Kitchen’s Floor is the sometimes-solo-sometimes-not project from Brisbane’s Matt Kennedy, who makes rough and ready garage tracks with depressing titles and surprising melodies. The latest one of these is ‘Bitter Defeat’.

The first thing you notice about this track is how gentle it is. There’s a soft jangle of tambourine, hazy keyboards, and simple acoustic guitar. Even Kennedy’s vocals are markedly less harsh under a heap of echoing effects. In Kitchen’s Floor’s previous LP, Look Forward To Nothing, there was (almost) always that thick layer of noise, heavy with loud and ugly guitar sounds to distract from the emotional centre of the song.

Here, there’s nothing but hopelessness, a bleak melancholy that never lets up for the entire 3 minutes of the track. But it’s also really great. This track makes you feel ‘something’ and that alone, is addictive. You want to listen to in on repeat while looking out at the ugly Brisbane skyline in your shitty share house that smells like cat piss. Or maybe that’s just me.

Get the track on a 7” with B-side Downed through Bandcamp.

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Kitchen’s Floor – ‘Bitter Defeat‘

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Do The Robot are Matt and Sarah Deasy, a Brisbane husband & wife duo who have spent years perfecting their brand of ambient shoegaze pop. ‘La Rondette’ is no exception; gentle keyboard notes float by from what feels like a million miles away, while the stuttering beats crack and echo in the foreground. At times the track feels cold and sparse, but it still draws you in with lush atmospherics. I don’t have a clue what Sarah Deasy is singing about, but a feeling of longing and isolation comes through loud and clear in her soft, wistful vocals. This is an understated but beautiful track, and I especially like the way the band haven’t sacrificed subtlety for empty drama.

Do The Robot release their new album Midnight Mirage later this month.

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Do The Robot – ‘La Rondette’

Facebook / Bandcamp

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Go Violets are a Brisbane four-piece who have been gathering steam steadily over the past year with their solid mix of ‘60s pop smarts and ‘90s snark. ‘Teenager’ is their latest single, and it pretty much perfectly captures the nervous rush of a teenage crush. Phoebe Imhoff can’t get the words out fast enough in the verses, which builds up this great wanna-sing-into-my-hairbrush excitement. A catchy track from the bass intro until the last breathy lyric, well worth checking out.

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Texas Tea – ‘Head Says Yes (Heart Says No)’ (mp3)

Texas Tea are Brisbane’s classiest exponents of heartfelt, country pop tunes. Their latest single ‘Head Says Yes (Heart Says No)’ is a cautionary tale, which advises against over thinking affairs of the heart, cause what’s the worst that could happen? Though I don’t know how wise this advice is, the track itself is a definite winner. It kicks off simply with twangy guitar and Kate Jacobson’s commanding voice, before the chorus brings kicks in and the song becomes a lush alt country ballad; complete with ’60s style backing vocals.

If you’re in Brisbane, catch Texas Tea launching this song on…(wait for it)…CASSINGLE, Friday August 17 at The Blackbear Lodge.

www.facebook.com/texasteamusic

www.texastea.bandcamp.com

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The Majors – ‘Hello Columbo’ (mp3)

The Majors’ Facebook page describes them as ‘Brisbane’s fourth best calypso band’ (yeah, you didn’t know we had such happening scene down here did you?), but they’re actually a lot closer to our best garage soul pop group. If I was writing for The MX or something, I might say “It’s a MYSTERY why ‘HELLO COLUMBO’ isn’t already a hit” (cause Columbo’s a detective, see…) but luckily I’m not, so I can just tell you how undeniably excellent this track is. With ringing, melancholy guitar and naive lyrics delivered in a voice of complete world weariness by James Boyd, topped off with science fiction keyboards, this is a layered and emotional song that demands repeat listens.

themajorsparty.bandcamp.com

The Majors Facebook

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