The Datsuns – ‘System Overload’

The Datsuns started out in 1997 in New Zealand, and for six years released vinyl only singles on their own label and travelled back and forth to Australia for gigs before taking the plunge to London and scoring a deal with V2 records. They excited a lot of the UK music press but quickly went cold soon after the retro rock movement got a bit tiring. The band came out into the public’s consciousness in a time when there was a flood of garage rock bands, and was quickly dwarfed by the White Stripes, The Strokes and Jet. Their last album got caned by critics and the first one didn’t fare too well either. They’re back with a third album out this year, the lead single System Overload sounds pretty good to me and is getting fair airplay on Triple J radio. A massive round of promo dates in the UK and Europe is going to keep them busy throughout October. Shame about the video though, the song doesn’t really fit into the whole retro sci-fi vibe.

thedatsuns.com
http://www.myspace.com/thedatsuns

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Sneaky Sound System – ‘I Love It’

As Bob Dylan famously announced, “The times they are a-changin”, especially for the Sneaky posse, who seem to have transformed from everyone’s favourite club act into commercial superstars overnight. Of course, Angus and Daimon (i.e, the boys) have been banging out tunes for over five years, acquiring a legion of devoted fans in the process from their ‘Sneaky Sundays’ jaunt at Hugo’s Bar, home to the urban elite in Sydney’s party central, Kings Cross. Yet it is only recently that their hard work has come to fruition, in the shape of their banging self-titled album.

Part of Sneaky’s newfound influence can be attributed to their newest member, the stunning Connie Mitchell, whom the boys stumbled across in Hyde Park playing guitar and singing. Like Fergie to the Black Eyed Peas, Connie has only served to enhance the already distinct Sneaky sound. The Sneaky D.I.Y approach has certainly taken them far beyond the realm of their wildest dreams, as they were recently nominated for two ARIAs (NB: One ARIA in Australia = One Grammy in USA, One Brit Award in the UK, etc), and invited to support Robbie Williams on his upcoming Australian tour. Quite ironic, considering their statement “We’re like an electronic garage band with delusions of stadium glory.”

These guys make seriously good music. They make sugar-pop groups with electro trimmings like the Rogue Traders and Bodyrockers look like preschoolers. Rock on.

http://www.sneakysoundsystem.com
http://www.myspace.com/sneakysoundsystem

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Rizzo & Pizzo – ‘Escalator Love’

Usually I hear about new bands on the radio or seeing them in a gig supporting some other band. This Sydney duo has been so far under the radar I only found out about them last week from a mate, it was my turn to go who the hell..? They don’t play live that much (due to stage fright I heard) and to my knowledge haven’t released anything. But they’ve got two albums written, recorded and for sale on their myspace. They describe their sound as Electro/Trash/Rap/Crump-It- Hump It-Let-It-Bump-It. Nice. This track featured here is a minimalist beats and rhyme number, but if you go over to their site you’ll get a variety of tracks from electro-camp to downright white boy crunk/hop (or whatever) .

http://www.myspace.com/rizzopizzomusic

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The Mean Streaks – ‘Real Physical Danger’

These guys must get the shits getting compared to The Grates, especially coming from Brisbane where they both originate. It’s unfortunate that any female fronted rock band in Australia invariably gets this comparison, such is the latter’s dominance of the genre at the moment, but any association is usually unfair and inaccurate. The Mean Streaks stay true to their name, even after using similar instrumentation and arrangements their songs have a darker tone and a more urgent beat than their pop neighbours. Front woman Jean Nicotine leads her six piece outfit with intense chorus outbursts in much of their repertoire. They have shared the stage with Spoon, The Buzzcocks, Har Mar Superstar, The Presets, Faker, Love of Diagrams and Pharaohs. When I contacted Jean last she said they were taking a break from performing to record some new tracks. They started playing live again recently so I hope that means new recordings will be available soon.

themeanstreaks.com
www.myspace.com/themeanstreaks

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Taken from his debut album Boardface, Gotye’s clip was shot with a digital stills camera taking more then 10,000 shots to make, directed by Jacob Simkin of Dork Films. This man has a love for meticulous craftsmanship for his art – his latest album Like Drawing Blood took more than two painstaking years of home recording and multiple computer crashes. Very strong candidate for album of the year.

Previous posts: Gotye, Faux Pas, Gotye vs Faux Pas

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