Only a couple weeks out now until Brisbane megapsychs Dreamtime release their third album, the gargantuan double LP Strange Pleasures, out on Tym Records (Aus), Cardinal Fuzz (UK/Euro) and Sky Lantern (US). A couple of weeks ago I laid down the molten mess that is 'The Sentient', and today we have an exclusive peek at another song from it, 'River Sprites'. It opens slowly, a narcoleptic time lapse, aided by desert drunk guitar and crystalline chimes. The footage (put together by the band's drummer Tara Wardrop) is Dreamtime in all their glory - looking both ethereal and earthed, dragging drugged dreams into reality, the clip is slowed down and fuzzed out, like a lost footage VHS from 1992, found in a phosphorescent cavern in Chile. The slow-burn high permeates sight and sound, a spinning room of lazily adjusting third eyes - the breathy soaring sighs accompanying Zac Anderson's drawl steering the track into sepulchral pagan heavy folk territory. It certainly plays out at the other end of the psych spectrum that 'The Sentient' (and indeed much of Dreamtime's back catalogue), a heady slice of hedonism that further stokes the fires of anticipation.
Everyone keeps yelling about 2016 that it needs to get in the bin. A lot of awful, disgusting, despicable things happened, sure - but hey, a lot of beautiful babies were born, friends and loved ones to embrace, people banding together as a community against the seemingly ever growing mindless hordes of misogynistic/racist/bigoted/violent drones. We have to hold on to these, nurture these communities, tirelessly fight for them to grow and exist for our and future generations.
To go to a micro rather than macro situation, you can look at your local music scene, pretty much anywhere in the world, at any time in history. It is always a matter of kicking against the pricks, trying to express yourself and others, to keep open avenues of thought and inclusion, safe spaces for creativity and productive, exciting dialogue, to harbour communities of diversity and positivity. As places shift, as democracy and consumerism predicts that every market become a one-sided fight for the haves (money) and the have-nots, we see loved and occupied establishments devalued, sold out, closed up, vilified, abandoned. We see the landscape moulded into the faceless oases of monied tastemakers, corporate mouth breathers and dollar-sign-eyed smash-and-grabbers, trying to ride the wave of lucrative feasting before the carcass is stripped of flesh, energy, ingenuity, til all that's left is a vapid wasteland. We see it generation to generation. And as bad as all this sounds, there will always be those that refuse to change, that resist the mutation of their imaginations, that adapt to wading through the broiling tides without compromising their ideals. It has always happened, and I hopelessly, positively believe it will happen again.
(excerpt from performance at this year's Sonic Masala Fest)
Context: this is the band that I always attribute to being the reason Sonic Masala exists. There were a multitude of events, moments, conversations and hallucinations on that feted weekend in Minehead in 09, the My Bloody Valentine curated ATP Nightmare Before Christmas (live - MBV x 3, Sonic Youth, Dirty Three, Lightning Bolt, Fucked Up, Swervedriver, A Place To Bury Strangers, Th' Faith Healers, De La Soul, Lilys, Witch, Robin Guthrie, etc etc; then all the shenanigans in and around all of this sonic beauty and brutality), but the clearest thing for me was staggering through the door to my chalet at 3am, a party of friends and strangers in full swing, and putting on 'Do The Broken' from the Brisbane trio's Humans Find Patterns album, now a decade old. Everyone stopped. Everything stopped. The drink and drug fuelled euphoria was spiked with adrenaline. What was this? What was this? I talked about the band to everyone, I made a beer curry with my mate Paul, and SM was born.
I even remember when I saw them for the first time - 2002 4ZZZ Market day. There to see 6 Ft Hick The Celibate Rifles and Ed Kuepper, amongst other things I have forgotten now, I stumbled across two bands that blew all bar 6ftH away - The Mess Hall (my love for this two piece would be hard, fast, short-lived) and Turnpike. Adam with his skewed cap, writhing guitar strangling, aggressive yet sinuous fretwork, his head waving to and fro across the mic so that every third throttled word was almost made out; Tim's bobbing body, bassline gargantuan and intense; Chris' brutal pummelling, seeming both lulling and punishing, but always propulsive. In the heat of the early October sun, I was forever marked.
