Tucker B’s – ‘First Born Son’

Tucker B’s – ‘Wow (A Bear Is Not A Man)’

These guys have been kicking around for over a decade so they know what they’re doing. This is the first album, however, that I’ve devoted suitable attention to. Like any underground Australian act surviving that long, an admirable amount of dedication is required and that totally shines through on this record.

I couldn’t pick just one song, partially because it’s a quality release and partiallybecause one isolated song can’t adequately  communicate the reach of their stuff. ‘First Born Son’ is the lead track and opens with a burst of noise before synthesising it into a tight, tense song complete with a double tracked melody about mysterious famalial obligations.

‘Wow (A Bear In Not A Man)’ is full of fragile ivory punctuated by euphoric shards of guitar that almost answer the hope in singer Matt Rudas’s voice, before divulging in the first truly heavy moments of the disc.

Compelling stuff.

www.myspace.com/tuckerbs

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Voltaire Twins – D.I.L (mp3)

I’m not really at the forefront of the new electro/indie-nu-rave thing that seems to be happening in Australia and indeed the world at the moment. Frankly some of it makes me sick-up in my mouth just a little bit.

One act that I do find as pleasing as a pack of quick ease and a glass of milk however, is brother-sister duo the Voltaire Twins. It seems that amongst a crowd of mediocrity they’ve not forgotten that melody and actual hooks are important in writing a catchy tune.

The Voltaire Twins’ debut single D.I.L. is set for release sometime soon (apparently the middle of the year) and the three tracks I’ve heard off it certainly put it head and shoulders above some of their ‘shout lyric, play chord, shout lyric’ comrades.

www.myspace.com/voltairetwins

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Check out the previous video for the same song.

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Phrase – ‘TV N Radio’

So I actually got sent Phrase’s album months ago, but by the time I got around to uploading anything from it, blogging about him seemed about as temporally vital as getting excited over ACDC’s return (NB: I’m not). This guy’s been everywhere for a while and good for him. The album is fairly diverse and while there’s a lot on there that I don’t particularly fancy, there’s still some that I do. If nothing else, Phrase deserves some praise (rhyme! yes!) for trying out some different sounds and production tricks – not Aussie hip hop’s strongest point.

This song had a lot to live up to. TV On  The Radio are my favourite band going at the moment so calling your song something so similar perhaps unfairly instilled high expectations. The song doesn’t sound anything like that band but is actually a rant on the titular media (lucky for newspapers that they’re off the hook, right?). Still, it’s an ambitious track and sounds like there’s a fair bit of work behind it (something they share with TVOTR). Quite long so not one you’re likely to hear on radio and also a highlight off the album – two good reasons to post it here, despite being fairly late to do so…

www.myspace.com/bigphrase

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Oh Mercy – ‘Lay Everything On Me’ (mp3)

More than two years ago I put Oh Mercy on a weekly indie night I was booking at the time in Melbourne. They played on a few shows then but I could hear that singer and writer Alex had the gift of story telling. Nowadays you can hear him getting played on Triple J on any given day and the band through the constant grind of support touring are slowly winning fans. If you’re in Sydney or Melbourne you can catch them at the Hopetoun on Thursday 11th June or the Toff on Saturday 13th June.

www.myspace.com/ohmercyband

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