Tagged By melbourne

EXPAT: Bad Tropes, Berlin

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Bad Tropes are Luke Troynar and Jonny Zoum; two Melbourne expats who’ve been developing their brand of subtle, acoustic pop in Berlin. The 35mm film photos below were taken by the duo (and a patient friend) in the studio and at some of the band’s favourite haunts around the city.

Empty spaces become amplified when you’re wandering through the city between late night and early hours of the morning – and these photographs capture that same quality found in the duo’s minimal sound. Bad Tropes skim from introspective acoustic moments to darker pop sensibilities. There’s hardly a drum fill to be found (sometimes a good thing) and lots of contemplative blank space to mull over. It’s hard to decipher whether the vanity pursuit the guys sing about on ‘Pretty Won’t Rust’ is trying to make a point or just poetic sarcasm, but it’s a chilled tune nonetheless.

Bad Tropes are working on their forthcoming LP, to be released in April on Wait! What? Records.

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SUBURB SERIES: RaRa

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RaRa

Craft is transient, as are its makers. When the creative hunch strikes, it’s not uncommon to move as far as we can from familiarity – but more often than not, we seem to return back to the places from where we begin. We spent a day driving around suburbia with Melbourne based alt hip hop group RaRa for our new ‘Suburbs’ series, which aims to shine a light on local musicians and their ongoing relationship with the places where they live.

Nestled in the cosy suburbia that is Melbourne’s inner east is Doncaster; more commonly known to locals as ‘Donny’. A leafy, working class suburb bordered by Eastlink and the Yarra, ‘Donny’ is marked by prams, modified Commodores and rendered 80s brick family dwellings with sloping double carparks.

Middle class Pleasantville seems miles from the the stomping ground where you would have expected RaRa’s slanted genre-bending hip-hop to have taken shape. But from what we saw driving around the neighbourhood; touring empty swimming pools, wandering into unused houses that were former party sites and visiting the family homes the boys still reside in – even if the four boys claim they’re “from another planet”, this will still be home.

Director / Film: Anthony Juchnevicius

Photography: Bec Capp

Animation: Nelson Armstrong

With thanks to: RaRa, Bec Capp, Annie Toller, Oscar McMahon

Featuring: RaRa (Ll’vo, The Lovely Me, KL, River Deep)

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RaRa are launching their new EP Planet 2016 at Shebeen in Melbourne on the 19th of December, supported by ESESE & friendships.

Planet 2016 is out now via Zero Through Nine.

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INTRODUCING: Palm Springs

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Palm Springs

Three years ago, a three-track demo appeared on Bandcamp credited to Palm Springs, a duo comprising Melbourne songwriter Erica Dunn and drummer Raquel Solier. The lead track was a dark country ballad called ‘Winning & Losing’ – a real heartstopper. Its gruff blues riff staggered through an ocean of cymbal crashes, matched by Dunn’s vocals, bellowing with the shock of rejection: “I never thought that I’d be the one who would lose / I never thought I’d be the one cut loose”.

The duo went quiet after that. Dunn travelled the US and played in a host of other bands – including Harmony and the SMB – while Solier focused on her experimental RnB project, Fatti Frances, and later had her first child. But last week Palm Springs’ official debut finally landed, in the form of twin seven inches 300 Acres / The Last Hour and Mexican Gem / Golden Dust, each with a complementary digital version featuring a handful of bonus tracks.

The releases were recorded at the same time, during a session held late last year at Melbourne’s Headgap Studios, and were intended to become a single album. The songs, however, were written at very different times in Dunn’s life and, after some thought, she decided they didn’t sit quite right together. So they were split into the sparse, pastoral folk of 300 Acres and the fuller, more diverse Mexican Gem – which ranges from the opener’s motorik hum (it sounds almost like the first Stereolab EPs) to the fingerpicking ditty ‘A List’.

Both collections are filled with aching dirges, guitar strings that buzz and bend, solos played down low, Solier’s loping drum beats and Dunn’s rich, dusty vocals. They call to mind 90s-era Drag City Records, traditional rhythm and blues, Sharon Van Etten and early Cat Power ­– even Paul Kelly, at times. These tracks are simple and strong; classic bare-bones songwriting.

Palm Springs are launching the seven inches this Saturday, 24 October, upstairs at the Tote with Sarah Mary Chadwick and Sweet Whirl. The vinyl’s out now via Rice is Nice and Dunn’s own (delightfully titled) Palm Springsteen Records.

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Slum Sociable – ‘Paradigm’

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Melbourne-via-Mordialloc duo Slum Sociable are flexing some serious electro-noir muscle on new track ‘Paradigm’, the second single off their debut EP, TQ. Slum Sociable’s sound summons montages of shady dudes in trench coats skulking around alleyways, and ‘Paradigm’ does everything to consolidate that feeling.