Their wiry, wired, sometimes head-scratchingly insane live sets and song compositions became whispered legends that people around Brisbane and indeed the rest of Australia heard about, yet found hard to witness in person. It wasn't so much because they were hidden - it was because they were such a unique, one-of-a-kind band that did things their own way, which in this case was randomly, expressed exactly when the mood arose, with little to no fanfare, no fuss, no push for adulation, drive for commodity or care for continuity. Every set was unique, the band shapeshifting, playing with form, type and patience, but always, indomitably, Turnpike. The fanbase was small yet Juggernauts, punishers, acolytes, the marked ones. Blistering releases - an EP, an album, some tracks and CD-rs here and there...and then...
Fifteen years go by, and so does life. Marriages, families, home lives, occupations, financial boons and woes. Time dwindles, is stretched in infinite directions. The bulldozers of "progress" flying the flagship of chrome-and-steel-and-multiple-J-letterage desecrate the holy grounds that Turnpike and many bands of that era made holy. The old guards stand aside for the new. Shows become less frequent, much feted, barely attended. The fanbase remained core. But the new generation kept hearing the whispers. Catching glimpses. Not comprehending the abject idolatry, but not leaving unscathed either. What was witnessed, glimpsed, das not compute. Such fury, ferocity, abandon, intellect, generosity, tenacity. Yet the fires were lit.
2016 and finally a second album is here. Where There Is Nothing seems like a dire outlook yet totally suitable moniker for these clutch of songs. Seven years and many different recording periods in the making. People behind the scenes (namely Cam Smith of Incremental Studios and Tim Brennan of Tyms Guitars, plus the supporters and friends too numerous to mention) kept the fires burning. The ruminations on the world and its infinite wondrous and horrifying possibilities proliferate the ideas fuelling these nine long-gestating songs - and they sound pulled out and spewed forth, soul-bearing through angular aggression/transgression. The dichotomy of beauty and insight coming from a brute idiot; the beginning and end of all things, and the simulation/repetition of such things; ghost maps; the possible death of the universe as we know it in a scientific setting as opposed to a finger-on-the-red-button scenario. It is all there.
As you can see, this isn't really a review. I don't feel equipped to review this album any more than what is dribbled here - the history of this band, its importance to me and to the music scene of Brisbane, the fact that there are bands of this ilk growing and encouraging every major underground music scene - and others growing to take their place - I'm too close to the heat of the furnace. Recently Violent Soho were given their own "plaque of fame" in Brisbane - and they used the opportunity to shout out Turnpike (alongside the likes of The Quickening, Eat Laser Scumbag and Dick Nasty) to have helped pave the way. It's already happening. There is hope. There is truth. There is Turnpike.
The day creeps on, and our future hangs in the balance. Scary times. I think I will close my eyes, turn these guys up, and float away, hopefully come back to a world that has a glimmer of hope left in it...
Thalia Zedek keeps herself busy travelling under her own head of steam, but that doesn't mean there aren't other, more explosive avenues to explore. Cue E, a trio featuring members of Neptune and Karate alongside Zedek, construct an intense ride, something akin to Pontiak cutting up and reworking Wrekmeister Harmonies offcuts. There is a hardened veneer here, spouting from the veteran musicians' sonic back catalogue, that puts aural calluses on each riff, roll and growl, a wizened, weary creature whose fire nevertheless refuses to burn out. Plus they can't help themselves, spewing forth the most barbed political cry in 'Candidate' that isn't Steve Albini or Ian Mackaye's doing. It's a brilliant record. Pre-order this excellent album from Thrill Jockey here stat - it is likely to be one of the loudest, most arresting albums of the year.
Dreamtime are back! Brisbane's premiere psych rock band are about to release their third album proper, double LP Strange Pleasures, through Cardinal Fuzz, Sky Lantern and Tym Records. The cover art suggests the now four-piece (Fergus Smith firmly entrenched in the band now) are taking a more cosmic journey into prog Yes territory. First taste 'The Sentient' is something else. The first minute and a half is the lurking debris from a haunted castle Bava film - then it ignites, a guttural psych wail that is heavy beyond words - it really hits you in the solar plexus. The sci-fi effects continue to lick the edges. Six minutes in and you think you are about to get a reprieve - and your senses are shattered like shards of glass. The brutality of the sonic assault notwithstanding, this song kills due to the nuances here too - the willingness to play with form and idea. This is going to be a huge one.
