My Disco heads the house bands from Hell at the Lexington, 13 May

Im excited to the max about a gig coming up very soon, next Thursday 13th in fact @ The Lexington. Being Australian, some might say Id be biased about our music when it comes over here. Not so - much of what is known about current Aussie music comes from major label shit or from current NME-backed bumfucks. But there is many an amazing band floating around that largely uninhabited continent, and the incredibly intuitive folks at The Quietus are bringing two of Australia's best small acts, My Disco and Snowman, to the stage, along with a rising London group already mentioned favourably here, Factory Floor.

Snowman originated in the Western Australian capital of Perth. The band, consisting of band members of varying backgrounds (Indonesian, English, Icelandic and Australian born...), are a crazy meld of punk, post-punk, blues, and weird moody atmospheric shit. The tension inherent in each and every song makes them a unique act, at once difficult to access and impossible to ignore, with a disgruntled demeanour that attracts and repels. Very exciting indeed...

Factory Floor is of note as the other time I saw them was also supporting an Aussie band - that time it was the Sydney originated/London based maestros Pivot. I was impressed then by their hypnotic swirling songs and their cold demeanour. After Paul's two thumbs up the other week, it sounds like they have come from strength to strength.

The headliners are Melbourne's own My Disco. The three piece have bludgeoned their way all over the continent and the world, with their 2 albums and various other releases showcasing a band that is not afraid to expand on what is essentially the most stringent of brutal minimalist rock. Each song threatens to explode, and yet the tension is invariably reined in. Each instrument is syncopated, somewhat out of sync and yet intrinsic to the organics of the overall soundscape. Their sets are the epitome of strained aggression. Rumours have it that a more permanent move to these shores may be on the cards too...

I am busting at the seams here!!! This will be an amazing show, and at 5 squid who can argue? Just to whet your appetite, here are some tracks - My Disco's is their latest single - all 11 minutes of it; Snowman's from last album The Horse, The Rat and the Swan; and Factory Floor's is an older track as their newie is already floating around on SM! Enjoy!

Snowman - We Are The Plague

Factory Floor - Taxidermist

My Disco - Young

Thaw out from slumber

Im not sure what Paul will think of this, especially after noting the twee comment of a few days ago (Im not sure if that was aimed at me - if it was, we'll be having words...). I too usually have an aversion to most things twee. But whilst I wouldnt put Nova Scotia troubadours Wintersleep into that much maligned sub genre, Im sure Ill cop flak anyway...

Wintersleep are a good band, lets get that out first and foremost. My mate Will mentioned their name a couple of times but I didnt cotton on until I grabbed their last album, Welcome To The Night Sky. I was that impressed that I chased down their previous releases and noted their progression from post-rock influenced structures to more elegant, elegaic soundscapes of a type that befits their moniker. Yet despite envisioning snow covered expanses and visible breath when hearing their songs, there is an inherent urgency and warmth to Wintersleep that enraptures the listener, longing to traipse through the snow to the joys that lay across the horizon.

Wintersleep will be bringing out new album New Inheritors next month, and have released their title track as the first single. They will also be showcasing the album in the UK (playing here in London @ The Lexington) during May before touring the US with Matt Pond PA.

Wintersleep - New Inheritors

Gig - Dum Dum Girls/A Grave With No Name - Lexington, 26.02.10

The ever-inventive White Heat @ The Lexington lined up another lively group of up and coming acts this evening, both of which I had heard a lot about and were very keen to see live. However, tonight’s bill proved to be a little underachieving, although both bands alluded to a load of potential.

I made it upstairs just in time for A Grave With No Name’s time slot – then waited around for half an hour – before the London boys took the stage. They apologised before announcing that their normal drummer couldn’t make it, so a friend was standing in. They then proceeded to play a very short set of their shoegaze rock, all the while taking on an air of cultured disdain. I was excited to see them after hearing favourable reviews of their latest LP Mountain Debris, but their set left me cold. I understand that a new percussionist brought in only a day or two before a gig limits the ability to cultivate the sounds they are known for, and to stamp their own sense of stage personality, but tonight they just didn’t bring it. Nevertheless I will look out for them in future – I’m a benefit of the doubt kinda guy…

This stood in good stead when the headline act sauntered on stage. The room swelled significantly as the four ladies from the U S of A grabbed their instruments and without further ado launched into their brand of surf.garage rock. They are very attractive – all dark hair, porcelain skin, slightly come hither – and their ‘rock uniform’ of choice this evening – tights, high heels, black and red garb, red lipstick - accentuated this notion. However – and this could have been coloured from my disappointment from the performance of the previous act – I was left a little cold and nonplussed by it all.

One of Subpop’s latest signings, Dum Girls are riding a wave of publicity that both a major independent label and being in the right place at the right time tends to generate. However, two things came glaringly to the fore tonight. Firstly, whilst the girls went methodically about recreating their style of fuzzy psyched out garage pop, Dee Dee holding many a man in thrall by her Medusa-like stare, I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder as a severe case of déjà vu walked across my grave. The girls’ surfabilly rock stylings, set in stone faraway glances, slight swaying from side to side, exuded elements from another all girl group, Japan’s 5678’s. I kept expecting hordes of black clad Asian men in masks and kitaro swords to storm in on either side of the room and carve the clientele into Tarantino-sized slices of salami. And yet, tonight, this seemed like a disconcerting – nay, bad – thing. Why? Kill Bill is an uber cool film – the 5678s are an uber cool band – so why does the comparison irk me so? Because it was then that the second problem finally hit home. These girls, for all the hype and hyperbole, aren’t original. Hey, their music is good, as is evidenced by their current releases, either with decent production or on lo-fi efforts. But live you are caught with the idea that there are other, better bands bandying about doing the same thing – hello Vivian Girls! Looking at you, Raveonettes!

So, although the band left a nice aural aftermath in their wake as they walked off stage 45 minutes later to a moderate level of appreciative applause, I felt a little short changed. Nevertheless, they hit London hard this past couple weeks, playing 5+ shows, and are coming back in May. As I mentioned before, I’m a benefit of the doubt kind of guy. If they hammer the road as much as they did in the past week, I might expect bigger and brighter things from them performance-wise.

A full moon gives me the blues

Just got my mitts on the new record by Wolf People. Of course the wolf band names are a dime a dozen, and frankly boring nowadays (even though its a cool word) and often come lumped with connotations of hipster wank (sorry Wolf Eyes and Wolf Parade...the rest of you, Im pointing fingers). Dont dismiss Tidings purely on the band's moniker. They are out and out 70s blues rock - and not your Wolfmother poseuring kind either. The LP drips of soulful and drug-fucked blues that we associate with Hendrix (although never reaching those heights), even placing the pops and crackles on the CD version, so you know they were born for vinyl. They are also very popular at the moment, being picked up by great label Jagjagwar (the first UK band to do so) and scoring support gigs with the likes of Besnard Lakes, Lightning Dust and Dead Meadow. I aim to be at all gigs, so could find myself howling at the moon in the very near future...

LONDON GIGS

31 March - Cargo (supporting Besnard Lakes)
6 May - Lexington (supporting Lightning Dust - side project of Black Mountain)
26 May - Bush Hall (supporting psychedelic giants Dead Meadow)

Wolf People - Empty Heart