Posts Tagged ‘Melbourne’

GIRLATONES – ” Horn If You’re Honky “

Posted: March 23, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Girlatones play their own brand of garage-pop injected with unique lyrical humour and sincerity, drawing you into their upbeat and inclusive world. Swoonsome Melbourne four-piece Girlatones are set to release their new album “Horn if You’re Honky”, out March 20th.

Following the unabashed garage pop of first album Fitting in Well (2017), Jesse Williams and crew have refined their DiY production chops and crafted an album that is rich in sonic layers and emotional depth, whilst remaining loose at the edges like all the best pop music.

First single, the piano-led ballad ‘Get to the End’, displayed a more melancholic, introspective side to Girlatones but the band struck back for second single, ‘We Respond to Love’ a one-minute-fifty-second slice of pop bliss that was described by blog Austin Town Hall as “shimmering like some of the best power-pop you’re likely to hear this day, or ever”.

Impending third single ‘Bingo Level Humour’ takes an altogether different path – one perhaps led by Paul McCartney and a parade of marching drummers, spouting quirky one-liners.

Elsewhere on the album, we hear some baroque strings on Jesse’s ode to solitary creativity ‘To Sing’, while instrumentation gets stripped back to a 12-string acoustic on the tender ‘2 Young 2 Forget’. But the big bubblegum feels are never far away, as heard on songs like ‘One Chord Too Many’, ‘Pop Stars’ and ‘The Saddest Synth’.

Regular gig-goers in Melbourne will have been hard-pressed to miss a Girlatones show in the past few years, the band playing regularly at pubs, clubs and small festivals, with band members also doing the rounds in other outfits like Traffik Island, Way Dynamic and Baby Blue. Not to mention one quarter of the band is Leah Senior whose beguiling folk tunes have been winning hearts all over Australia and overseas.

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Jesse Williams – Vocals, Guitar,
Leah Senior – Vocals, Guitar,
Tam Matlakowski – Bass,
Fabian Hunter Shaw – Drums

“Horn if You’re Honky” by Girlatones is out March 20th on Lost And Lonesome in Australia and Meritorio Records of Spain.

CHASTITY BELT – LOOSE TOOTH – ” The Process / Lonely “

Posted: March 19, 2020 in MUSIC
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Chastity Belt and Melbourne band Loose Tooth have shared a “digital split single” featuring new material from both acts: Chastity Belt’s A Side “The Process” and Loose Tooth’s B side “Lonely.”

Fifty percent of Bandcamp sales for either track will benefit Australian wildfire relief efforts, specifically the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities and the Country Fire Authority.

Of “The Process,” Chastity Belt songwriter Lydia Lund explains, “The lyrics came later and are a sort of reminder of the way self-criticism can compound. When I’m in that critical state of mind, I try to suspend judgement for that current state and I find it reassuring to remember that it’s temporary – a process.”

As for “Lonely.” Loose Tooth says, “We wrote ‘Lonely’ at the end of 2019. It is about an experience we witnessed when we were teenagers. #MeToo brought up a lot of realizations for many people, and for us; thinking back to us as young and vulnerable women, finishing high school and feeling invincible; we didn’t realize that we could be taken advantage of by predatory and powerful men. ‘Lonely’ is about the power dynamics and manipulation of these relationships, and the lasting cycle of trauma that they can bring.”

released January 31st, 2020

Swept together from the ashes of your finest night on the tiles, Loose Tooth are a Melbourne three-piece who craft sweet guitar pop with frayed edges.

“Everything Changes unspools like your standard low-slung churner in the manner of The Velvet Underground, but Loose Tooth make it interesting with both sweetened female vocals and a surreal, hot-boxed atmosphere.

SWEET WHIRL – ” How Much Works “

Posted: March 16, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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How Much Works

Esther Edquist is Melbourne artist Sweet Whirl. She is also one of the best songwriters you have heard in a very long time. 

“How Much Works” is her debut album proper, after a handful of releases acclaimed by the likes of Gorilla Vs Bear, The Guardian and Clash Magazine. How Much Works arrives fully formed, a classic ten song album from an artist with both a command of history and a drive for new expression.

The album is a beautifully crafted triumph over bleak moments. It’s the love-addled confessions of a seasoned party girl, romantic yet sardonic, a troubadour who sings of the heart with a knowing sense of the timeless victory of song. Esther dissects experiences with wit and depth, emerging as a powerful, indomitable voice.

Musically and lyrically, How Much Works draws on wells as deep as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Sheryl Crow. It distills personal, reflexive narratives into something universal and wondrous.

