The Citradels are a band of Melbournites who defy time and space. Sitars, handheld shakers, rattlers and rollers, open-D fuzz jams and unstoppable feedback driven 3 guitar odysseys that force unwary listeners to stare deeply into the depths of an infinite nothingness, The Citradels make some of the darkest, most intense drone music I’ve heard in a long time and makeThe Black Angels look like a pop group. “Droned and Rethroned” is the latest release from the Geelong five piece, drawing on all the regular spaced out influences from The Velvet Underground to the jesus and Mary Chain.
Drone music uses the interplay of different musical tones and timbres to create interesting music. In doing so, it fervently avoids things like key changes, melodic riffing or even chord changes in some instances. This means that listening to a drone album is like stepping into a black hole – the lack of chorus-verse-chorus structure makes it impossible to understand fully how long the album has been spinning. After what seemed like an hour of listening time, I realised that I had only reached track three – about 15 minutes into the album.
The band have been launching their LP relentlessly all over the east coast and have already cracked out the 12 string acoustics, the teardrops and the sitars to start production on their fourth album. If you’re into prolific psych jams, check em out and pay some money for their album
White Bleaches – Bad Character, recorded in Melbourne by Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard & the Lizzard Wizzard) and mastered by Dean Whitby (Drunk mums) and Anthony Lacarruba: We came to be about four to five months ago when we recorded a few songs with Stu from King Gizzard, we originally had another band but the sound changed and kind of went in a new direction so we thought we’d start fresh in a new band with some new songs
Melbourne five piece The Murlocsare in the midst of perhaps their biggest year yet. From the earlier release of their breakthrough single “Adolescence”, the band toured the country, bringing their bluesy-psych rock tunes with them. Admittedly, I listened because of their connections with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, but from the first song I heard any comparison in my mind was dismissed immediately.
The band have supported Ty Segall, Mac DeMarco and of course their brethern King Gizz, and their live show has grown into an all out jam you can’t help but dance to. From their earnest and relatable lyrics, blues sensibilities and lead singer Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s attention grabbing voice and second to none harmonica skills, they have quickly become a force to be reckoned with in Australia, and one of my favourite bands to try and catch live.
Whilst the Murlocs were on their Adolescencetour, the quintet dropped in at our Bedlam Records to do a live take of the track, and now have the first look at that performance! Considering they’re now taking a bit of time off until the end of the year after performing at each leg of King Gizzard’s Gizzfest, the live video is even more special. jump on their album Loopholes out now and keep your eyes firmly fixed on The Murlocs – I am predicting even bigger things to come!
Melbourne folk talent Anna Cordell is today sharing the track by track for her stunning new debut EP “These Walls. Following on from her warmly received debut single ‘I’ll Wait Here’ These Walls was produced by Dave Manton (LULUC, Gossling, Matt Walker). Since 2013 Anna Cordell has been fine tuning her craft, playing shows all over town, and her new stunning stripped back five track release takes the listener through Anna’s undeniable talent for crafting some of the most moving and enthralling folk tunes we’ve heard all year.
MICHAEL This song is inspired something what my grandfather taught as a child. He was a firm believer in logic and philosophy, but also a man with deep faith. He would teach me maths and geography, and almost in the same breath teach me that every human had a guardian, a spirit who watches over them… and that if we ask we can know their names. It stuck with me partly because I was baffled…even as a kid I doubted it. But there’s always this little part of me left wondering.
NOW I KNOW Originally written as I mused on the mistakes I made early in my relationship, this song has grown since and taken on a broader meaning… there are so many regrets we can all have, sometimes the song becomes a spiritual/ sacramental kind of thing which allows me to sing it with purpose forever really because, being your average human I’ll always have some mistake to be sorry for!
RUN AROUND This just poured out. It sums up how I felt in that very moment… overwhelmed, knowing I need to stop, slow down, but keeping busy so I didn’t have to think. It’s about getting caught up in busy-ness as a drug, as a distraction from these deep feelings of hopelessness or failure. Our society has glorified it and I am a victim of the false idea of busy as a virture. You end up missing so much, and I know that, but it’s addiction, it’s not so easy to get out of. This song is kind of venting that self- frustration I suppose.
BLUE ROSE I wrote this when I knew a friend was going through something deeply painful, but I wasn’t meant to know, so I was forced to go on with the pretense that everything was fine. When I first wrote this I was singing it to her. Now, sometimes I sing it to myself, or my daughter, or my ailing grandmother or anyone who feels invisible. Its taken on a life of its own.
