Aural Australia #5 - Equine Circle Jerk

The equine circle jerk of the season has come and gone, the nation resumes its bleary eyed actions, and the music floweth forth.

I do love me a scrappy, thrashy noise pop two piece - No Age, Japandroids, Tiny Spiders - and of course Sydneysiders Unity Floors. Their set at White Rabbit Gallery back in 2012 (I think?) was a random and happy memory for me, and their debut album Exotic Goldfish Blues lived up to the heightened expectations. Their follow up Life Admin doesn't fuck with the formula, taking their Japandroids-meets-PAWS-via-Male Bonding Petri dish and injecting indelible slices of acerbic Aussie wit and gurning grins. Taking pot shots at their hometown, Melbourne, young professionals, the 'burbs, the millennials - basically everyone in the near vicinity - Life Admin nevertheless isn't looking for eviscerating wit a la Andy Falkous, more a cheeky chappy dig in the ribs before downing tins and clapping backs. "Wouldn't it be nicer if we could wake up in a world where we belong?" No - it's better that you are standouts...

I can't say I know much about Sydney scrappers East River, but I stumbled over their album Modular Handshake back in August when I was in St Ives, on the sunny sandy beaches of Cornwall, England (yes, they do exist!) and wanting something new to fit with my feelings of happiness, relaxation and yet unnerving displacement. The trio's warped take on surf rock, paisley psych pop and late-night grooves really strikes a chord. It is such a heaving cesspit of touchstones - Jonathan Richman, Black Lips, The Shiralees, Chad Morgan, Meth Teeth, The Troggs, The Animals, The Locust... OK so I am being silly now. But there is something to these loose, cracked songs that are infectious, warmhearted and imminently likable, despite of and/or because of their unpredictability at taking traditional pop conventions and skewering them through an Adult Swim mindset. My wife kept saying, about half a minute into most of these songs, "What is this? The songs start out quite good, then they become shit." Which is snark short hand for "This stuff is the bees' knees." Whether you get what I am saying or not, just dive headlong into Modular Handshake, you will never know where you will end up.

Not much has to be said about Brisbane youngsters The Goon Sax - the three piece have gone from strength to strength since their inception only a couple years ago (if that - it feels like these guys were fishing for their first gig only a few months ago!) Their debut album Up To Anything on Chapter Music is killer, taking a leaf out of the Flying Nun/Go Betweens much-thumbed playbook (an easy reference seeing as Forster's son is in the lineup, but is also there in the easy, insidious melodies that ooze out of every pore here) and infusing something more, a melancholic brittleness juxtaposed with their youthful exuberance that comes off as confident self-deprecating ruminations of the world at large - like The Pastels in a Battle of the Bands. Their European tour was a real hit too (I missed their sold out shows here in London, although heard that their DIY Space show with Totally was a lot of fun). So in demand that we couldn't hook them for this year's Sonic Masala Fest. But I can't hold it against them - with tracks like 'Sweaty Hands', there is an innocuous, relatable, real likability that most other bands just cannot grasp. Special indeed.

Another group that continues to grow, but in a more subdued way, is Blonde Tongues. One of their first shows (may have even been their first show) was a Sonic Masala show supporting the Ocean Party, and their fuzzed out dream pop was exciting, breezy and surprisingly loud. They have been tempering the noise somewhat to come to a compromise with the melodies, and boy does it continue to pay dividends. '(A Song For) Paula E. Sheppard' is a bliss bomb of a track, a lysergic Galaxie 500 swirl in awe of the actress in cult classics Alice, Sweet Alice and Liquid Sky. An obscure reference maybe, but this dream letter is the perfect precursor to the band's sophomore album, out in the new year.

I woke up Monday morning to the huge news in my inbox that Sodastream have a new song out! It's been a decade - a DECADE - since they last put out an album, but their fifth LP Little By Little is on its way. My uni years are indelibly plastered with drunken/drugged memories that end with the night/morning stretched out on the back deck, 'Fitzroy Strongman' and 'Wedding Day' playing over the Paddington detritus. 'Three Sins' takes me back there - but of course the Melbourne duo are so much more than addled young man rites of passage. Each song hits a nerve you never knew existed, whether the subject matter is about domestic abuse, rustic ennui, social pariahs, the encroaching stigma of mortality, or enjoying the solitude of a darkened cabin with only wine and a dog as company. Whether drenched in frustrations or etched with the promise of redemption, every Sodastream song carries with it a kernel of joy. None more filled with joy than I - and if you like, you should join me and many others in helping crowdfund the vinyl pressing for the album here.

These last two feature Aussies but are based abroad - cheating, I know, but still in the same ballpark, right? London psych goths Bonfire Nights have always been a tendon-pulling presence around the local scene, grasping some great support acts while grafting away at their own brooding, swirling soundscapes of darkness. 'Heart's To Blame,' the single off newly released album Entopica Phenomica, continues the skewering of pop sentimentality with a enticing seduction of the dark side and inexorable squall of harmonic noise, all while still retaining those said same conventions. Think early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club melding with early Black Angels, Moon Duo and Velvet Underground. OK they are big touchstones to throw out there, but this band continually blows my head off while never eschewing the hooks, which is a surprisingly rare thing in this genre. Can't wait to partake in the rest of the album.