Newcastle (upon Tyne) behemoths Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (that;s 7 pigs for those playing at home) have been blowing speakers and minds all over the UK the past few years - my only gig seeing them was the last time I was at the Brixton Windmill, and I had tinnitus for days (not Part Chimp level, but enough to have to lip read for a bit afterwards). The guys are back with album Feed The Rats, and 'Sweet Relief' is anything but - brutal yet brief (for them), it's a Sabbathical slaughterhouse. It's out in the new year (preorder here), and will be launched at the Lexington January 21 - definitely one to mark down in the diaries.
(10000 Russos)
Those psych demons over at Fuzz Club Records keep gathering the biggest and best psych rock acts in the world to do something together. The latest "collaboration" is between London veteran space dwellers The Oscillation and Portuguese punishers 10 000 Russos. And they do complement each other here, trading off industrial cosmic menace with metronomic growl and bite. 'Almost See' is a lurker, a shadow dweller that wouldn't be out of place in a post apocalyptic Berlin, while 'Ashkenasi' is more motorik guitar squall, a mystic maelstrom to get lost in. Both amazing tracks, worth getting the 10" for.
Nashville's All Them Witches have had latest album Dying Surfer Meets His Maker out for a while, but it has been soundtracking my late night work shifts when I am in the hole of marking. Particularly the cyclical dirge that is 'El Centro' - desert psych done RIGHT. There are plenty of softer planes that they travel on, but it's when the quartet hit these levels of groove that I lose my shit. They have played some great gigs over in Europe - let's hope they come back in the new year.
Let's finish off with XAM Duo, who are Matthew Benn of Hookworms and Deadwall's Chris Duffin. They have an album out on Sonic Cathedral. The duo delve in improvised and inexorable electronic and saxophone euphoria. First track from it 'I Extend My Arms' builds percolating ambiance that bubbles inside insistent Krautrock rhythms, a la Harmonia or the more laidback Dan Deacon fare. I'm sure that the album will be full of continual surprises - can't wait to get my hands on a copy.
Good dude Geordie Stafford has been a mainstay in the Brisbane hardcore scene - his efforts in Dick Nasty and Teargas in particular leaving indelible claw marks across the underground. But he found it easiest when he worked on his own - his lone wolf approach to doom metal, Golden Bats, has been incredibly prolific, having put out six self-titled EPs, a few 7"s and some split releases with the likes of Pale Earth and The Steady As She Goes.
He was also involved in the Tym Record Club, where the seminal label put two likeminded artists on flipsides of a 7". Golden Bats' effort sat alongside Adam Harding, a similar Australian rock journeyman who started performing under the moniker Dumb Numbers. Harding has the Midas touch, and on his second album has roped in a who's who of rock and metal royalty to help out (including members of The Melvins, The Jesus Lizard, Einstürzende Neubauten and Dinosaur Jr) - including Monsieur Stafford, who lends his axemanship to 'Unbury The Hatchet'. This song alone also features David Yow on vocals, and Alexander Hacke with keys and throat singing (!). The album itself predictably slays, of course, but I can't be any more stoked for Geordie (and Adam, of course) on this one. Grab Dumb Numbers IIhere (in purple vinyl no less), listen to the track below, and the entire album below that.
Last day of January - the most miserable month of the year. Normally a celebration. Instead I have a migraine, it's raining...but at least I have these sounds to keep the shits at bay until tomorrow. February is always better, right?
Melbourne trio Daytime are a post-punk outfit flying somewhat under the radar - they only have a couple songs on Soundcloud and that's about it. Creating in a velvet vacuum, both 'Everyone's So Nice' and 'Flounder' are cavernous yet suffocating, an insidious rhythm propelling tracks that are somehow both warm and cold to the touch. In my personal opinion, Daytime should be getting the 2016 accolades that Gold Class were getting in 2015 - based on this small amount of output, they are already leagues ahead.
