Fawning From A Safer Spot

I only heard of York trio Fawn Spots when I heard their side of the split release they did with Scott & Charlene's Wedding last year - and I really liked what I saw. I'm also a massive fan of comedian Stewart Lee, so when I heard him compare them to Husker Du and Guided By Voices, I was in. From Safer Place is their debut record (out through Critical Heights earlier in the year). It’s a funny one. Not funny haha; not even funny peculiar. It’s just that I have had this album since February, and have listened to it a fair bit on and off since that time. It isn’t as melodic as I was anticipating – there is more angular attack and vitriolic caterwauling here that at times comes to be overbearing (even if the album only scraps over the thirty minute mark). It’s that mixture of …Trail of Dead freneticism and Thrice post-hardcore earnestness that walks a fine line for me. In fact it is the latter that From Safe Place most reminds me of – its highs and its lows. But it’s in the melody of the title track, the high-octane energy of ‘I’m Not A Man – I Never Will Be’ that grinds down then marchs forward, all in just over sixty seconds; the atmospheric ‘In Front Of The Chestnut’. The spit-flecked angst here is something I would have gravitated towards ten years ago; and yet here I am, drawn once more to their cathartic flame. I am yet to see these guys live – I think I would become one of the converted masses then.

Eighteen Ways To Keel Her

The self-titled debut from Rose Keeler-Schäffeler’s creative wellspring, Keel Her, is important to note on a couple of levels. No one is going to say that the seventeen tracks (eighteen if you count ‘Intro’ – and you may as well)laid out here are cohesive, fleshed-out or at times even make sense. Nor will many people find this an easy listen due to the slight schizophrenia on display. But that is also the beauty and power of Keel Her – it is a murky blueprint of the creative prowess that Keeler-Schäffeler has broiling inside her. A restlessness pervades throughout that evokes a creative maelstrom, something that Keel Her acolytes are already well accustomed to due to the proliferation of her uploaded musical ventures over the past couple of years. There is a whiff of Ariel Pink in the explosion of vision, continually churning out material of varying genres and degrees of precision and effectiveness. But it is also important that a label like Critical Heights (Lower Plenty, Greg Boring) would endeavour to give voice to such a haphazard sonic explorer, whose skittish genre-jumping could just as well have been mashed disaster. Yet also like Pink, Keel Her has great energy and lively pop nous pulsing through these fuzzed out sine waves. Can't wait to see what she cooks up next - and we won't have to wait long I'm sure.

You can grab Keel Her here - otherwise check out her MASSIVE back catalogue here.

Sliding Down The Honey Flowers

Once again stupid life has gotten in the way of a good time - doubly so, seeing as I haven't been able to write about good shit for about three days (believe me, that is a looooooong time). Back in June I was offered tickets to go to London trio Honeyslide's 10" launch (put on by Critical Heights) at Stoke Newington's The Waiting Room. This sounded serendipitous seeing as the vast majority of Sonic Masala shows have been held at Brisbane's own Waiting Room. Yet I declined, and although I didn't waste my evening - I went and saw William Basinski and Fennesz play in a Hackney church - I felt I was letting the SM side down a little. It was a little more painful when I found out that the supports included personal fave Scott & Charlene's Wedding, pencilled in as a "special Guest". Seeing as I missed their own album launch the following week because I was flying back to Oz, it smarted. Nevertheless, I can't complain - at least I have Drippin/Deep Architecture to listen to. The 10" offers a seven minute sloping squall in the form of 'Drippin'' which bleeds into an untitled miasma of swirling ephemera. It reminds me of Gaslight Radio, one of the most underrated Aussie bands of the late 1990s/early 2000s, albeit without the tongue-in-cheek lyricism. The back side offers more bite-sized versions of the same - 'Deep Architecture' holds sway, whilst 'Sugar Routine' saunters along jauntily, a bouncy, languid ride into the sunset. You can grab the EP here.

The reason I came back to Honeyslide was because of the minimalist yet showy fuzz of another London trio, Flowers. Their Until You're Dead 7" (out on Fortuna Pop - you can grab it here) has been the one link I have had to the world of sanity in the past few days, which bled into the things I found most enjoyable about the Honeyslide release. Admittedly Flowers are a little more saccharine and overtly shoegaze (which makes sense seeing the label they are aligned with), but there is an effervescent yet gritty sheen to their sonorous noise pop that sees them drift markedly further from the twee vortex than others that court this terrain. The titular track is the perfect example of this - a crunching guitar, high, breathy vocals, and a steely mesh of noise underneath that propels everything forward at a bracing pace. 'Clover' follows a similar mode, then 'Stuck' offers a stripped, stark, bare counterpoint. It is all done with flair and aplomb - and with the presser boasting that many Flowers tracks are written within an hour, fully formed, we should hear a hell of a lot more soon.

