Tagged By New Music

LISTEN: Straight Arrows – ‘Never Enough’

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The line up of Sydney’s Straight Arrows reads like a local who’s who. Fronted by Owen Penglis, a somewhat hands-off recording engineer (he records to tape in his kitchen) who’s worked with bands like Royal Headache and The Frowning Clouds, the band features Al Grigg of Red Riders and Palms fame, and Angie Bermuda from Circle Pit. Straight Arrows’ first full-length release, 2010’s It’s Happening, was a high-energy, low-fidelity offering, packed with jams inspired by 60’s UK garage. It was recorded at their mate Tim Done’s house on his collection of 50’s-era American gear.

The latest Straight Arrows release, ‘Never Enough’, is louder and brasher than anything the band’s done before. It’s also quite sludgy – in a bad-ass, high-octane kind of way, à la the Sonics. The song moves along giddily, the tempo lifting to deliver a call-and-response chorus before the drunk and wailing guitar lick pulls it back into the fray.

Chicago-based label Hozac Records has released the Never Enough EP as part of its exclusive 7″ club. The band have been selling any remaining copies on tour, but thankfully the EP is also available for a measly two bucks on Bandcamp.

Straight Arrows will be playing two Victorian single launch shows, supported by the charming Bits of Shit, on Friday, 16 August at the Barwon Club in South Geelong and Saturday, 17 August at Melbourne’s Grace Darling Hotel. They’re also on the bill for FBi’s 10th birthday party, which will be held at Carriage Works on Sunday, 8 September.

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LISTEN: Cow Parade Cow – Before The Sharks LP

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The follow-up to 2012’s Big Sky is Cow Parade Cow’s new LP Before the Sharks which has ossified their position as one the most exciting DIY projects operating out of the Western Australia right now.

 

‘Hallelujah Howl’

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The self-recorded, mixed, produced, and art designed project is the work of Mike Litton. With a healthy dose of trepidation, he handed a few tracks over to the ‘live-band’ bassist, Cam Stewart, but otherwise the production is his love-child. He opted not to auto-tune ‘Kanye style’ the higher parts, instead Litton brought in housemate, Janie Green who perfectly complemented Litton’s sketchy, heart-on-sleeve vocals illustrated nicely in ‘Lease the Sunset, Sell the Coast’.

‘Lease the Sunset, Sell the Coast’

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Before the Sharks moves beyond Cow Parade Cow’s previous releases not just in sound and production but also emotionally. It’s darker and somewhat more battered in spirit and there is a desperation in the explosions of sound and neurotic lyrics.

Litton tells me that “it almost feels like the huge rhythms and driving songs are the result of pure determination and stubbornness rather than for the joy of music”. Which is kind of how I always imagined an Architecture in Helsinki record getting made. A sound that is fun, bold, hypnotic and uplifting, but at the same time sounds like it was produced under duress. I can totally picture those hippies being held in solitude until the last ounce of pure chai-fuelled sunshine is burnt onto tape.

‘Beagle Personality’

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‘Beagle Personality’ is one of my favs for its pure recklessness which manages to sound so light and poppy whilst being utterly blunt and so honestly heartbreaking.

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Cow Parade Cow are venturing over to the East coast in early September playing shows in Melbourne, with a live band of friends kidnapped from other Perth bands. Look forward to a large stage of shenanigans with 6-9 members recreating the densely layered sounds of the recording. We’ll keep you up to date when more details arrive.

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LISTEN: Rainbow Chan – ‘Haircut’

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Sydney artist Rainbow Chan‘s debut EP, Long Vacation, has arrived. It’s named after a 1996 Japanese soap that the Chan family watched together after moving from Hong Kong to Australia. Unable to understand the Japanese dialogue, and too young at six to read the Chinese subtitles, it was the the show’s soundtrack that resonated with Chan. In fact, she’s got a thing for all kinds of oriental populism; J Pop, old anime theme songs, Chinese folk music – these influences crop up in one way or another in her music.

Chan recorded Long Vacation in her bedroom closet. Whether that was for acoustics or out of necessity I wouldn’t have a clue, but a girl called Rainbow (yes, that’s her real name) playing harp and sequencing beats in her wardrobe is a fitting image to accompany the skewed pop that she’s created. Made using tape loops, vintage toys (a circuit-bent toy cow is a recent acquisition Chan’s cited), keyboards, music boxes and glockenspiels, Long Vacation matches Chan’s experimental streak with playful organic sounds and a great sense of melody.

‘Haircut’ is the second single from the EP. According to Chan, it’s “a tongue-in-cheek song about that old cliche, the post break-up haircut”. The point is pretty much summed up with the line ‘I don’t need you anymore, honey – I got a haircut today’. Featuring a detuned harp, programmed beats, what sounds like a kid’s keyboard and a bunch of sample-based sequences along the way, the song is basically a showcase of everything that’s good about Rainbow Chan. She can sing, too, and her voice is on full display in the gorgeous, multi-tracked chorus.

