Dead Letter Circus – ‘Reaction’

Dead Letter Circus are one of those lucky bands who have already worked out what their signature sound is going to be, even before they’ve released a full-length album. However, they are in danger of recycling the same tones and sounds, particularly if they don’t soon switch off the delay pedal. People like familiarity, but not when it becomes repetitiveness.

Having said that, ‘Reaction’ is DLC’s most solid song to date, particularly for vocalist Kim Benzie who’s stripped back the stratospheric high notes that were abundant on the group’s debut EP but which he consistently struggled to hit live. (I hate to say it, but that’s what you get when you use Auto-Tune.) It’s a more natural range for Kim, allowing him not only to add some well-placed harmonies but make his vocals far more rhythmic and laconic, creating an infectious counterpoint to the frenetic instrumentation that’s sitting underneath.

It’s not a deviation from the EP, but more of a solidification of their musical style. ‘Reaction’ is a promising sign of things to come for these Brisbane boys.

http://www.myspace.com/deadlettercircus

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Little Red – ‘Coca Cola’

I sincerely doubt that there’s any real music lovers left in this country who haven’t heard of this band yet. However, there is still a disturbingly large amount of Australians who get their music knowledge from Video Hits and So Fresh compilations, so for their benefit, here is Little Red. Comprising of five school aged boys from Melbourne, Little Red embodies everything that made pop music great in the ’60s; multi-layered vocal harmonies, tight-ass clean guitars and more hooks than you can throw a stick at. And in an age when ‘It’s too late to apolo-giiiiiiiiise’ has become a mainstream phenomenon, it’s nice to know that there’s still a band around that are happy to sing pretty little ditties about girls and love and soda and stuff.

(more…)

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Cut Off Your Hands  – ‘Shark Attack’

All the way from the UK where they’re working with producer extraordinaire Bernard Butler (he’s worked with Duffy, Manic Street Preachers, Roy Orbison, the Libertines, Aimee Mann… this guy knows his shit), Kiwi lads Cut Off Your Hands have given us a very hot exclusive – it’s something new from their eagerly-awaited debut album. This one’s called ‘Shark Attack’ and if it sounds slightly familiar, that’s because it’s a Split Enz cover. No word on when the album will be out, so enjoy this one for now.

http://www.myspace.com/cutoffyourhands

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They’ve got a great knack for pop melodies, but Sparkadia almost seem too nice for their own good. Oh well, I guess it worked for Something for Kate, and as long as Sparkadia keep writing catchy tunes like this, they should be fine.

While you’re in a video-watching mood, head over to Ocker Zeal to watch a video interview I did with Monica Tan. It’s always fun being on the other end of interviews.

http://www.myspace.com/sparkadia

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