Esther plays almost everything on the album, with guitar and therevox from engineer Casey Hartnett (Sui Zhen, Sleep Decade) and drums from Monty Hartnett (Dreamin Wild, Sleep Decade). Fellow Chapter Music recording artist Gregor contributes backing vocals to Make That Up For Me and Conga Line.

Esther has previously served in Melbourne duo Superstar, who released two delay-drenched albums during the mid10s. She has also been a member of Scott & Charlene’s Wedding.

EL TEE – ” Keep Walking “

Posted: March 9, 2020 in MUSIC
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Stuck in limbo between wanting closure and never getting it, ‘Keep Walking’ begs you to look inward and move on. It poses the tough questions of vulnerability with the risk of leaving them unanswered: Why do we stick around for those who don’t deserve it? Why are we ashamed of how we feel? Why is it so difficult for others to confront their own emotions? ‘Keep Walking’ captures the frustration of having to do all the emotional labour alone. It’s an inner monologue, a solitary debate between rational and reality and how to resolve the unresolved. And yet it always comes back to a simple conclusion: trust your gut, and trust yourself.” – El Tee
Written by Lauren Tarver

RVG – ” I Used To Love You “

Posted: February 25, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Melbourne’s RVG return with their highly anticipated second album, “Feral”.

Following their beloved 2017 debut ‘A Quality of Mercy’, RVG perform the tricky alchemy of combining rock’s urgency, punk’s anarchy, and pop’s empathy to create a record that feels vital: Feral is a catharsis, a call to arms, and a forthright indictment of contemporary complacency. ‘Feral’ was recorded at Head Gap studios with producer Victor Van Vugt (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Beth Orton).

Internationally renowned, Van Vugt currently resides in Berlin, Germany and travelled to Melbourne to work with RVG. One of the producer’s key tenets is a sense of spontaneity, of capturing the essence of a song’s live performance, a concern that RVG prize above all else when recording, RVG return with new single “I Used To Love You” from their highly anticipated second album. RVG perform the tricky alchemy of combining rock’s urgency, punk’s anarchy, and pop’s empathy. A goodbye that’s devasting in its simplicity, ‘I Used to Love You’ is shattering, potent and powerful. Simple and sincere, the track breathes through the pain. “There’s a lot of power in reclaiming yourself but also a lot of sadness. I adore Tom’s video and feel like it captures the energy of the song perfectly.” Romy explains.

The band recorded the album’s instrumentals live to track, allowing their playing to be infused with the kind of electricity that has seen the band’s live show lauded across Australia and internationally.

‘Feral’ is RVG’s first full-length release in three years and marks the beginning of an exhilarating new era for the band. Both a cry for help and a call to action, this is an album that demands your attention.

RVG is Romy Vager, Reuben Bloxham and Marc Nolte.

From RVG’s new album ‘Feral’ (out 24 April 2020),

TERRY – ” Take The Cellphone “

Posted: February 24, 2020 in MUSIC
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TERRY is a band from Australia. Divide Terry in half and you split the genders, into quarters and you get Amy Hill (also of Constant Mongrel, School Of Radiant Living, Primo), Xanthe Waite (Primo), Zephyr Pavey (Eastlink, Total Control, Russell St Bombings) and Al Montfort (UV Race, Dick Diver, Total Control). Guitars, bass, drums, all four sing. Terry are busy people and Terry is a particularly active project too, having released three EPs, three albums and conducted three European tours with the help of London’s Upset! The Rhythm before having a crack at the American market with this spiffy single for Sub Pop Singles Club subscribers.

Terry’s new single “Take the Cellphone” b/w “ Debt and Deficit Disaster ” (Release Date: February 24th, 2020) is available now on all streaming services and is a part of the latest edition of the iconic Sub Pop Singles Club series.

HTRK – ” Venus in Leo “

Posted: February 22, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The fourth album from HTRK, the duo of Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang, arrives five years on from 2014’s Psychic 9-5 Club. While some much-loved HTRK hallmarks remain—the combination of space and intimacy, the unmistakable interplay between Yang’s guitars and Standish’s vocals—“Venus in Leo” differs markedly in its energy, returning to HTRK’s underground rock past with the stylistic playfulness and variety of a modern mixtape.

Over the soft strums of acoustic guitar, the album’s introduction, “Into the Drama,” posits a theory that “what was once considered self-sabotage could be revisited as being under the influence of Venus in Leo,” Standish explains. Finger-picked guitar loops rise slowly and fall over a cold, brittle beat. Previously released lovesong “Mentions” finds Standish exploring the lack of physical intimacy in the social media age. Elsewhere, there are emotional highs, like on the kaleidoscopic single “You Know How to Make Me Happy,” which details a suspended state of ecstasy, Standish commending her partner’s conscious efforts to prop her up with compliments. “New Year’s Day” traces a flimsy resolution to get healthier, instantly busted by an evening of debauchery, recalling “the worst possible start to the year with bad friends and bad behavior.” The silver lining is the sunrise: “pink, red, orange, white, peach” Standish repeats as the track laps with a velvety, hypnotic refrain.

