty much the UN, with band members from England, Iceland and Indonesia] , has this had any impact on your sound or the way your band works?

Yes I think it has… we have been exposed to different cultures from a very early age so different sounds have been drilled into our heads… abnormal experiences in general…these things would contribute to our ‘other worldly’ sound perhaps. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we all came from a farming town in WA… actually I can, and it scares me.

http://www.thesnowmanempire.com
http://www.myspace.com/thesnowmanempire

The Butterfly Effect - ‘Reach’

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The Butterfly Effect (named long before the Ashton Kutcher film) are one of those bands that seem to divide people - either they love them, or they hate them. They first came to the attention of the Australian public courtesy of Triple J radio presenter Costa Zouliou who fell in love with their song ‘The Cell’ off their debut EP. At the time, the band were still independent - and I ended up seeing them in 2001 at a small pub in Sydney called Bar Broadway supporting Cog and now both bands have become two of Australia’s biggest alternative-rock acts. The band had an incredible knack of creating the right blend of melody and heavy riffage, and the soaring, operatic vocals of Clint Boge topped it all off. It wasn’t long before these guys took off.

Which takes me back to my original point - people love or hate them. I think it may come down to Clint the vocalist - some people love his voice, and others can’t stand it. Also, he exudes a fair amount of confident on and off the stage and a lot of people take that as arrogance. Earlier this year he went on a drunken tyrade on the band’s official message board (funnily enough the band no longer have a message board on their site), so that didn’t help Clint’s image. But I interviewed him earlier this year and found him to be a really nice guy, so the question remains unanswered.

The band released the rock-fueled Begins Here LP a couple of years ago (their debut long player) which cemented their place at the top of the Aussie rock contingent. They then took a step sideways and released the far-more melodic Imago a couple of months ago, which they recorded in the States with producer Joe Barresi (Tool, Tomahawk, Queens of the Stone Age). The sound on the album is nothing short of huge, and contains some fantastic songs. It’s taken me a while to get into the album because even though I love melodic music, Imago is a big change from Begins Here, but still excellent nonetheless.

http://www.thebutterflyeffect.com.au/
http://www.myspace.com/thebutterflyeffectau

Here’s my take on The Presets. Australians seem to over magnify the success of local bands that when they get criticised overseas people adopt the “why-are-they-picking-on-us?” sentiment. I like the Presets, they play fun party music and everytime I’ve seen them I have a great time, but that’s because the only expectations I have from them is to be a decent live version of their recordings, nothing more.

I mean how adventurous can they get on stage when they play to a backing track anyway? This video shows how strict the Presets can be on the live stage, even with singer Julian doing his best electrospaz dance moves. In the booming atmosphere of a club surrounded by frenzied partygoers, you’d probably have a good time. But watching in retrospect through the sterile microscope of YouTube, it’s clear that they have limitations performing as a two piece.

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