Monthly Archives For May 2017

WATCH: Multiple Man – Power Fantasy

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multiple man

The new Multiple Man video is a piece of sun-drenched nostalgia that incorporates home video from Chris and Sean Campion’s childhood in Brisbane with grainy footage from Expo ’88. Lol. Nah it’s 5 minutes of weird shit. Disembodied torsos, fish-eye videos of flowers, pulsating 3D shapes, roses, statues and pillars – classic iconography of power and desire. The video was made by Tim Dwyer (Horse Macgyver) who mostly does live visual art work (and is one half of terrific experimental project Half High), and it shows. The pictures are driven by the vibe of the music, rather than any narrative, and would work really well accompanying the track live (which hopefully they’ll do, but you know, projectors are annoying).

Despite Chris moving to New York about two years ago, Multiple Man haven’t lost sight of what makes them good – they’re a party band, made for jerky, sweaty dancing – even the vocals are rhythmic in their monotone and the cheesy edge to the beats makes it all so goddamn fun. They’ve never tried to reinvent the techno wheel, but it’s hard to think of a band in Australia that does what they do better. Welcome back, maniacs.

This song is off Multiple Man’s latest record with the very silly title of New Metal. It’s out in America now on DKA and out soon in Australia on Paradise Daily. Chris is also popping back over to play some shows around the place in June.

‘5 NIGHTS OF FIRM HANDSHAKE ELECTRONIC BODY MUSIC’

June 9 – MELBOURNE at LAZERPIG with MULTIPLE MAN DJs

June 10 – MELBOURNE at YAH YAHS with CUTTING ROOM, NERVE, MILITARY POSITION and BITUMEN
DJs
MOOPIE (Jealous God, Blackest Ever Black, a colourful storm)
JESS SNEDDON

June 15 – CANBERRA at Pickle at POLISH CLUB with HORSE MACGUYVER, KARLI WHITE,
CALIFORNIA GIRLS and PICKLE DJs

June 16 –  SYDNEY at Angels at PORTUGAL MADEIRA CLUB with VARIOUS ASSES,
L.A SUFFOCATED, TRU and SEX HAVERS DJs

June 17 – BRISBANE at WOOLY MAMMOTH with KANGAROO SKULL, REBEL YELL, LEVANA, DJ DANGER DESTINY and DJ SAMMY D’ANGELO

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LISTEN: Spirit Bunny

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Spirit Bunny cover

Brisbane trio Spirit Bunny deal in a unique brand of noise pop, although the term ‘pop’ in this instance refers to the short, sharp catchiness of their songs as opposed to any subscription to traditional structures or formulaic song writing.

Their self-titled debut album is an explosion of overdriven synth, rollicking drums, and circuit-bent 8-bit craziness. This is electronic music with the earnestness and urgency of a live band.

Brimming with raucous energy, the band bursts out of the gates with opener ‘Disco Horesride Montage’, a suitably animated introduction followed by the equally infectious instrumental cut ‘Bunny Battles’. And even when the pace drops back on the bouncy, hip hop inflected ‘Screaming Keys’ the palpable energy remains. The band rarely comes up for breath until the latter stages of the album, where tracks like ‘CRT Screens’ and ‘Gold & Brown’ introduce a slightly more pensive mood. But even on these tracks it’s not long before the band continues their aural assault, as if rejuvenated by the brief respite.

Spirit-Bunny

Aside from the obvious influence of the chiptune scene, there are nods to bands like Battles but with a scrappy, garage band tenacity. This is not background sound to lull you to sleep, this is brash, insistent music that demands your attention.

The band are wrapping up a national tour in support of the album with just a hometown Brisbane show remaining. For those of you who missed catching the band on tour, hopefully it won’t be too long before they head out on the road again. Until then, grab a copy of this fantastic debut now.

Brisbane launch:

May 20th @ The Bearded Lady

w/ Low Season and Leavings

 

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WATCH: Pregnancy – ‘First Kiss’

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Pregnancy

Yeah, that tape got released last year, Pregnancy did the whole Northcote Social Club she-bang and everything for it – but some songs are born for long everlasting life, and ‘First Kiss’ is such a song, given a new shot of life as the shiny lead single for Pregnancy’s upcoming LP, Urgency.

Pregnancy always struck me as having some awkward growing pains, at least from where I’ve stood in the audience. You could probably spot the genesis of the project a little while off during shows for The Ocean Party, where Denton would sometimes, if he was feeling up to it, have a sneaky boogie with himself or even jump into the crowd. Denton is all stiff dance-moves and low-register but, in a way, it feels like he’s pulling from the same book as artists like Alex Cameron or even his band-mate Snowy’s other project ‘No Local’ (in which Denton plays drums).

Lone dude with a microphone in a semi-formal get up; a pastiche of 80s romanticism at its finest. The synths are urgent, the guitars angular, the melodies heartbroken; everything’s perpetually running in the rain to a betrayed lover, asking for one last chance. The video shows the band playing cosy in a small room, juxtaposed with images from Pregnancy’s February tour.

Give it a watch below, get a taste of Denton’s dance-moves and perhaps buy the tape.

Head along to the ‘First Kiss’ single launch this Thursday, May 4 at the Tote, with support from Frances Fox, Tenderhooks and Qwerty.

Urgency is out in July via Melbourne’s Lost & Lonesome Records.

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LISTEN: Angie – ‘Shyness’ LP

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shyness

When I wrote about Angie Garrick’s first solo album Turning in 2013, it was a very different time. You could say you liked ‘garage rock’ without being heavily side-eyed at a house show (and I was writing shit like ‘soul crunching riffs’ seemingly without wincing myself to death). I don’t stand by much of what I said back then, but even that me was smart enough to see the power of that brave and brutal album. Then on Free Agent she went a bit rock dog, putting herself front and centre. Braver still maybe for a woman in Australia.

Shyness is the best thing she’s done by far. It is absolutely grim. It’s crushingly beautiful. Garrick’s monotone vocals resigned; ‘Nothing in Store’s singalong chorus of ‘nothing to count on / nothing in store’, followed by tracks based around rich and heavy sounding piano. Everything echoes for a thousand miles in each direction, like Garrick reaching out – but then it’s so insular as well. How can something with so few parts do so much damage, how can a record that often sounds restless leave you with a feeling of contentment? I don’t know, but Shyness does it.

I won’t pretend to know much about the piano or instrumental music in general, but ‘On Being Blue’ is something so special to me. There’s the stunning way the piano chases itself around in circles, pausing hesitant then striding on with confidence. In other places it’s joined by fractured guitar catching up then falling behind, then catching up again, both instruments woven together loosely but with purpose. Even when the music is beautiful, Garrick’s vocals bring a sense of foreboding. She’s living in a world of whispers and shadows, keeping you at arm’s length even when you desperately want to be let in. A lot of musicians will say stuff like ‘I don’t really think about how other people are gonna feel listening to my music when I make it’, which is mostly bullshit, but Angie I’d believe it. Shyness is a graceful, poised record captures the precious weight of isolation.

Angie is on tour later this month. She’s also playing the Repressed Records show at Vivid on June 1. Total Control are playing. See you there.

FRI MAY 26 – 107 PROJECTS, SYDNEY
w/ KNITTED ABYSS, SPIKE VINCENT & TABLE
TICKETS | MORE INFO

SAT MAY 27 – AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE, CANBERRA
w/ THUNDERBOLT CITY + MORE TBA
TICKETS | MORE INFO

SAT JUNE 3 – SOME VELVET MORNING, MELBOURNE
w/ SUPPORTS TBA
TICKETS ON THE DOOR | MORE INFO

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