Let's head to Sydney for some grizzled, guzzled psych rock blasts with Grinding Eyes. Their new 7" is out through Tyms Records (Heavy Blanket, Earthless). They supported Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and Moon Duo before Xmas, and you can see the connection - their 'So Clear' in particular inexorably slides into overblown, hedonistic Black Angels territory (that pummelling drum comes from Cec Condon of The Mess Hall; and the guitar tone and organ is sublime. This sonic space is made possible courtesy of Straight Arrows' Owen Penglis on mixing duties and none other than the Dirtbombs' Jim Diamond mastering it). You can grab the record here.
Still in Sydney we have a solo outing from Food Court's Cristian Campano. The plaintive song 'What You're Doing To Me' is a fair sidestep from the crunchy 90s indie vibe his day band dish out, a track with sweeping strings, emotive balladry, and Flamenco guitar - a highly ambitious and beautiful offering indeed, if somewhat maudlin in content. It is great to see some Australian artists offering lush, interesting arrangements in their music - put Campano next to Lehmann B Smith as guys to watch out for this year.
Back down to Melbourne now, and department. is a band that comes out of the back pocket of the guitarist of bad-arse punks Bad Vision. They have released a 7” One & One that perfectly showcases their rusted-yet-shimmering garage rock, not far removed from the depraved booze party vibes that many of the Slovenly/Hozac stable master. Whether this is a more than a passing concern is anyone's guess - but the 7" surely means dirty business...
A squalling downtown shakedown with vocalist John Sharkey III lending an Interpol-droll timbre left echoing over the top, Vicious Romance b/w Delco Runts marks Philly band Dark Blue’s first appearance on 12XU Records (home of Obnox, Manateees, Exhaustion and Sweet Talk amongst many more). Both ‘Vicious Romance’ (a love song about discovering that the dream (of love, of equality, of hope) may be dead) and ‘Delco Runts’ (a droll call-out to the negative influences that permeate Delaware County) come from the blue collar milieu in a monochrome-rinsed dark pop mantra that is resonant and kitchen-sink heartrending. The success of this band hinges on their tightrope suspension of prosperity in a bleak world, even if at a merely idealistic level.
And we finish up back in the UK, with Bristol's Velcro Hooks promising their debut album is rising up out of Howling Owl Records in April. The two cuts thus far are opposite ends of the hooked spectrum - 'Severin The Mind' is a squalling Krautrock cesspit of deafening destruction, while 'Mid of May' is a wonky yet warm psych-folk trip, bristling with vintage fuzz and ephemeral fizz. Looking forward to hearing this later in the year.
It's a case of the hairy monster Adelaide band that could - many-headed rockers Hydromedusa brought out their self-titled album through Tyms Records, and the fucker keeps selling out! It first came online back in April of last year, and word of mouth spat fire on its brilliance, but every time I rustled the cash for it, it was gone. Now into its third pressing, with behemoths Tee Pee Records pushing its wares around the US, Hydromedusa is only going to get bigger, more gargantuan, more debauched, more raw power. Now in split black/purple vinyl, the record is sexier as well! I won't miss out on their pumped-up 70s metal extravaganza (with Sleep injections, just to keep you on your toes) this time - and neither should you.
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.
Everyone is probably writing about this, so why shouldn't we? Especially seeing as one of the best sets of the 2009 My Bloody Valentine-curated ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival where Sonic Masala was conceived was by Swervedriver (it must be said though that it had been a loooooong weekend, and I found both Bob Mould and Yo La Tengo to be incredibly boring that weekend - so take that as it lies...) Mezcal Head has been a standout record of mine for years and years now (even moreso than Raise). Now, in 2015, the Oxford giants are releasing a new LP! The first official single off I Wasn't Born To Lose You is the languid 'Setting Sun' ('Deep Wound', the first new song that the band had released in 16 years that was put out on legendary Brisbane label Tym Records last year, also makes the album cut). What with this, Adam Franklin's incumbent solo record as Bolts of Melody, Rise's ultra successful reformation shows, the resurgence of walls of sonorous noise worldwide (including on this very label with the continuing love for Roku Music), it is a very exciting time to be a shoegaze enthusiast, that's for sure.