THESE WALLS This is also about my Grandfather. At 17 I was living with my grandparents when he died. He was my father figure. It’s written from my Grandmothers position though, I went on living with her after he died and I saw the yearning she had for him through her grief which has lasted to this day. Like him however, she has this incredible faith in the fact that they will meet again and that hope has completely dispelled her own fear of dying.
‘THESE WALLS’ EP will be availableSaturday 29th August
Melbourne’s most popular (and prolific) psychedelic exports are back with their sixth studio album, “Quarters!”
First up, a quick look at the track listing intriguingly shows that all 4 songs are exactly 10:10 minutes each… and similar to “I’m in Your Mind Fuzz”, which charged along with song after song that bled from one to the other, it appears that King Gizzard have come up with another concept album.
“The River” Is a bit of a casual waltz accompanied by some light washy drums that tap along throughout, and while it does go for a lengthy amount of time it never once becomes tedious. A funk-like strum from a bright guitar sets the pace, and also gives the song a slightly syncopated rhythm. But it’s the singer’s vocals which roll along in harmony to playful little guitar trills, that also remind me a little of folk inspired prog rock artists like Jethro Tull or early Genesis: with a voice that gently raises in accentuation as the chorus tumbles out in playful iambic pentameter.
This opening track briskly moves forward with purpose and never falls into the trap that many psych epics often do, which usually involves overindulging in unnecessary long solos drowned in pedal effects. Or in the case of some prog rock bands: stumbling upon a newly discovered rhythm and then fixating on it to the point where it sounds like they’re just teasing out all the various combinations, through the process of elimination. In that sense, “The River” doesn’t feel like the band have just recorded a jam session in the short space between albums. Instead it sounds to me like they’ve gone into this one with a vision and then meticulously pieced it all together. Even though it still retains the usual feeling of spontaneity (to be expected from the unpredictable King Gizzard), it’s the little touches like a gentle bongo roll, or the howl of a harmonica that really give the songs depth and hint that it’s all been thoughtfully planned out.
Come track two and King Gizzard return to a familiar spacey-sitar sound reminiscent of the song “Float Along – Fill your Lungs”, as well as a lazy little guitar twang straight from “Eyes like the Sky”. As soon as the song begins the listener is slowly lifted up by the rising of a Shepard’s tone, and then sprinkled throughout the rest of the track lay little sound effects such as the ringing of a cash register, the crying of a baby, or neighing of a horse. These little inserts could have easily smothered the song by giving it the appearance of being too ‘busy’, but each is tucked so neatly and carefully, one after the other, that it never gets to the point where it overwhelms, instead working well by adding more character to the song.
Consistent throughout the album is the soft gentle volume at which it is presented. This almost feels like it has been done to lift the singer’s intentionally strained voice which whispers indifferent ramblings of cryptic verse. In “God is in the Rhythm” the breakdowns really calm the mood in the style of a 50’s slow dance, whereby each instrument is gradually stripped down one at a time to the point t,where he song feels like it’s going to fade out and disappear, before the strum of the guitar sweeps back in, and the song returns in full swing.
After having made your way through most of the album and to the last track, King Gizzard finishes “Quarters!” with an audible trip of the psychedelic fare most have come to know them for. Overall this song exudes a Doors like vibe, but it’s the guitar effects that remind me very much of Vincent Bell’s – Soundtronic with that “watery sound” he managed to squeeze out with his custom-made line of electric sitars, and it just goes to show King Gizzard have an an almost inexhaustible bag of new tricks always at the ready.
In just over a year King Gizzard have now released four full length albums including this one, and it’s just now that I’ve come to realise that each has been a spontaneous attempt to bravely let loose their collective creativity, without feeling the need to cater to any specific sound. The fact that seven members have managed to co-ordinate themselves to produce four totally different and unique albums in such a short space of time is a feat in itself, but to do so, and still come up with something vibrant, yet coherent is even more amazing.