SCRATCHIN' ROUND - Left and Right, Diving Bells, Fawn Spots

Direction is something that, when brought up, is often claimed to be something I lack. I don't really mind too much. I might be walking around by myself with no idea where I'm heading, but I managed to find these, so it's working out okay so far.

There is something victorious about Left and Right's 93 EP. A kind of world weariness, worn thin but not through; a real coming to terms with things (as long as those terms still mean they can still wail away on their distortion pedals if they see fit). There are some classic '90s sounds here: the production has the crowded sparseness (trust me on this one) of an early Archers of Loaf recording and I especially dig the the way you have to listen for the vocals in 'Coliseum'. They're not buried, just covered by a bit of dust - you have to work for the good stuff, you know. I'm very fucking glad I dug through the inbox for these guys.



You don't often see the words 'Ireland via Korea' arranged in that order. But Diving Bells have made the connection. From the drone of ruddy Irish waters through the repeated patterns of the hand and foot, here that connection makes sense. It pushes and pushes and pushes, piled behind itself in the shell of an abandoned bank headquarters. Ride it to where it takes you.

I found Fawn Spots on someone's couch. I can't help but feel I'm not alone in having done so. When you don't know where your headed, a welcoming couch is nirvana. Like when you probably went a little too far and did things you'd rather not remember (because you don't really feel like breaking down). Wash your face. You might not wanna see yourself but you still need to get up and keep going - even if it is by yourself.



This track's out through Critical Heights on a split 7" with fellow couch veterans Scott and Charlene's Wedding.

Blase Histrionics & Cacophonous Vibes - Two Weeks Of Scott & Charlene's Wedding

 

Last year was absolutely stellar for Aussie rock albums, whether they were narcissistic (Slug Guts, Spinning Rooms), or narcoleptic (Bitch Prefect, Pageants). Possibly at the top of the heap was Craig Dermody AKA Scott & Charlene's Wedding. Starting with the struggling ne'er-do-well in 'Gammy Leg', the ambling spirit of Para Vista Social Club which also graced the excellent split record with fellow Australian slackers Peak Twins. It's Dermody's scratchy, blase observations of the minutiae of Australian life that elevates his music, which continues onwards even after he has moved to New York. The bare-bones honesty is endearing and relatable, as can be seen on the title track to his about-to-be-released mini-album (through Critical Heights), Two Weeks. There are only a couple of new tracks on here, but with a new album in the wings we won't have long to hear how the misplaced Dermody views life in the Big Apple. Odds on, its same shit, different day. Hopefully that leg of his has healed...

Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Two Weeks

Neighbours Are Your Best Friends At The Para Vista Social Club

 

Australia is rife with skronky grungy slacker rock, yet almost every single band that peddles the stuff have their own slant on it. Eddy Current Suppression Ring offer a feverish post-punk stiltedness to their garage cauldron, overseen by a manic and unpredictable wordsmith with countless neuroses. Twerps saunter down suburban streets in the afternoon, sitting on the verandah drinking beers whilst listening to the stereo. You have the silly (Tiny Migrants, Cannon, Gooch Palms), the psychedelically crazy (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Drunk Mums), the cocky retro kids (Velociraptor, Go Violets)…then you have Scott & Charlene’s Wedding.

The product of Craig Dermody, Para Vista Social Club (which actually came out in Australia last year) is raised up not just by the wonky yet addictive instrumentation and melodies, but his takes on working class malaise, heartache, and world-weary commentary on the ills of the slightly disenfranchised are fascinating ('Gammy Leg', although not found here, is one of the best songs of the past couple years PERIOD). Imagine The Go Betweens making their earlier albums in the 21st century in a scum-stained corner of the urban sprawl, playing good cop to Matt Kennedy-led Kitchens Floor’s bad cop, and you have Scott & Charlene’s Wedding down…or, if you were like me, you had me at “Scott & Charlene’s Wedding”.

 

Unfortunately Dermody has flown the coop to search out New York’s realist corners (a la Curtis Wakeling from another unheralded Aussie gem, Velcro). But thanks to Critical Heights Records, Para Vista Social Club is getting a UK release (grab it here!). When Dermody first put out the album, he created each vinyl sleeve from scratch, using covers from other albums and defacing them in some way (check them all out here). Those are all sold out now - I'm not sure if you Europhiles will get similar treatment, but trust me, you are in for a treat. You can grab the LP here – this is a goddamn great record, yet another testament to the goods that are coming out of this vast wasteland...

 

Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Footscray Station
Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Rejected
Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Back In Town