It is bizarre that I have heard of pinkshinyultrablast before now. It was in January actually. I was talking to Tim of Tyms Guitars about a bunch of things, but especially his second year of the Singles Club (which saw lots of excellent one-offs, including music from The Nation Blue, Turnpike, Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless and Brett Nelson of Built to Spill amongst many others). He mentioned that he had been talking to Roku Music, who were about to release their debut album Collider as my debut Sonic Masala Records release, about writing a song for it. He had already pencilled in the split side for them. He then played me the EP Happy Songs For Happy Zombies from a little Russian band called...pinkshinyultrablast. They had actually gotten in touch with Tim - albeit with rudimentary English - about their recordings, which were sporadic seeing as it was difficult to find appropriate studio space and equipment in the country. Anyway, the music blew me away (as Tim knew it would). I thought, this is the kind of shoegaze that I can get behind...
Fast forward almost a year, and the St Petersburg five-piece have been signed by premier UK shoegaze label Club AC30 (recent output - Ringo Deathstarr, Exit Calm, Flyying Colours, and Gavin Clark) is the toast of the British towns. The gossamer glory that is single 'Umi' finally has a trailer and the Syren's call that it is is fuelled by sepia-toned foliage, vistas, horizons... It's blissful. As for that Tym's release - it hasn't come to be. YET. Nevertheless, we can all be excited that this album Everything Else Matters (which was remixed by the band at the beginning of the year, and has been a bit of a trial coming to fruition) will be flooding the sense in no time - January 2015, in fact.
I’ve been slightly scared for me to sit down and write something about the new Sounds Like Sunset album. This has been a band that I’ve always, in the truest sense of the word, admired. That might sound like a worrying start to a review. Rest assured however, this is no “Dinosaur Jr. has a lot to answer for…”
The tough part is this: Sounds Like Sunset songs have always sidled in at fairly massive turning points in my and many of my friends' lives. They have slowly worked their way through space and time to come to define moments, the best and the worst. Sounds Like Sunset songs are weddings, moving out, getting busted by the cops, moving home after getting busted by the cops. If you can grasp the sense of this, you’re closer to understanding why putting this album on for the first time made me both nostalgic and worried that my wife might be suddenly pregnant – or want a divorce.
There is real beauty to be found in ‘We Could Leave Tonight’. It’s honest and self-effacing and glows the colour of burning tubes. It is an album that doesn’t demand you listen to it, and it won’t whine when you don’t, but you’ll listen to it anyway. It’s lost but it’s finding its way. It’s turning in circles and falling over. It’s looking up at the stars while it’s down there. That might read as lame to you. Maybe so. But you probably never greened out on a cop's shoes and had to move back in with your parents to sort your life out.
Available now on Brisbane’s legendary Tym Records - grab it here.
I don't remember exactly the moment I "discovered" New York noisy duo The Austerity Program - but it was probably around the time I was heavily into listening to Hydra Head records and in particular Helms Alee's Night Terror. if you haven't listened to TAP's seminal 2010 EP Backsliders & Apostates Must Burn, do yourself a favour and DO IT RIGHT NOW. Don't even read the rest of this post. Just do that - NOW (and if you live in Brisbane, there is definitely a copy of it in Tym Guitars - I put it on the shelf especially yesterday).
It's taken a bunch of years for these warped brothers in nascent narcissism and devilish grins to bring us a new release. They scurried from the embers of Hydra Head Records and formed their own label, Controlled Burn (along with fellow brothers Nonagon, whose own The Last Hydronaut LP was their first release - and we fucking loved it). But we FINALLY have Beyond Calculation - and it's everything I hoped for and more. With one guitar, one bass, one vocal and one pissed off drum machine (how else can it cope with such brutality? The machines seethe too...), this band flays the outliers of society, laying their situations bare and brandishes the remains with maniacal glee, jamming it down the throats of sympathisers and non-believers both.
