The Stab – ‘Split Lips’

Did you know Melbourne’s The Stabs have been around for five freaking years?? Maybe we should be asking where the hell have I been instead of who the hell are The Stabs?? First things first, great name! Second thing, any band who describes their sound as “a car crashing into a kindergarten during nap time” is surely going to pierce your ear drums with something wild. I found them when checking out the bands that got the lucky gig supporting the Black Lips in Australia.

I’m really into this DYI garage trend that’s giving birth to some cool as fuck bands, in the UK but Australia too. These bands are sticking their fingers up at BIG record companies and just playing rock’n’roll. The Stab’s have just recorded their second album and in the past month done shows in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane and the States. Split Lips is as dirty as my grandfather’s feet yet as pop-smart as a 60’s garage classic.

www.myspace.com/thestabs 

Horsell Common – ‘Good From Afar, Far From Good’

Call me crazy, but I really think Horsell Common are a cut above the emo crust. The first single from their debut album, ‘Good From Afar’ has the hallmark Horsell emphasis on melody and movement. They are vigilant and vigorous in their songwriting, and the track is full of sharp edges but there are no dark corners, no accidental notes. Every moment is an avalanche.

www.myspace.com/horsellcommon

Mailer Daemon feat. Peach – ‘Keep on Movin (mixtape version)’

Sydney’s Mailer Daemon puts out competent remix after great remix (of artists like Red Riders, Lost Valentinos, Lions At Your Door); but then, so do a thousand other bedroom producers currently, and to be perfectly honest I’m kind of remix-fatigued.

His original stuff, luckily, is great too. Check this early version of ‘Keep on Movin’, featuring track-virgin (and erstwhile Sydney radio presenter/ lawyer) Peach, spitting often bizarre lyrics (“we stop for diet coke/ and then we keep on moving”) over a phat G-funk era bass-line. How great does that effected Star Wars cantina horn sound? Props also to Mailer Daemon’s Timbaland-esque cameo verse (ghost-wrote by Peach).

See, Oz Hip-Hop? You don’t always have to sound the same.

www.myspace.com/mlrdmn

Sia – ‘Day Too Soon (Lifelike remix)’

As promised in last week’s Sia post (and I don’t like to break promises), here’s her latest tune ‘Day Too Soon’ remixed by Parisian artist Lifelike. It’s got that French electro/house feel dripping off every reverb-soaked snare shot and phased synth chord, but how he’s heard the original and then come up with this is really something impressive.

http://www.myspace.com/siamusic
http://www.myspace.com/lifelikevulture

The Red Paintings – ‘We Belong In the Sea’

Known more for their outlandish costumes, interactive stage shows and grandiose publicity stunts, you may be surprised to find out that the eclectic (sorry, I know that’s the most overused term in journalism) Brisbane outfit The Red Paintings do in fact make music. They’ve just unveiled a decidedly subdued and stripped-back new single, ‘We Belong in the Sea’, just in time for Christmas.

After a run of mediocre EPs, Trash McSweeney and co. return with a sound more suited to their skills, rather than them trying to be an alternative rock band. The song survives solely on piano, cello and Trash’s fragile vocals, and when the drums kick in softly towards the end of the song it’s a nice payoff for the listener.

Always an interesting experience live, those in Brisbane can head along to the band’s Dr. Suess-themed The Grinch Who Stole Christmas show at The Tivoli Theatre on December 22. There’s an all-ages and an over-18s show. Sweet.

http://www.theredpaintings.com
http://www.myspace.com/theredpaintings

Sia – ‘I Go To Sleep’

Australia’s sultry expat Sia has, like many Aussie musicians, found more sucecss abroad than on home turf. It’s been a while since she released her own solo LP – the last being Colour the Small One in 2004 – but January 2008 will see her release her fourth solo record Some People Have REAL Problems.

The first single off the album is ‘Day Too Soon’ and there’s a sweet remix of that tune I’ll post up soon, but ‘I Go To Sleep’ is another taste from the forthcoming record and sees Sia chanelling Chrissie Amphlett in this lush reimagining of the Pretenders hit. Stirring strings and a soft piano melody are the perfect accompaniment to Sia’s distinctive husky, jazz vocal tones. Its dreamy, slow-paced aesthetic recalls much of the material off Colour the Small One and is quite faithful to the original, with the strings replacing the harpsichord and muted trumpet of The Pretenders version.

http://www.siamusic.net/
http://www.myspace.com/siamusic

The Evening Son – ‘One’

Newcastle’s a funny place. You can turn up at 6pm and find most of the city shut down… except for an Oportos in a back street, a restaurant that’ll only give you one serviette even when there’s clearly two people eating…

The whole of the NSW Central Coast seems to be populated by rock bands at the moment. Probably because there’s nothing else to do. The Evening Son are from the town that brought us such bands as Silverchair and… ummm, Silverchair. I’m having somewhat of a personal 90s musical revival (remember Nada Surf? Tripping Daisy? Primitive Radio Gods? yeah…) and The Evening Son pander to my current aural fixation.

I had forgotten that there was a time before pop-punk that rock bands weren’t too scared to play it slooooow, and grooooove, baby, groove. Stone Temple Pilots used to do it. So did Alice In Chains. And Pearl Jam too. And now the Evening Son are bringing back the rock. Awesome stuff.

http://www.myspace.com/theeveningson