‘Children of the Sun’ (mp3)

‘Into The Wild’ (mp3)

Hailing from the shire of lush rolling hills and farmland greenery that is Bacchus Marsh, Benjamin Dowd, Sam Reale & Jordan Hicks aka The Boo Hoo Hoo’s, have been kicking around the Melbourne scene since 2008. It seems that a long trek into the metropol area, bagging the comp bragging rights of incompetent city bands, then returning back to school the following day with a semi-trailer sized hangover seems to be a rite of passage for most regional bands. I saw these dudes supporting DZ late last year. Children of the Sun is a charismatic feel-good pop number sweet enough to poke  gorging harmonic cavities in your molars. In brief, the track is basically Little Red dubbed over the chord progression of the Strokes’ ‘Someday’. I was wondering why these dudes sounded so much like Hungry Kids of Hungary….and it’s probably because both bands have made very similar songs (see Hungary Kids of Hungary’s Let You Down’).

As much as these chirpy indie-pop numbers get everyone in the room in a mutually happy mood, they tend to plateau. If you’re in band and you want to lend yourself some hype beyond playing tunes to seditious posers battling it out for dancefloor space at streetparty digs, give us something more. There is only so much bopping around I can adhere to, before the act starts to feels reheating stale microwave dinners for the third day in a row.

Comparative nit picking aside, I’m glad the Boo Hoo Hoo’s have shown dynamics on both side of the cards. Into The Wild shows off a more subtle pace compared to the previous track, as well as the band’s proficient songwriting abilities.This one is a definite grower, and after a few listens the full extent off Dowd’s clean tones backed up by a handful of gorgeous riffs proves a maturity that a lot of young bands lack. Into the Wild evokes melancholy without the unnecessary saccharine. The song fuels a wonderful, stripped back feeling of casual remoteness. The track will feature on the band’s debut EP which will be released through Trusty Chords Music later on this year.

Don’t be weeping for the The Boo Hoo Hoos, because if they steer to the right side of the tracks, I’m sure they’ll definitely go on to do great things.

The Boo Hoo Hoos play The National in Geelong on the 24th of June, Cubby Hole in Brisbane on the 24th of July and World Bar in Sydney on the 6th of Aug.

www.myspace/com/theboohoohoo

Read Post →

Isle Adore – ‘Keep A Lid On’ (mp3)

Underlapper – ‘Elephant Shoe’ (mp3)

I’ve written about New Weird Australia before, the super rad blog/podcast/radio show that features the best and latest in experimental/electronic Australian music. They’ve just put out the sixth and latest in their series of  free compilation albums,  and they announced that this volume (number six) will be the last of its kind. Future compilations will take on a themed/artist-curated format, but Volume Six is a great way to send off their old approach – it’s the strongest of their compilations series so far.

The above tracks by Underlapper and Isle Adore stood out as worth drawing attention to. The former, because I’m a blogger and thus like anything that sounds like Animal Collective; the latter because I’m a blogger and thus like anything that sounds like chillwave. I’m kidding (not really, send me all your Aus chillwave). What these songs show is the diverse territory that NWA cover, from the almost-pop of Isle Adore to the laptop beat of Underlapper, through to the opening doom/drone track by Ambrose Chapel. Volume Six is a wonderful compilation, and the above songs are a great place to start but not the end of your relationship with NWA Vol. Six.

LUV U NWA. Get the compilation HERE.

newweirdaustralia.com

Read Post →

Loon Lake – ‘Easy Chairs’ (mp3)

Here’s a sweet new jam from Melbourne newcomers Loon Lake, who wowed me with their track ‘Into The Office’ earlier this year. Thankfully these bros still sound like they’re just kicking around in their garage, keeping shit loose and direct. Even though it’s actually pretty melodic with crisscrossing guitars, it’s all sounds so effortless thanks to the way singer “Sam” (couldn’t find a last name on Myspace so I gave up) talk-sings (in a slight Julian Casablancas drawl) his way through the verses and half strains for bigger notes in the chorus. It’s great.

So I haven’t seen these guys live and I’ve still only really heard a handful of tracks from them, but Loon Lake are one of the most promising bands I’ve caught wind of in 2k10. I hope they keep the rawness of their demos in subsequent work because they wear it well. I’ll defs be keeping my eye out for more.

www.myspace.com/weareloonlake

Read Post →

Kyu – ‘North To South To East To You’

The amazing Sydney duo Kyu have covered one of my favourite Jonathan Boulet tracks ‘North To South To East To You’. They have an album coming out soon in September through Popfrenzy and they are touring quite a bit, dates on their myspace: www.myspace.com/kyusounds

Read Post →