Steve Albini's abrasive outfits will come to mind here, but there is something more inherently comical, garish and nightmarish about Beyond Calculation that he and his hoary brethren could never broach. Yes, each song is calibrated and refined to such a brutal dexterous distillation that they cut through the thickest of red tape and indifferent hides; yes, the impassioned cynical howl of Justin Foley turns from playful to destructive in a heartbeat (or heart attack). They can be tightly coiled mechanical beasts of burden; lumbering colossi of brutal metal dirge; intricate triangulations of technique, wit and excess. Overall, though, The Austerity Program is shining the magnifying glass on the 21st century with furious intent - and in most cases, the insects under scrutiny is us.
There is a huge amount of "garage" music around at the moment. A. Huge. Amount. And simply by the sheer amount of it, you'd think it is easy to do; get a few friends together, punch out a few chords, hope someone can hold a beat. That part, maybe, is easy. Creating something that is a marker in time, something that will stand up to nearly thirty years of kids picking up guitars, something that will make you smile 'til your eyes crease - even when it's probably the five-hundredth time you've listened to it - that's hard.
And that's what the Hard-Ons did with 'Girl in the Sweater'. You know the feelings, you know the naivety, you've felt it all (just like it says in the song). If this was released today, I would be heading straight to wherever these snot-nosed punks were playing to shake their hands. And for Record Store Day, thanks to Tym Guitars, I'll be doing exactly that. AND I'll be picking up a limited edition repressed seven-inch copy of the single (in a paper bag, just like it was originally thanks to the Deep North's obscenity laws).
This weekend I'm am super psyched to announce that Sonic Masala has been able to lure from Beijing the inimitable duo Alpine Decline, who have a fifth record - that's in about four years too - ready to lay waste to Brisbane. They will be playing Trainspotters on Saturday February 1 - supporting the hometown return of Tape/Off after their national single tour - as well as playing an instore performance at Tyms Guitar on Sunday February 2 (2pm). Both shows are free, so there is no excuse to not immerse yourselves in the embryonic fervour of Alpine Decline's music.
I spoke to Jonathan Zeitlin from the band last week...
SONIC MASALA - Alpine Decline is, to me at least, a mystery band - having carved four immaculate albums seemingly out of the ether, slowly changing from the Doug Martsch self-titled album to the marred contemplation of Night Of The Long Knives or the haunted Visualisations. In fact each album can be quite chimeric - appearing to be one thing one moment, then spinning on its head the next. Can you run through the evolution of the band, how circumstances/environments coloured each record?
Jonathan Zeitlin (Alpine Decline): I think you pretty much got it right with the whole "carved…seemingly out of the ether" thing. Theories are currently being tested at the Large Hadron Collider. Physicists are confident experiments will bear out their mathematical calculations…
We try to think of the albums outside of the artist-evolution narrative and imagine them each as episodes in a genre series or something - the way you can dive into the noir detective world in a Raymond Chandler novel without needing any story continuity. Someone who finds out about us, now or in 20 years, can then totally explore each record like a trip into some far flung destination within our universe. If the albums themselves are chimeric, it's because our reality, like most people, is a constantly flickering, twitching thing, and we're trying to explore that rather than just execute a particular aesthetic that fits neatly into a genre we like or what the rest of the music world is up to.
The circumstances/environments of recording at City Terrace in East LA with M Geddes Gengras and recording in a bombed-out subterranean fume-choked space in East Beijing with Yang Haisong have their mark on the sound and content of the albums, but we'll let someone else explore that topic…
SM - How would you describe Alpine Decline?
JZ: In the Venn diagram we're roughly, hopefully, in that space where songwriting and sonic chaos come together. We're into tangible reality over abstract aesthetics, but with the belief that otherworldliness, mysticism and myth are a part of that tangible reality. Alpine Decline should be discovered buried under a thousand feet of snow, somewhere, in some other time...
SM - The sonic shifts between songs, let alone albums, alludes to restless sonic spirits. What are your core influences - where you always begin as a band? Is taking yourselves out of the comfort zone part of the process?