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Archetypal themes emerge as the band explore the makings of personality. Standish revisits her childhood home in a recurring dream (“Dream Symbol”), a doomed first kiss (“New Year’s Eve”) and high drama (“Venus in Leo”). Recorded more or less live in HTRK’s home studio in the Dandenong Ranges outside of Melbourne, the album’s simple production reveals gorgeous, toned-back arrangements and an evolving, idiosyncratic songcraft.

It’s been ten years since HTRK released their breakthrough first album, Marry Me Tonight. The band has undergone profound changes, with the first two albums released amid the deaths of close friend and collaborator Rowland S. Howard and HTRK co-founder Sean Stewart. Psychic 9-5 Club set them on a path of self-discovery, and Venus in Leo marks a spirited new chapter by one of the most distinctive bands of the past decade.

released August 30th, 2019

VARIOUS ARTISTS – ” Truckload Of Sky – the lost songs of David McComb Vol1 ” ( The Triffids )

Posted: February 6, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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On Monday, February 17th, to mark the occasion of David McComb’s birthday and the release of “Truckload Of Sky: The Lost Songs of David McComb Vol 1”, Rob Snarski, Romy Vager, Alex Gow, Robert McComb, Phil Kakulas, Graham Lee and Bruce Haymes will be performing an intimate acoustic, performance. 
This event will be taking place on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present, and we acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

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Releases February 17th, 2020

The STROPPIES – ” The Stroppies “

Posted: January 30, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Starting out as a recording project between Angus Lord, Claudia Serfaty and Stephanie Hughes, the germ of what would eventually become the Stroppies was formed around a kitchen table in Melbourne’s inner west early 2016. The initial idea was to create open ended music, collaged quickly and haphazardly together on a Tascam 4 track Portastudio that drew on stream of consciousness creativity and a DIY attitude a la Guided By Voices and The Great Unwashed. The desire to move beyond the pre programmed drum patterns available on their Casio Keyboard led to the addition of Rory Heane on drums and a more conventional band dynamic.

In Late 2016, Alex Macfarlane recorded the band in their lounge room direct to 4 track, capturing 7 songs that would become their 2017 self titled cassette tape debut. The songs were bounced back and forth from tape machine to computer to tape machine to computer again. In keeping with the bands initial aesthetic, dubs were laid over a 4 month period incrementally on different devices as members had babies, explored intercontinental love affairs and set up homes together. Since the release of the tape, Adam Hewwit has joined the group on third guitar as they settle down into exploring the new band dynamic and focus on their next recording project.

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The Stroppies is composed of members of many Melbourne and UK bands (Claudia is originally from London) including Dick Diver, Primetime, Possible Humans, White Walls, Boomgates, The Stevens, See/Saw to name a few. They make modest, idiosyncratic pop songs that reward with repeated listening.

Released October 27th, 2017

ANNA CORDELL – ” Nobody Knows Us “

Posted: January 22, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Melbourne singer Anna Cordell plays tender yet deceptively complex folk music that belies a
childhood spent her childhood learning the piano, guitar and musical theory. Her voice is rich and warm yet lyrically her music is filled with angst and conflict, a emotional impact heightened by her penchant for the minor key.

Next month will see the Melbourne based artist Anna Cordell release her long awaited and much anticipated debut album “Nobody Knows Us”. Having shared its first two singles, the subtle drama of ‘You’ and the spiritual title track late last year, she now shares the earnest and vexed third, ‘Tried So Hard’. Musically, a delicate underlying drift carries the song’s slow burning dynamic forward tracing both its contemplative subject matter and Cordell’s intimate and emotively inflected vocal as it oscillates between the breathily philosophical to the angelically quizzical. She explains the meaning behind of the track thus;

“It’s (about) asking for love in the face of different ways of seeing the world, a song that grapples with the insecurities so many of us have in understanding our capacity to love and be loved.”

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As far as debut album’s go, Nobody Knows Us comes via rather unconventional means. It’s one where Cordell’s lived experiences and long, albeit fragmented, symbiotic relationship with music palpably shines. Few artists releasing their debut album would have a backstory that involved quitting music for a decade, having and raising five children, and forging out a career and successful boutique label in another artistic endeavour — fashion design. At the same time, few artists could end up making a debut this thematically mature and delicately nuanced with such an un-guardedly honest self awareness.

Listen to ‘Tried so Hard’ will be self released on February 14th. the forthcoming album, ‘Nobody Knows Us’, 

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