For me the exciting thing about a new King Gizzard album is knowing that another completely different one is likely just a few more months away, since I get the impression that the band is incapable of settling on any one ‘sound’. Although this album appears to be quite subdued, it is by no means lacking in any respect. In fact, I think King Gizzard are showing a little bit more maturity and direction with “Quarters!” So if you’re after a high energy album, then it’s probably best you give this one a miss for now and check out “I’m in Your Mind Fuzz” instead. But if you’re looking for something a bit more low key, yet also more involved than your average ambient background music, then “Quarters!” has enough playfulness to keep you interested for a while yet.
Shouty yet paradoxically whispery, angular blasts and withstop/start rhythms: these are the very unique sounds of Darts, another band coming out of the excellent music scene in Melbourne in Australia. It is easy and to some degree useful to compare this band to The Pixies – there are many similarities in the slightly unhinged delivery and unexpected turns – but the band delivers their own brand of eclectic noise pop that to my mind makes them one of the most interesting new bands around.
New release off the album, Aeroplane, seduces one into thinking the band treads the well worn low-fi tracks of bands like Dinosaur Jnr or Silversun Pickups – it is a smooth flowing indie standard with great hooks and an enigmatic slightly foreboding video clip:
Melbourne shoe-gaze/ psych rockers Flyying Colours have just set off on a UK and European tour this May to tour in support of the forthcoming EP ROYGBIV. available on AC30 Records of which they will have on tour with them for sale
While there the band will be performing as part of Great Escape and Primavera Sound Festivals, and supporting their Russian label mates Pinkshinyultrablast, as well as doing their own headline launch shows across Europe. Before they left, the band released the impressive shoegaze dream of a track called ‘Running Time’ and now with the help of directed By Thomas Russell they’ve produced the stunning video accompaniment.
The wonderful sound of guitars from Australian band FLYYING COLOURS and their first EP, please check them out on bandcamp and http://www.flyyingcolours.com, the band’s guitarist Brodie J Brümmer has said before they slay the UK.
Their music inspired by so much, everything really. It’s pretty obviously 90s shoegaze, psych and grunge stuff, pop music…we listen to everything. For me Nirvana, Sonic Youth and MBV really taught me how I wanted to play guitar.”
We were ready to tour UK/Europe with our new release so it was perfect timing. Our tour schedule is pretty full on, we have 10 UK shows in 12 days once we arrive – so [all they have planned] probably playing a lot of music.”
We are playing a heap of shows with our club ac30 label mates Pinkshinyultrablast who I’m super excited to see. Also No Joy and Cheatahs are playing a show together at the same venue the night after we play in London so we will definitely see that. Oh and the Primavera Festival lineup is pretty excellent. And of co
urse we get to see RIDE!”
check out other Australan bands like the obviously Hollow Everdaze, Hideous Towns and VHS Dream who we are playing our last Australian show with. The Melbourne psych/shoegaze scene is killer.”
With his violent shock of vertical curls, three-piece suit and excitable roguish charm, Fraser A Gorman cuts a striking figure. Similarly, the music the 23-year-old Melbourne-based singer-songwriter makes stands out amidst any scene or sound. Fraser was born in Torquay, a suburban outpost of Geelong, the large coastal city an hour’s drive from his relocated Melbourne digs. The high-school year below his pal Stu Moore from King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Geelong is the sometime home to much of Australia’s motor industry, and like its American cousin Detroit has become something of a hot-bed for talented young ne’er-do-wells without much else to keep them out of trouble. Like most aspiring Geelong creatives, Fraser eventually migrated to Victoria’s cooler capital city.
Indeed, Melbourne’s been responsible for an undeniable wealth of recent great guitar music in its many twisted, bleary-eyed forms, with Fraser representing the latest in this impressive legacy.
Fraser has the guitar, writing book and sings his little beating heart out……..
New single ‘Book of Love’
Shoe-gaze/ psych rockers Flyying Colours are getting set to jet off to the UK and Europe this May to tour in support of the forthcoming EP “ROYGBIV”. While there the band will be performing as part of Great Escape and Primavera Sound Festivals, and supporting their Russian label mates Pinkshinyultrablast, as well as doing their own headline launch shows across Europe.
For those uninitiated, the Melbourne four piece have received their fair share of acclaim in the past few months, including respected UK music loggers and magazines the band’s new single ‘Running Late’ a “gorgeous piece of music”. The single was the first taste from their EP titled ROYGBIV, which will have a worldwide release with the band recently signing to Club ac30 in the UK/Europe, Shelflife in the US and Vinyl Junkie in Japan.
urse we get to see RIDE!”
The Fat Angel Sings 