JZ: Trying to have new experiences, get to some far out spaces, continue developing the narrative - that's just how we feel we should be living our lives and we don't think our music should be some separate thing we're doing. The albums are the artifacts and the means by which we hope to share these experiences and connect to people on a humanist level. We begin by trying to tie our concrete world and perceptions to images, language, and sounds. We feel like we can trust our craftsmanship as musicians and songwriters and just focus on creating something that is genuine and deep and complete.
SM - The intricacies of much of the albums makes the aesthetics feel bigger than a duo - how do you go about replicating things live?
JZ: There are some things that we can do to make our sound more 3 dimensional live - some secret sort of things involving old tape echoes and other kinds of magic - but we stay away from loops or prerecorded stuff so it comes out pretty different. There's a way we think about records and there's a way we think about playing live. With just two of us on stage, the thrill is in connecting with each other and trying to build up this massive storm of sound. The risk of it collapsing and our natural tendencies to let it rip on guitar 'n drums makes the live sound a lot more aggressive and raucous.
SM - You are now a family - how has that altered Alpine Decline, either in vision or logistics?
JZ: Becoming parents was like shooting the joy diamond through our foreheads - it's a total trip. The logistics of touring with a baby are different, (laughs). After Australia we'll be touring across China blowing out the new album, and that should be a trip with the kiddo. We'll see how, or if, it alters Alpine Decline. Our internal logic is kinda hard to penetrate and tilt off its axis, but you never know.
SM - You are based in China - what is the music scene like there? Is it a community spirit; is it cliquey; easy to be included; easy to be ostracised?
JZ - We can only speak to our own experience, and should probably avoid making big general statements about China. We've been lucky to fall pretty deep into the Beijing scene, but I gather a lot of foreign artists of all disciplines have a difficult time finding their place within these communities.
But if you're trying to compare it to other places, if you're not obsessed with breaking through into a certain scene here, it's an incredibly free, Wild Wild West place for an artist. Falling into the Beijing scene has allowed us to meet some really incredible people and bands, as playing music in general has all over the world, but perhaps that mostly matters to us personally, and hasn't necessarily altered our music. We've always been working spinning out Alpine Decline and take the periscope view of the outside world. SM - The actual move to China is intriguing. I understand that the move was almost dictated by the band itself - it created the headspace that led to you moving there - is that correct? JZ: Well OK so yes but it's also just our lives… I guess the writing process we've embraced is designed to erase any line between our lives and Alpine Decline. But yeah I guess I've always thought about my life and made decisions like it was a novel or film, and I guess that kind of ego is drawn to drama, and at a certain point after 10 years in LA it felt like, "This is the part of the story where suddenly everything changes." But that realization came through making the first three albums, and at some point while recording the third album “消失／Disappearance" it was like we were, uh, reading the oracle bones and they were telling us our future was out in the wreckage and chaos of east Beijing.
SM - There seem to be a lot of ex-pats working out of China - Pairs, Stegosaurus?, Death To Giants are just three I can think of - is this a creative hub of "outsiders" gravitating towards one another, or just happenstance? I do realise that China is a pretty big place (laughs)
JZ: Those three are all Shanghai bands - and foreigners are really the driving force behind a lot of what's happening in that scene, expats working really hard to create the same kind of fun, passionate, dedicated music community as they had in their countries of origin, trying hard to get Chinese interested in this kind of thing. In Beijing it's sorta flipped, with Chinese driving the scene and expat artists often orbiting around the edges more.
I think we're in this really great zone where the initial feelings/issues of being expats have kinda drifted into the background and other things have taken up a place front and centre in our focus. It's still, everyday, a trip living here, though.
SM - So I feel that there is and continues to be a narrative that governs the evolution of AD. How does the new album fit into the mix?
JZ: Well the narrative of the records is woven deeply with our own narrative, our own reality, although it's probably best to let listeners dive in and not try to direct any analysis or their experience with the music. GO BIG SHADOW CITY is, to me, the most maximum, expansive, panoramic album yet - both in its sounds and songwriting - and I feel like its role in our series of records is to push the rocketship into super-sonic, solar-shielding peeling off, into-the-white saturation. I hope at the end you pull off the headphones, pupils dilated, sweat beading on your upper lip, wondering where you are and what the fuck THAT was.
