This Won’t Ruin Your Smile

Sometimes things happen that are pretty exciting. I can still remember the time I found five bucks in the sand when we were staying down the Gold Coast with cousins when I was 10 (in what is now basically a casino car park). But this is way better than that. Way better.

I am not sure where Ruined Smile Records came from exactly. But I know they’re from Brisbane. And I’m stoked cause I’m from Brisbane and they’ve just delivered me a goldmine. I am never really a fan of compilations, but this seriously blitzes just about any I’ve ever come across. There is scuzz and sandpaper here. There is thoughtful, playful, heartfelt and frantic. There are a bunch of guitar sounds to warm your heart and fill you with hope. And a bunch of new bands for me to go and see. Seriously, from this goes from Smudge through Blueline Medic. I am sending this to my cousin right now. The one who sold me his Helmet tape for five bucks in a casino car park when I was 10.

The first release proper to come from Ruined Smile appears to be a 12" EP from the Nottingham band The Blue Period, And Suddenly The Days Draw Long Like Light-Years. Here is a song of theirs. Kindred spirits.

Tangled Up In Stars

It's been almost four years since we've heard anything new echo out of the chambers of Perth's Tangled Star. Fair enough, seeing as their front man Craig Hallsworth has been busy over the years with bands like The Bamboos, The Healers and The Slow Beings. Ive never really had a handle on what Tangled Star do - the best I could come up with is through obscure comparisons, so I'm going to avoid that today. Instead, Ill state that 'Head In The Sand' is an elegiac traipse through a sepia-tinged 90s, where indie guitar pop in

Australia had a distinct edge (see: Pollyanna, Gaslight Radio, Smudge, Bluebottle Kiss, about 100 others). It's dusty, dreamlike and rustic, loud in the shadows, hushed and sated in the light. Hallsworth's vocals provides that rich timbre that those excellent 90s bands all possessed also, leaving us with a song that sounds pleasantly nostalgic and unabashedly modern also. 

Perth label Hidden Shoal Recordings have always delved into the hushed, considered echelons of guitar rock (their reissue of San Francisco trio Half Film's two albums last year was a particularly pertinent coup), and have ensured that Tangled Star's new album Let's Adjourn To The Garden (out June 18) is one to monitor closely.

Morgan Doesn't Smudge The Lyrics On Orange Syringe

 

I got to see Smudge play last year when the band supported Sebadoh at the Hi Fi. Man, those guys still know how to play – but what I loved the most was hearing Tom Morgan utter those killer lyrics so many years on and they still resonate. Morgan is such a smart, literate songwriter that you cannot help but smile, even laugh out loud, at his seemingly throwaway turn-of-phrases that are nevertheless impeccably timed, a true ringleader (even if hidden behind the scruffy exterior and the warbled slacker hooks the band are throwing out).

Morgan is releasing Orange Syringe, a collection of solo material, and although he has moved on from those years (insert Lemonheads reference here…if you must), hardening his worldview just that little bit, these songs are as embracing as ever. Despite some of the subject matter being decidedly darker (or maybe just mature), the melodies are never discarded, nor is Morgan a skeletal troubadour, most of these tracks beefed up by a backing band. It may not be the kind of record that will go on and sell a squillion records – hell, how many people are going to even become new converts? – but it’s the kind of record that should. His fans, or even people seeing Morgan as a curio due to his Evan Dando affiliations, will be heartened to realise that he has not lost any of his lyrical prowess or that ear for a solid gold melody (especially on 'Virtuouso') – in fact, they might fall in love with him all over again.

 

 

Orange Syringe is available now (through Fire Records and Fuse), grab it here.

Tom Morgan – One True Love
Tom Morgan – Taste For Blood

Smudged Sebadoh Go Hi Fi

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am! A month or so ago my sister and good friend Leigh went to see seminal lo-fi rockers Sebadoh play in London. They had just re-released Bakesale (my personal fave Sebadoh album), so the anticipation was very high. The report coming back were overwhelmingly positive, and now, tonight, I get to taste it all for myself as the trio play here in Brisbane at the Hi Fi Bar. What's more, 90s Australian stalwarts Smudge are dragging themselves out of the sandbox to join them! If you haven't yet (and Im not sure you still can...), try to buy tickets here. Pay in rent money, the barter of your children, in blood if necessary, just ensure you are there!