Can't Sleep With Deep Heat

Melbourne punks Deep Heat have put out some great releases over the past couple of years, especially their 10" EP New Design - it is still one of the most played pieces of vinyl I own. And their split with White Walls is so good, I bought a second one to put into the first Sonic Masala giveaway (I think the other pieces were a Dreamtime record, a Tym Guitars T-shirt and something else I can't remember...) So to hear that they have re-joined Poison City Records to launch their second record, Still Life. They have been quite of late, with members spread across taking part in The Stevens, Infinite Void and Shaking Hell. They are revitalised and ready to tear the air asunder. Listen to that frenetic bass that opens first track of the record, 'Sleep'. They have not lost any of the hedonistic rush of finding melody within raw angularity, the round-vowelled and clipped yet drawled delivery of Gus Lord meaning that lyrics are more insinuated than finely articulated, and Katie is so tight as the drumming rhythm that it's impossible to think of a better calibrated beast. 'Sleep' pitches into the past, echoing the darkness and desperation of blue-denim punk rock, whilst also propelling into the dank twilight of Melbourne's sweaty inner suburbs, a warm yet suffocating place, where insomnia is both a blessing and a curse. If this is the kind of nugget that callused minds churn out from being starved of rest and oxygen, keep them on the hamster wheel. I fucking love this song; I fucking love this band; and I can't wait until 2016 when I can fucking love this album.

Don't Take Naked Maja For Granted

Local dream sculptors Naked Maja took to Trainspotters on Saturday to launch their single 'Take' - the night was a resounding success. There is a bit of vested interest here - I had the band's Cedie Janson play the first Campfire Tales show at the End only two nights previously, and I helped write their presser. They have a longer release in the wings, which is mightily exciting, so rather than babble on with new terminology and hot air, Ill give you the "old" terminology and cold air that is the presser:

"Constantly evolving Brisbane five-piece Naked Maja represent the new sound of Brisbane’s burgeoning experimental pop scene. The release of their first single ‘Take’ shows the band broadening their horizons to the farther regions of ambiance and Krautrock. The music inhabits a netherworld of searching melodies and misshapen harmonies that embody a waking dream state. Their MO is to beguile, to seduce, yet to deny.

Disembodied vocals waver in and out of focus of a magnetic wall of sound, made up of ethereal guitars, synthesizers and propulsive motorik rhythms. Naked Maja draw inspiration from a cosmic sinewave that includes Stereolab, Slowdive and Eno as corresponding frequencies. Captured in the studio by local experimental producer and musician Michael Whitney of Nite Fields fame, the mesmeric ‘Take’ is the band’s most self-assured and exploratory work. It represents a sizable step forward for the five-piece and a promising indicator of what’s to come."

You can buy Take in cassette form (alongside two other original cuts and two remixes by Brisbane's aheadphonehome and Adelaide's Swimming) here. Naked Maja are travelling to Melbourne this Thursday to grace the Grace Darling with their presence, alongside the aforementioned Swimming as well as Sui Zhen, then stick around on Friday to join No Art (also launching a 7"), Infinite Void and Halt Ever at the Public Bar. Rad times in Melbournetown. They are playing Tassie too, not sure on the dates there though (sorry!)

Deep Heat Burn

Due to a bit of an illness (don't worry I'm fine) and car issues (an ongoing concern), yesterday had me stranded. It was still an OK day - I watched a few films, started the fourth season of Justified, read some Daniel Cotterell (Winter's Bone is one of the best novellas of the past decade IMHO), started the layout for a gig in June, expanded on a short story premise, a few James Squires IPA beers to see out the day - but it was missing one vital ingredient.

Deep Heat played a free instore at Tym Guitars yesterday afternoon. I am soooooooo gutted.

The Melbourne band, featuring current and past members of Boomgates and Infinite Void amongst others, might be fairly unheralded up these parts, but (hopefully alongside geographical compatriots White Walls, and incidentally they released this sexy as 7" split a couple weeks ago) that will all change soon enough. Serving up a heady concoction of Wipers/Nation of Ulysses esque punk dissonance and esotericism with grungy dirge and a lurid gleam in the eye, the four-piece are terrifyingly titillating, a punch to the face that caresses the loins. I bought their 10" EP New Design on Record Store Day and it hasn't left my turntable for the past week. Blistering.

Buy New Design (out through Poison City Records on 10" vinyl) here. It promises to be one of the most truly exciting calling cards - their debut LP cannot come fast enough. And if you saw them play this weekend, why not tell us how it went in the comments? It gets so lonely around here...

Deep Heat - New Design
Deep Heat - Green Box