Fresh Snow are based in Toronto, and have just released new album One on white vinyl (we all know I like dem dere colours spinnin). A lot of their post rock improvisations are elegant and breathtaking - but then there are songs like 'January Skies' that a thundering Juggernauts, like Holy Fuck Hulking out. Their eclecticism works because it is freeform electricity, nothing done half-heartedly. Why is this ending off this Australian music post? Because one member, Tim Condon, hails from this sunblasted land. So tenuous, but with a track like this, who cares. Grab One here - it is an album of abrupt 90 degree turns, but always a wild ride.

Hits From The Box #49 - Salt & Pepper Wells In My Eyes

Despite the fact that this blog pays SOOOOOOO well, it is important for me to give a little back to the local community (IE pay the bills). So over the summer months I coached a under 14s cricket squad. We were one of the most consistent teams in the competition - we lost every match, convincingly. And to celebrate, we had a break-up - at Sizzlers. Yep, I'm a high flyer. But I'm also stupid. Because wherever there are all you can eat sugar mountains - there are crazy-arse kids tripping off their balls. And I had to put up with these boys snorting pepper and drinking ice-cream and crayon sundaes for two and a half hours. Still...the cheesy bread was great.

I can barely function due to the headache last night wrought, but I have enough energy left to do this week's Hits From The Box.


Bonfire Nights hail from my hometown of Brisbane, are now based in London, and are making some tremors around the world thanks to their self-made EP. Their J&MC-meets-Morning After Girls esque psych pop doesn't always click with me, but I think this is more a work in progress than the problems of the band. Why? Because they can get it incredibly right, as on 'Own Worst Enemy'. The more given over to these guys, the better they sound. A promising beginning.

Bonfire Nights - Own Worst Enemy


Now I feel bad about this double-whammy, because I received the digital copy of this eons ago, but received the lathe-cut clear 7" yesterday. Thanks Cory! His band Lizard Kisses released this split with atypical tropical pop from British Columbian band My Friend Wallis, coming together even down to the cover art. Both bands made collages for their respective sides of the 7", making each one unique and one of a kind. You can view all 35 individual record sleeves here. The clear lathe cut records were hand-pressed to a numbered edition of 35 and include typed inserts on vellum. So sweet - I love this! Buy it here. 'Water Tap' is Lizard Kisses' effort, featuring extended family members Jordan Lee (of Mutual Benefit) and Andrew Morehart (of Share-a-tories). 'The Colour Of Water' . It's all really sweet, the perfect soundtrack to lazing about in a sunny park, cheese platters and cold beers at hand, carefree. We need more tracks like these as the winter heads over the dividing range... There is something honest and authentic about these tracks which I really connect with. Lizard Kisses also found one of their tracks on the Beko 100, a playlist of 100 songs that are all pretty ace. Check that one out here. Ill be keeping a close eye on this Brooklyn duo - they're something special.

Lizard Kisses - Water Tap



Another grimy group from the Phatry Records label, Wisconsin's Disguised As Birds double-EP (the brand new Black Circles added to 2009's New Demons) pendulums between a dreamlike meander and an explosive regurgitation of hard-boiled rock. Fans of Jawbox might find a lot to like here, although Young Widows acolytes might find a lot to love also.

Disguised As Birds - Black Circles
Disguised As Birds - Let The Boy Watch


The watery electronic drips that open up San Francisco's Kapowski's single Section 8 segues into lead Jesse Rimler's Akron/Family-esque vocals, a languid sonic experiment that glories in its left-of-centre pop stylings. Listen to that organ! Those soaring choral voices! I am yet to hear anything else from this collective, but I have to say I like them so far. This track is deceptively infectious. Debut record Boy Detective (recorded by Eli Crews, whose previous works include Tune-Yards and Deerhoof) is well worth hunting down (Here is a good review of it if you doubt me) (And a name inspired by Tiffany-Amber Thiessen's Saved By The Bell character is well worth supporting, in my opinion...)

Kapowski - Section Eight



The American Dollar may sound familiar. That's because their elegiac ambient/post-rock soundscapes have recently fallen in favour with the television trailer crowd (excerpts of their songs have soundtracked cuts from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Up In The Air). Now it may be a surprise to most of you, but this Brooklyn-based duo have been plying their trade for seven years, with five albums several EPs and remix releases under their belt. Awake In The City is their latest sojourn into sonorous states, and it's a good un.

The American Dollar - Heavy Eyes Ignite


Finally we have Folks, a simple moniker for a rollicking throwback sextet from NW England. Their album I See Cathedrals has gotten a bit of buzz, and listening to single 'Skull & Bones' I can see why. This isn't the best thing I've ever heard, but that bouncy piano and grooving chorus, chirpy guitar, and throws me into a 70s tailspin. White Denim do this so much better - so do Band Of Skulls, to be honest - but this is a good effort, with warm room for improvement, and has me keen to hear the album in full. Mission accomplished, then!

Folks - Skull & Bones

Happy Wednesday!