Gazing Down A Dead End

 

I haven’t been able to get ‘I Found The Ending’, the first taste of Dead Gaze’s self-titled compilation of past releases out of my head. A shimmering cross-section of 60s pop, 80s New Wave and Julee Cruise basslines, the song mirrors a time in the artist’s life (his mum calls him Cole Furlow) when he moved into a new house and realised that the things he held dear – material possessions, possessive ideas – weren’t what was important in life. It holds simultaneously a melancholic air, the realisation that so much energy has been put into meaningless tasks, and a release, a wary hope that things will be better after this epiphany. The whole song from concept to conception is stellar – a glossy pop bliss bomb.

Dead Gaze has put out many minor releases through the likes of Fire Talk and Clan Destine, all of which are long sold out, so its great to see Fat Cat imprint Palmist Records collate all these tracks together. Dead Gaze is a great record, but is exciting in that it puts an end to this chapter of Furlow’s musical life, as he prepares to venture out in the world with new material and a backing band to boot. Colour me excited.

 

Dead Gaze isn’t out until March – pre-order it here.

The Power Of Styrofoam Is Too Great...

About a fortnight ago I started writing for ace US blog The Styrofoam Drone. That is my post today about Brissie locals Feathers and their vinyl LP Feather's Moon. The past two posts - Otro Mundo and a Palmist 10" split between SM mainstays Thee Ludds and awesome US band The Growlers. You can read those two here and here. I have already mentioned the Feathers and Otro Mundo releases, but haven't touched on how awesome Palmist Records' recent run of splits really are, although I mentioned the one that had The Whines and Burning Yellows on it here. Suffice to say it's killer. How killer? Thee Ludds finally showing their potential is warranted, whilst The Growlers have produced one of the tracks of 2011 with 'Graveyard's Full'. It really deserves a mention. Have a taste below, then head over and check out Zac's work on The Styrofoam Drone - it's an excellent blog that really goes that extra mile.

The Growlers - Graveyard's Full

Thee Ludds - Jagged Prowl

No Burning Whines From Palmist

Palmist Records have just released a sweet 12" split between two like minded Portland bands, The Whines and Burning Yellows.

We mentioned the fantastic Shootinhead 7" that The Whines put out earlier this year here, and the five tracks they contribute here is further notice that this trio are the goods. 'Electric Current' has that languid, bluesy swagger that has eyelids at half mast and a lazy sway that is irresistible. It's Karianne Oudman's vocals that do this, which proves deceptive when the rusty, squalling guitars kick in on the likes of 'Belt Of Scalps.'

I hadn't heard any of Burning Yellows before and they have some good tracks here, especially the first two, 'Blanks' and 'Drains' - the chugging rhythms and reverb-heavy vocals echo down the dusty telephone line to almost fill the void that the new defunct Meth Teeth have left. 'False Horizons' hints at other realms though, an adherence to MOR and shoegaze mores that could create a heady mix as the trio continues to grow. Palmist have done well teaming these two entities up, and you would do well to grab this release up pronto.

Burning Yellows - False Horizons
The Whines - Electric Current