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Chan is already working on a follow-up album, and she’s got plans to start a noise pop band with her sister. A tour taking in capital cities around Australia and New Zealand has been scheduled for August.

Be sure to catch her on these dates:

Thursday 8th August – Lambda, Brisbane QLD

Saturday 10th August – Ghost Ships, Adelaide VIC

Friday 16th August – Civic Underground, Sydney NSW with Moon Holiday & Black Vanilla

Thursday 22nd August – Boney, Melbourne VIC with Sui Zhen

Saturday 24th August – The Front, Canberra ACT

Friday 30th August – Cassette Nine, Auckland NZ

Saturday 31st August – Mighty Mighty, Wellington NZ

 

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INTRODUCING: Banoffee

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If you’re wondering how a generation brought up on American cultural imperialism translates musically, then look no further than Melbourne’s Banoffee (Martha Brown). This chanteuse seems to have come out of nowhere, until you unpick her linage as part of Otouto, and sister of Two Bright Lakes head-honcho, Hazel Brown.

It’s fair to say that Banoffee has been long-awaited.

I first came to discover Martha through Otouto, a band which I think is peerless. Brown’s vocals are distinctly Australian (but not), whimsical (but not forced), and most importantly, in a class of its own (and underrated). It’s rare to find an Australian vocalist who manages to stamp a definitive identity through the mic, and Brown has this in spades. Here sits a voice that belies classification – vaguely reminiscent of the subtlety of Pikelet’s Evelyn Morris, but not quite.

On ‘Ninja’, you’ve got this mixed in with Brown’s reclamation of a certain late-90s, early-00s R’n’B aesthetic. This track’s antecedent is clearly Destiny’s Child’s ‘Cater 2 U’, and that’s really refreshing. Looking at Two Bright Lakes’ roster, Collarbones and Oscar Key Sung have done enough to instill R’n’B throughout the Melbourne-based collective. And this is where I feel acts like Banoffee mark a paradigm shift in Australian music. Considering the dominance of American urban music at the close of the last millennium, it’s high time for musicians brought up on this to translate this to contemporary audiences. In an Australian context, our failure to produce credible urban music has always been a chip on our shoulder, but with Q-Tip collaborating with Hiatus Kaiyote, times seem to be a changing. With Brown touting UK Bass and Detroit Synths as influences, here comes an artist that will most definitely shake up connotations of Australian ‘alt-pop’.

In sum, you need Banoffee in your life.

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SEQUENCE: Naysayer & Gilsun

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                                                                IMG_0051 IMG_0096 IMG_0117                                                                        N&G                                                                                                                                                naysayer & gilsun _ whothehell 2

 

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 Photos by Alan Weedon

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LISTEN: Oscar Key Sung – ‘It’s Coming’ / ‘Sure Thing’

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Oscar Key Sung (Oscar Vincent Slorach-Thorn), R’n’B revivalist and mega babe, has just dropped a couple of new tracks on his Bandcamp – the weighty ‘It’s Coming’ and a cover of Miguel‘s ‘Sure Thing’. He’s been performing them live for a little while now, causing outbreaks of krumping and general frisson all around town. The kid’s sure got a pair of lungs on him: stark and emotive, his version of ‘Sure Thing’ rivals the slick showmanship of the original.

The highlight, however, is definitely Slorach-Thorn’s own creation. Built out of loops from his voluminous collection of cassettes, ‘It’s Coming’ has the glitchy production, playful samples and great ear for melody that we know from his work with Oscar + Martin. This feels like a progression though – it’s darker and sexier than his earlier stuff. Like The Weeknd, Oscar has the uncanny ability to make a love song sound ominous.

 

Catch Oscar’s stellar live show during his residency at Shebeen in Melbourne every Thursday in June. He’s also playing a show tomorrow night at FBi Social, put on by our blog bros from Sound Doc and Circular Key w/ JONES Jnr and the always excellent Tim Fitz.

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LISTEN: I’lls – ‘Speak Low’

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I'lls

I’lls (pronounced ‘isles’; fingers crossed they’ll change this soon and save us all the confusion) have had a pretty sweet time since their self-released EP, Thread, came out in 2011. They had played just one gig – I’m assuming it was a good one – before being offered a slot at Parklife, and they’ve since opened for acts like Chet Faker and Flume. Sydney label Yes Please picked them up and is about to put out their next EP, A Warm Reception.

‘Speak Low’ is the second single from the upcoming release, and it’s a delight. Grounded by Simon Lam’s gorgeous vocals and the band’s warm, velvety production, the song opens with electronic sputtering, looped keys and a solid, live drum beat. The vocal harmonies build towards a stunning outro that floors me every time. There’s a lovely, arpeggiated guitar in there that’s reminiscent of some Radiohead tracks – that is, the cuddly, less paranoid, less ‘Knives Out’ Radiohead – but let’s not get hung up on that. Just give in, because this is lovely stuff.

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A Warm Reception is due out on 17 June.

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