Shoegaze FOREVR

The falling away of Brisbane shoegaze giants Roku Music after only one album (last year's stellar Collider, and Sonic Masala Records' first release) has left a hole in the fabric of the Australian music scene, as their take on the gargantuan sonic wash lifted aloft by sonorous angelic vocals was mesmerising. But despite rumours that the band rumbles on, there are other outlets to embrace. A few weeks ago we were in thrall of the punkgaze esoterics of Deafcult (featuring Roku's Innez Tulloch); and now we have FOREVR, the new project for Donnie Miller. Aiding him in these further expeditions in fuzz-soaked abandon is Sam George-Allen, and their four-track taster Demonstration is incredible. Her vocals on the woozy submerged-sun-trip 'Yucatan' for example lends an air of ethereal distance, a Syren held aloft, out of touch, much desired. FOREVR takes a stronger electronic/metallic harshness to 'Heart Of Ice', yet the kinetic energy that bounces refracted off the synthetic/organic hybrid adds a luminous halo to the deeper acrid tones on display. The decadent imagery continues on sinuous creeper 'Midas At Night', while Miller's guitar bends and dips in his inimitable style, both an affront and an embrace. They finish off with the cascading cacophony 'Forgive', which despite its name holds an aura of aggression under the seam of white sparks that shower down from the heavens. Demonstration is a cheeky title, as FOREVR launch forth fully formed, their powers for all to see.

Demonstration is out now on shiny garish gold cassette. FOREVR launch it with an instore at Tyms Guitars in Brisbane on Friday July 10.

Second Sonic Masala Records Announcement - Roku Music's New Single COLLIDER

We've really put our foot in it, haven't we?

It seems that when you decide to step out from behind the words and actually DO SOMETHING about the music you love, the workload intensifies - or at least my mind does. All of these exciting times merge with the fact that you want things to go well, that other people are depending on you - it's like having a family.

I'm very glad however to have Roku Music as part of the family. Each member of the band has been/is in local acts that I really admire - No Anchor, Tiny Spiders, The Rational Academy, O, The Madisons...the list goes on. But what the melding of minds of Donnie Miller, Innez Tulloch, Jody Gleeson and Thomas Roche creates is far more than the sum of its parts. I've seen Roku Music in its quickly evolving stages, growing from an experimental two-piece, to a rough-and-tumble trio, to the fully formed four-piece they are today. And their upcoming debut record, Collider, is breathtaking in its beauty, its power, its atmosphere, its raw emotion. The first single is the opening song and the title track, and it is the perfect embodiment of why Roku Music are fast becoming one of the unsung powerhouse bands of the continent.


Ahem. I'm swelling up. I'm just so proud! Family, huh?

Collider will be out March 3 on (who else?) Sonic Masala Records. The album launch coincides with a massive nationwide metropolitan and regional tour throughout March & April. News about that and the album proper to come.

Bow Down To God Bows To Math

Last year Sonic Masala put on a last-minute show for excellent Auckland noise rock trio God Bows To Math. It was underattended (due to time constraints and it being a Sunday), yet with blistering supports from Tiny Spiders and Quiet Steps was one of the best shows I saw in 2012. This Saturday April 28 they return, supported again by Tiny Spiders but also joined by Undead Apes and Roku Music (Innez Tulloch pulling double duties on the night). This will be the final stop on a whirlwind tour which begins in Newcastle on Thursday and also includes Sydney and Melbourne shows. Head over to their Facebook for full details. The band will be doing some recording in Brisbane with Donnie Miller (No Anchor/Roku Music) in preparation for their next album - killer. Go here to read what I thought of their electric self-titled album (one of my favourite albums of 2011), grab said album from here, and get damned excited. 

God Bows To Math - The Only Good Fnord Is A Dead Fnord

Roku Music - 1 Cassette, 1 Party, 1 Love (ON THURSDAY!!!)

 

This is on tomorrow. It’s a cassette listening party at the Waiting Room. I don’t know if I’ve ever BEEN to a cassette listening party. I know I used to listen to cassettes of songs I taped off Rage, straight off the TV, with my sister – but that’s about it. The crazy kids responsible for said cassette listening party are Donnie Miller and Innez Tulloch, here for the first time as Roku Music.

Starting as an idea for a university project exploring recording techniques and tones, Roku Music is the best of both of their aural worlds – the dark throbbing tensions and feedback squalls that bleed through is a distant relative to Miller’s No Anchor affiliations, whilst the static pop aesthetics that ebb and flow like a reticent tide can be as lightweight as a Feather(s) or a hazy dream from a Tiny Spider(s). I really like it. There are elements of washed out dirge that, when married to Tulloch’s soft vocals reminds me of True Widow (see ‘Everything’s Alright’ for an example); at other times a darker, beefed up theredsunband (especially on ‘Primitive’); but mostly it sounds just plain rad. Even if it’s on a damned cassette…

 

The cassette listening party is tomorrow night at The Waiting Room – and its free! Come have some bevvies and listen to a cassette, at a party.

 

Roku Music – Primitive

Roku Music – You Never Change