Posts Tagged ‘Mark Monnone’

MONNONE ALONE – ” Cut Knuckle “

Posted: October 29, 2018 in MUSIC
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Released in association with our friends at Lost and Lonesome in Melbourne Australia. Monnone Alone is Mark Monnone (formerly of The Lucksmiths) with an assorted cast of friends, buddies, pals, cronies, deadbeats, etc. He is also AUSTRALIAN-FINNISH and visited our studio in HANKO during the summer!

Since settling on a solid line-up of Joe Foley (Aleks & the Ramps), Louis Richter (Mid-State Orange) and Gus Franklin (Architecture in Helsinki, The Smallgoods) the once solo Monnone Alone is now anything but. Though still deeply laden with Monnone’s signature indiepop warble, the band step off in a new direction on ‘Cut Knuckle’, leading the charge on their forthcoming second album Summer of the Mosquito, ‘Cut Knuckle’ is the first single to come from the outfit since 2013’s well-received debut LP Together at Last. Weighing in at just over two-and-a-half minutes, the snappy indiepop banger is a loaded amalgamation of the group’s broad stylistic influences from Hoodoo Gurus to The Kinks; Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls to Television Personalities, yet holds Monnone’s winsome turn-of-phrase and bruised-but-beautiful melody central to its unique core.

First single from Monnone Alone’s second album Summer of the Mosquito, out in 2019.

The Band

Mark Monnone – vocals and guitar Gus Franklin – drums and backing vocals Joe Foley – bass and backing vocals Louis Richter – 12-string

The LAST LEAVES – ” Other Towns Than Ours “

Posted: October 14, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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A few years after the break-up of much-loved Australian indie stalwarts The Lucksmiths, three quarters of the band quietly got together again as Last Leaves. With songwriter and guitarist Marty Donald assuming vocal duties alongside longtime collaborators Louis Richter (guitar) and Mark Monnone (bass), and joined by drummer extraordinaire Noah Symons (Great Earthquake), they began work on a body of songs that – a few years later again – finally finds release in their remarkable debut album ‘Other Towns Than Ours’ .

It’s been worth the wait. The ten songs here showcase a band already at the top of its game, from the perfect fuzz pop of first single ‘The World We Had’ and the irrepressible jangle of ‘Something Falls’ to darker moments like mesmeric closer ‘Where I Lived and What I Lived For’ and the downbeat Silver Jews swagger of ‘The Nights You Drove Me Home’ (“the past is just a single-star motel/It’s nowhere you should dwell/A room to rest awhile”).

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Sounding like a lost classic from the Summershine imprint, second single ‘The Hinterland’ recounts a country convalescence: “From an upstairs window at your parents’ place/You saw the sun set where the highway cuts across the hinterland/Tail-lights fading in the twilight/It was more than you could stand.” Meanwhile, the off kilter, psychedelic-tinged country-soul(!) of ‘Third Thoughts’ finds cause for a lover’s lament in the glimpse of a road afforded by a newly fallen tree, and ‘Other Rivers’ showcases some impressive guitar work that will surely please the most zealous Lucksmiths fan.

Musically, Last Leaves is an altogether different beast from their previous band, Symons’ ever-inventive drumming and Monnone’s sinuous basslines underpinning melancholic melodies, and Richter’s guitar veering from fragile to ferocious, often in the course of one song.

The album was recorded by UK producer Gareth Parton (Foals, The Go! Team) over the course of almost three years, between Melbourne’s inner-northern suburbs and the band’s base in the hills to the east of the city. Donald’s move there some years ago is reflected in the satellite towns, country roads and mountainside motels of ‘Other Towns Than Ours’; as ever, a profound sense of place remains central to his songwriting.

The album is available on LP, CD, and digital download and is co-released with the Lost and Lonesome Recording Company of Australia so please support your local label. The official release is October 20th,