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.
Terry are back with another bundle of joy. Terry are Amy Hill (also of Constant Mongrel, School Of Radiant Living), Xanthe Waite (Mick Harvey Band, Primo), Zephyr Pavey (Eastlink, Total Control, Russell St Bombings) and Al Montfort (UV Race, Dick Diver, Total Control). Guitars, bass, drums, all four sing. New album I’m Terry is like a mix of minimal and childlike indie pop and an obscure post punk album from 1979.
Have I been able to contain my excitement over the new Terry LP? Not quite. The band’s on a streak, with two great LPs under their belts already. The third LP shows no signs of flagging as they continue to mine a strain of post-punk peppered with twang and salt n’ honey harmonies that are soothing yet unpolished. The band let loose one of the album’s most ecstatic singles, “The Whip,” a few weeks back and now they follow it up with the cooler-headed “Bureau,” a stunner in its own right.
Terry’s strength lies in an ability to push past any of the well-worn ruts of post-punk. They’re embracing the ethos of bands who were set free to run dub and punk and pop together into a caustic clash, but they’re not tied down to the set of stencils that so many modern makers seem to use.
This is the 3rd album from this Melbourne group, maintaining the high melodic standards but some of the songs are a bit longer and the atmospheres are a bit darker at times.
They pair the new song with a grit n’ glare video that’s transportation heavy – grabbing the ‘70s aesthetics and pushing them through a DIY filter. Its all good fun and serves to further the excitement for the Upset The Rhythm release of I’m Terry at the end of the month. If you’re in the UK, they’re even trotting the show out live (lucky bastards) so hit that up to see how these songs shake out in the room.
Think a mix of Beat Happening, The Mo-Dettes and The Television Personalties.
‘Oh Helen’ is taken from TERRY’s brand new, third album ‘I’m Terry’, coming out August 31st through Upset The Rhythm.
Primo are Xanthe Waite, Violetta DelConte Race and Suzanne Walker. As a trio from Melbourne writing up-tempo, terse chorus and verse, Primo make use of two guitars, drums, sound effects and a group vocal sensibility to ornament their enquiries into deconstructed punk and indie rock. Their songs chime and charm, sounding at times bountiful, at others brittle, always buoyant with attention to detail.
‘Amici’ is Primo’s debut album, following on from their split 7” last year and a cassette of early work entitled ‘Primo Cassetto’ from 2016 on Hidiotic. ‘Amici’ was recorded and mixed by friend Al Montfort through 2017. The collected songs reference the 40-hour working week, the city, bureaucracy, walking, a mirage and a ghost. In form the songs are short and purposeful, “leaving footsteps in the snow” much like the protagonist of their wistful invocation to ‘Daphne’.
A sense of haste and motion is imbued through Primo’s songs, linking up with the album’s lyrical themes of acute observation, mindful conservancy and the dislocated meaning behind modern life. “Got the paper, got the pen, got the deadline, in the line, out of traffic, got the stapler” they sing united on ‘Future’. ‘Bronte Blues’ is a similar rapid tumble of melody and problem solving, detonated by the line “you’re a magnetic strip, living on borrowed chips”. The vocal clarity of these tracks place Primo promptly in our own heads, the band’s intriguing lyrics springing forth like our very own flights of fancy. There’s an honesty and emotional distance at play in these songs too, with their instructions, lists and procedures leaking into our semblance of self. “Tell me more, tell me more” voice the band throughout ‘Disco Eyeballs’. The quest to lucidly understand underpins the whole record.
Primo take you from A-to-B with their songs, from the appetite of another place to the bird’s eye view. ‘Family Dinner Club’ deals with anonymity and suburbia, whilst ‘Ticking Off A List’ admits “there’s a fogginess to some beauty, you look outside, I can’t know what you see” before urging us to take to the footpath. ‘You’ve Got A Million’ races all over town, whilst ‘Closed Tomorrow’ talks of a “a car going by, one day out of life, going home or to another man-made space”. These songs are alive and inquisitive, chasing down questions for answers long sped-away, amidst minimalist shuffle beats and ringing-out chords. ‘Amici’ is a triumph of the underplayed, its small details pull focus, allowing the album to treat us to unexpected truths in plain sight.
Primo’s newest member since 2018 is Amy Hill, who also plays in Terry and Constant Mongrel, on bass. Outside of Primo, Xanthe and Violetta have both lent their guitar skills to Terry and The Shifters respectively, whilst Suzanne works in film too. The band’s debut album ‘Amici’ will be released as LP and CD on Upset The Rhythm on July 13th and followed up in August with a European tour.
This LP is, a ripper. Perfect from start to finish with it’s jangly sounds and melodies, but still with a fair bit of an edge to it. It’s hard not to listen to it all in the one sitting, though at only 22 and a half minutes you pretty much can anyway. The short length of the album is the only fault I can find, and Chitter Chatter is the standout track. was among my Top 100 Albums Of 2016 .
Terry is the bastard child of everything great about Australian post-punk and for lack of a better word ‘slacker’ rock. Live they become something even more powerful. A true cult classic
TERRY a band from Melbourne, Australia. Divide him in half and you split the genders, into quarters and you get Amy Hill (also of Constant Mongrel, School Of Radiant Living), Xanthe Waite (Mick Harvey Band, 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 two EPs and a full length album (‘Terry HQ’) last year on Upset The Rhythm Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 