The track has the compressed beats of Ruban Nielson’s self-styled “depression funk”. It drags you over the coals at first, opening with a jagged drum loop that cuts in and out, while the boys layer it with licks from pretty much anything that will create sound. Though big on atmosphere, it’s not as melodically catchy as ‘All Night’, the first single from TQ, with its menacing vocals and sinister harmonies gliding over a slick swathe of samples.

Tom Iansek features on TQ‘s production credits, but I don’t think the talent and vision of the guys driving the project should be overshadowed by Iansek’s contributions. With every track they expand on the atmospheric jazz-hop that has had everyone with ears drooling for more since debut single ‘Anyway’ dropped almost a year ago.

Slum Sociable are heading to the US for a bunch of dates in New York for CMJ before returning for an Australia/NZ tour.

TQ is out now via Liberation.

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INTRODUCING: ORB

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orb

It’s fair to say that Geelong’s ORB have taken a fair bit of inspiration from Black Sabbath. Actually, I’m certain these guys love Sabbath so much that they’ve stapled all 19 Sabbath records into a Sabbath suit and Mission Impossible-d a face mask replica of Ozzy Osborne’s face to wear while they wail to ‘Sweet Leaf’ and ‘Children of the Grave’. Doesn’t really seem like a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday, now that I’ve said it out loud.

Despite their tendency to mimic their favourite band – or perhaps because of it – ORB make for an incredible listen. Their debut EP, which was released to tape in January of this year but only uploaded to the www.com’s a week or so ago, is molten sludge goodness. Over five tracks of plunging, schlocky metal, ORB remind everyone what made this music so fun to listen to in the first place. These guys kick like a horse on acid, reeling off one gargantuan riff after another. The blistering centrepiece ’11th Commandment’ is exemplary of this vintage headbanging approach.

Even when we’ve got legends like Batpiss, Worm Crown and Horsehunter keeping metal well and truly alive, it’s good to herald the addition of ORB to the ranks. Over the next couple of months, they’ll be playing Maggot Fest 6 down in Melbourne, joining King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard in support of GOAT’s Australian tour, and playing with the Murlocs in Sydney and Brisbane.

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PREMIERE: Mihra – ‘I Wonder’

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I Wonder - Mihra

Mihra are the latest outfit from new Melbourne label Wigwam. Recently launched in July, the small label houses a diverse selection of bands; psychedelic act My Elephant Ride (who Mihra’s lead Chevaunne Keleher also sings in) – to crash course in experimental pop, Ministry of Plenty. Label owner Nathan Abbey also yarns self-deprecating poetry in the key of Peter Bibby – and throwing Mihra into the mix, it’s a colourful lot. ‘I Wonder’ is the newest track from the jazzy six piece, set to appear on their debut out later this year.

‘I Wonder’ saunters in with a breezy piano hook, the Bossa Nova type that holds in-flight soundtracks and wine grazing tours together. Mihra are aware of the periphery of jazz-pop twee, and tip-toe carefully around it. The band are devoted to their own sincereness and bask in it at times. Vocalist Keleher sings about feigned hope after the end of a relationship, while the bass line politely coaxes a muzak sample as harmonies cross fire in-between. Lyrically, the track is light on the ‘poetic’ side. It’s more of a casual late afternoon muse compared to some of the new ‘future soul’ crowd who divulge in more sonic landscapes, but it’s sweet listening overall. With Keleher’s lead in a different context – I’m not ruling out a quasi shimmy into a JAALA riff/scat-off at some point in the future. 

If you tripped this track over in the street, it’d probably recite you a psalm and cradle your face in its hands, as easy listening does. Politeness is a comfy place for music to be, but Mihra have the foundations to turn up the goods. Looking forward to hearing more – and perhaps watching these guys throw some (syncopative) shade.

Mihra launch ‘I Wonder’ at the Workers Club in Melbourne on the 30th of August, with fellow newcomers Nafasi and Tetrahedra.

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LISTEN: Leisure Suite – ‘Sweet Gin’

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leisure suite

Melbourne electro-pop duo Leisure Suite have dropped ‘Sweet Gin’, an extremely smooth, R’n’B-influenced glimpse into their sophomore EP, which is slated for release later this year. It’s the pair’s first completely self-produced track, and they’ve stripped back the instrumentation – which is to say that where there once was the odd guitar lick here and there on their debut EP, now there are none. Instead, downtempo beats steer Leisure Suite down the yellow brick road of spaced out hip-hop production.

Even the builds feel light, with Bridgette Le’s vocals allowed to do all of the leg work – and boy am I ok with that. She doesn’t need to explore much of her range because every note that leaves her mouth is disarmingly lush. ‘Sweet Gin’ has clocked over 6000 listens since its release four days ago. Either people were desperate for more Leisure Suite or you just can’t listen to Le’s voice less than about 100 times. Either way, it’s a pretty irresistible morsel of warm electro-pop.

They’ll be launching the single in their hometown at Hugs & Kisses on the 25th of July.

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