Sonic Masala Festival Artist Spotlight - Boss Fight

Having been standout acts on a couple of Sonic Masala showcases now (their first, alongside Seaplane, Tape/Off and El Motel, was my first ever sell-out show), it goes without saying that Boss Fight were going to find a way onto the bill. For the uninitiated they are a five piece that cover video game soundtracks. But this ain't no 8-bit homage - these guys are all gifted, trained musicians, and have gone to the ridiculous trouble of composing these songs by ear, then relearning them through live instrumentation. So whilst everything remains relatively electronic, it doesn't rely on similarities - it goes for the jugular to sound EXACTLY LIKE THE GAMES. It's like childhood being reborn and rammed into your inner ear! I am pretty sure I saw someone verging on tears when they played the F-Zero soundtrack...

Bossfight will be on early, so make sure you come early. First band is now on at midday. $10 for all of this and more! Here is Bossfight going all Skyrim on you. I've never played this one, but, you know, dragons.

Sonic Masala Festival Artist Spotlight - Seaplane

Here is a band that should be well known in Brisbane circles but is nowhere near as well known in wider circles. In fact you might be hard pressed to meet someone who is an avid fan, or even the band itself... Seaplane kicked out the jams back in 2001, then comprising of Dale Peachey (Dollar Bar), Stirling Bartlam and Conwae Burrell (Extrafoxx). They put out a couple EPs and the excellent Technical Difficulties LP in 2004. Burrell made way for Scotty Brique (Nova Scotia amongst many others) and the melody and fury remained in tandem, culminating in one of the unsung Brisbane albums, We Didn't Know Anything Was Wrong in 2009 (Burrell's drumming emanates from within).


Then the band all but vanished.

Seaplane sporadically play shows - they headlined Sonic Masala's first sell-out show back in 2012 alongside Tape/Off, Bossfight and El Motel - but they tend to be rarer than hens' teeth. There is also a third album out there. I've heard it. It's great. It was meant to be a Lofly release, but with their closing down only last week (RIP) it leaves us in a quandary as to what will happen there. Below is a sample track from those recordings, a softer harmony-hugger that endears the trio to you all over again. Come see them play these songs and more Saturday around 8pm.

Hitting Up The Dollar Bar

One of the most underrated Brisbane bands of the past decade, Dollar Bar, have been struggling along with getting a new set of songs recorded and ready to put out - well, the time is now! And they aren't letting geographical constraints hold them back, reconvening at The Waiting Room tonight to belt out some glistening guitar pop rad times. Support comes from the excellent Tiny Spiders, troubadour Matt Banham and Dollar Bar's very own Dale Peachey in solo mode. All for a tenner, and being BYO and all, this is a great night sewn up in a bow! See you there! And to spice things with the sugar coat - here is a new track!



And just because I am really looking forward to this - here is a Matt Banham song too!

I'm Totally Mild

I mentioned earlier today And So I Watch You From Afar, and how the discovery of one track on the internet led to checking them out in a so-so musical establishment in Kilburn, London, and becoming an instant fan. Another is to walk in off the street to find something that really rocks your boat. Totally Mild was that band for me on Sunday night. Bizarrely hungry for more music after two days of ATP in Melbourne (and seeing Einsturzende Neubaten close things out), I travelled into Collingwood to Bar Open. Maybe it was the beers, the slight pretense of air conditioning, the comfy chairs – but the Melbourne four piece really impressed in their own shambolic way. It’s Liz Mitchell’s baby (she of Tequila Mockingbirds fame), alongside ex-TM drummer Zac, Lehmann B Smith (Kes Band, as well as his mightily prolific solo material – I brought him up to Brisbane earlier this month for a show opposite Seaplane and Ultra Material) and Yuko Kono. It shuffles between shoegazing (as in the gazing at shoes), tweeing, laconicisms and sudden bursts of melancholic rock. Is that a true indicator of what they sound like? Of course not. But I was shitfaced. And they WERE awesome. Promise?

Here are some old tracks. Hunt them down. They are worthy.

The Waiting Room Never Saw It Coming From Iowa

Next week Brisbane is going to be invaded by Iowa. Not by the state of the USA; not by Mitt Romney; not by obscure Russian divas; not by fanatical Slipknot acolytes. No, Brisbane is going to be destroyed by the Melbourne trio whose debut LP Never Saw It Coming is a head mixture of all the best alternative/noise rock conventions of the 1990s, including adherence to hook and melody behind all the feedback. They are playing X&Y on the Friday August 17 (with able supports from Tape/Off and Sleepwalks), an afternoon sesh at Tyms Guitars on the Saturday, and then - drumroll - at The Waiting Room as headliners for this month's Sonic Masala Presents. They are bringing their new album in tow (including some on sexy yellow vinyl!) and a new single in the form of 'Love Song'. This is one not to be missed, including as it does support from the resurgent Seaplane, the destructive El Motel (who are promising something special for this show) and the debaucherous Crass Creatures. It's all for a tenner, with BYO, and I PROMISE YOU that this will be one of the strongest shows you will see this year. If not, Ill drink some beer - that'll teach me!

Here's the streamed Iowa album:


...and here is a little mixtape of tracks from the bands...

El Motel - Black RiderCrass Creatures - Cement
El Motel - Carnival Kid
Iowa - Panic Attack
Crass Creatures - Snake Hole
El Motel - Crazy Love
Iowa - Complete Control

...and because I don't have any Seaplane mp3's at work, here is a live version of 'Soiree'.



Get keen!

Sonic Masala Presents Godliness

So we have reached that holiest of numbers that the preacher Black Francis preached to us about - Sonic Masala Presents #7. There is a crispness in the air that means winter is on its way, so let's bow down to the altar of Sonic Masala and stave off the cold with booze and tunes, shall we? It's one of the best line-ups yet, with Seaplane playing one of their rare shows (with new material in the caboose for an impending album release!!), a new look Tape/Off featuring Cam Smith (Tiny Spiders/Ghost Notes/Mt Augustus) on bass duties, 8-bit video game soundtracks done for realsies by the excellent Boss Fight, and loud as all get out scuzzy blues from hellraisers El Motel.


Sonic Masala Presents... is on this Friday down at The Waiting Room. Once again its a tenner and BYO. Bring your buds, your flames, your mistresses, your grandmas (hell, maybe they're all one and the same, no prejudices here!) and have a blast. This monkey ain't going to heaven just yet.