Monthly Archives For February 2014

PREMIERE: Vowel Movement – ‘Hotel Sorrento’

, , No Comment

Vowel Movement

Urban Dictionary informs me that ‘vowel movement’, aside from being a terrible pun, is the sound that comes out when you’re too drunk to talk but try valiantly anyway. It seems like a logical choice of band name for these guys once you hear singer Jack Stavrakis’ slurred diction on debut single, ‘Hotel Sorrento’. Better yet, the video – a quaint, homemade affair – stars a bunch of their mates getting boozy and doing unspeakable things to sausages at a backyard barbecue and cricket match.

The song feels pleasantly sunburnt as it recounts a ritual Australia Day conversation – one that’s perhaps no longer relished: ‘Over salad and a few snags / you’ll tell me about Chaucer, about Shakespeare / Always / That’s Hotel Sorrento’.

Vowel Movement are launching ‘Hotel Sorrento’ and its B-side, the previously released ‘Pigeon Feet’, tomorrow night! They’ll be joined by The Primary, Tulalah, Grandstands and James Moloney & the Maddog Harrisons at Alia Arthouse from 9PM.

Facebook / Soundcloud

Read Post →

LOOK: Saskwatch – ‘Born To Break Your Heart’

, , No Comment

Saskwatch1

It’s mildly comforting knowing that the bands you put on pedestals have ‘normal people’ jobs like the rest of us. I struck up conversation with someone at a friend’s birthday who recalled seeing Saskwatch vocalist Nkechi turn into a howlin’ she-force on the Meredith main stage. The week after, he stopped her in a much quieter setting when he asked her for directions to the history isle at his local library. In the same way, Saskwatch’s new track is a bit of a comedown – albeit a pleasant one at that – the bloody mary / beanchairs respite after the storm. The perky Saskwatch we all know has taken a quick retreat; the horn section has been mulled back a tad; the syncopated beats have been swapped for all the makings of pop panache in ‘Born To Break Your Heart’.


Lochlan Funston & Jessica Barclay Lawton went along to set day to take some stills shots from the video. There’s a lot of fake blood and drinking in the bathtub, which is essentially an apt description of the new direction I think this record’s going to take. Saskwatch’s new album Nose Dive is set for an April release.

Saskwatch7 Saskwatch5 Saskwatch6 Saskwatch4 Saskwatch2

(more…)

Read Post →

LISTEN: Horror My Friend – ‘Nothing’

, , No Comment

horror my friend

There’s something about Adelaide that just breeds a kind of toughness. With Adelaide bands like Bad//Dreems and Summer Flake bringing their sound into the spotlight, it’s clear that Australia’s most maligned city is punching well above its weight.

Horror My Friend (surprisingly not a terrible grindcore band) have joined the fray with their latest singe ‘Nothing’ – a tricky, hook-laden track that lands just on the right side of pop punk. This is only their third single in three years, but judging from the amount of well-crafted riffs crammed into this three minute song, they’ve been spending that time wisely. The production on this track is also great – the vocal cuts through all that shredding without being too clean, and some high tension drumming builds excitement till the very end of the song.

With a few headline shows coming up, it’ll be interesting to see if Horror My Friend can maintain this kind of energy live – and if we’ll see more frequent releases from them in the future. Dates for the band’s upcoming shows are below.

Feb 21 – The Captain Cook Hotel, Sydney

Feb 22 – The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle, (Tiki Bar) (w/ Maids, Archers and Model Youth)

Feb 27 – Trainspotters at the Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane (w/ Columbia Buffet, and Cactusdemondoom)

Mar 1 – The Loft Chevron Island, Gold Coast (w/ Dead Books, Take Me North and Pirates of the Tempest)

Mar 13 – The Rosemount Hotel Perth

Mar 14 – The Beat Nightclub, Perth

Mar 15 – The Swan Hotel, Freemantle

Mar 21 – Cats at Rocket Rooftop, Adelaide (w/ Pretty City, Archers and The Sunbirds)

 

Facebook / Soundcloud

Read Post →

PREMIERE: Second Hand Heart – ‘Spending My Time’

, , No Comment

shh

Second Hand Heart have been around these parts for a while. Jamming since 2006, this Melbourne via Ballarat five-piece have ‘spent their time’ (sorry, had to) preparing to release their debut LP. But they’re well on their way now, having just dropped the clip for lead single, ‘Spending My Time’.

While Second Hand Heart have blazoned a sort of sugary folk pop in previous outings, the video sees them adding a striking new dimension to their sound. With unexpected shadows and plenty of snare and rim-heavy percussion, there’s an almost Warpaint-like brooding – or even menacing – vibe to the song. On top of that, the whole thing is really, seriously, well produced. There isn’t a sound out of place or dulled in the mix. Wrap all those goodies into one basket, combine them with the band’s typically strong vocal harmonies, and you’ve got yourself a dirty rock-pop hybrid ready to sell to the kiddies.

Word is Second Hand Heart’s debut will be released mid May. Here’s hoping the album follows in this single’s footsteps.

Facebook / Bandcamp / Website / BUY

Read Post →

EXPAT: Yon Yonson

, , 1 Comment

Mongolia Village

Yon Yonson recently visited Mongolia, Russia and China – not for gigs though, more a family holiday. Andrew from the band  has provided to us all the photogenic landscapes, Mongolian national costumes and soviet kitsch you can nuzzle up next to like fluffy white snow. Photos appear alongside tracks from Yon Yonson’s latest release, Hypomantra. If you haven’t had the decency to wrap your cheap mits around Hypomantra yet, I highly suggest you do. Listen and look below.

Mongolia Shoes

Andrew climbed a fairly perilous rock formation out in the desert and took this photo. He genuinely nearly died.

Lake Baikal Beach

Lake Baikal is the largest lake in the world in terms of volume and it completely freezes over during winter. It just looked like a really cold beach.

Lake Baikal Dog-Sled

Dog sledding isn’t a common traffic issue in Australia.

Mongolia Arrow

We stayed in a yurt in Mongolia, which is like a little hut out in the snow. This is us in the local get-up performing a ritual execution.

More photos below.

(more…)

Read Post →

SEQUENCE: D.D Dumbo

, , No Comment

8_M_042

For those of you unacquainted, Castlemaine is a country centre that’s about an hour’s drive west of Melbourne. Situated between Ballarat and the Victorian capital, it once was a town fuelled by gold, then left to fend for itself after the hordes of new money left.In 2014 it still remains as a country centre, but it’s evaded the plastic re-hash of most urban centres. It isn’t mall-i-fied, and nor does it rely upon an antiquated mirage of ‘colonial heritage’ to get tourist dollars in. It is this town that now lays claim to DD Dumbo (aka. Oliver Hugh Perry).

(more…)

Read Post →

INTRODUCING: Retiree

, , No Comment

retiree

Retiree have just dropped the film clip for ‘Together’, the lead single from their self-titled debut EP. These Sydney-siders make house music for your leisure days. It’s cool and slow, featuring acoustic and electronic instrumentation – plus just the right amount of cowbell. There are notes of an upbeat Arthur Russell in the muffled synth tones, airy vocals, disco-inflected rhythms and easy melodicism here, but with a deliberate Australian bent – check, for instance, the skip who introduces the video.

There’s also a suggestion of what Client Liaison might have been if they were born in the present day instead of shot into the future, mullets and all, from a cocaine-infested 1980s in which Ansett was a going concern and corporate Darwinism was à la mode. Appropriately, Client Liaison have done a remix of Retiree’s ‘Rain’ – or should I say an overwrite, taking the slippery original and producing a kitsch pop banger.

(more…)

Read Post →