SM - I see that you are doing a drone set in Melbourne. Can you tell me a little about the drive behind that? (I'm a fan of so many different types of music, but drone/found sound/site-specific music fascinates me the most...I'm trying to develop a novel or script around the whole process...)
JZ: I dunno if it's exactly drone music, but when we took a short break from playing guitars and drums last year, we set up stacks of tape machines, synthesizers, no input effects chains, and started drawing up this set. It shares a moral kinship with the atmospheric world of our albums, the sonic architecture that surounds the songs, but with the space and expansion you get when you pull away the flesh 'n bones of drums and guitars. Which I guess makes it all blood and neural sparks (laughs).
SM - Will you have vinyl at the shows?
JZ: Yup, we're lugging some vinyl copies of our new album GO BIG SHADOW CITY and some copies our first four albums too. In case you can't find us at your local record store, you can always buy our albums directly from us at www.alpinedecline.com or various other places on the Internetworks.
Make sure you get along to one of these shows - Alpine Decline really are one of the best-kept secrets in the musical world in my opinion - a ridiculously huge statement, but I stand by it. Go Big Shadow City, and all the band's albums, are out now through Tenzenmen Records.
Personal plugging aside, the four-piece have their sophomore album Complicating Things in the wings, and are starting their album launch with us! So, how is the album then?
It's bloody good. The band called it a strong tangent from their debut self-titled album released last year - but this to me is more than a natural progression. Sure, in many ways the queasy unsettled nature of the beast that lay at the core of The Spinning Rooms isn't as much in evidence here - yet the band has become a tightly coiled beast, meaning the moments they crawl out of their hidey-hole to bite you on the face is all the more effective. You have the hedonistic squall of 'Julia', the bluesy, unhinged dirge of 'Blues For Jas H. Duke', the riotous gnashing of 'Kids In The Car'... Pete Dickinson sees both albums as concepts - the first about a couple who move to the country and everything turns to shit, then Complicating Things is them returning to the city. But by the sounds of things, nothing has improved from their urban retreat - at all. The B-Side of the album dives into despair and chagrin once more, the lonely plinking piano a distinct highlight, before the ten minute closer 'I've Found A Place I Can Sleep (Parts 1 & 2) takes on a staggered ballad, which is either a glimmer of hope, or the howl of abject despair, a breaking, a surrender. This ambiguity is just another reason why The Spinning Rooms is one of the most electrifying, exciting bands on the continent right now, and Complicated Things only cements this notion.
BARGE with an antenna on it (the band) is a household name in one sense. It seems to me that the antenna is only a relatively new addition though; these two gents from Brisbane craft a sound that has the subtle intensity of a deadly undercurrent, pulsing, swelling and threatening to spill over into a squall of static power at any moment.
They just finished recording at Tym's guitars with the 12 in a dozen project and I'm stoked to announce they'll be playing a Sonic Masala show at the Waiting Room on August 30.
If the galaxy doesn't smash us to fucking bits before then, they'll finish the job on the night.
You know when sunlight hits the top rim of your sunglasses and for a moment you get lost in the brilliance of existence and realise that we're all just energy radiating through space? That sunset having a sound makes absolute sense, and that if you just give into the feeling you will make peace with yourself and therefore everything? If you don't, you need to open up your eyes.
Sounds like Sunset are a seriously good band. I once cried alone in my house listening to 'Inflight Movies' off Saturdays (one of the greatest Australian albums, period). I don't believe in the supernatural, but if I did, this would be my church music.
If you live in Melbourne you really should go to the Grace Darling tonight (5 July) and witness them launch this with Iowa (who are damn good in their own right! and share this Tym's split seven). Take a hankie with you, drink some red wine - and wear a pair of sunnies if you're self-conscious.
I've been listening to the White Walls debut Self-titled for a few months now and it is still right up there as album of the year for me. I have a feeling that the upcoming shows at the Crowbar on Friday, 7 June (next weekend, for those playing at home) and at Tym's guitars (the best goddam guitar shop in the entire world) the following day for a free in-store will be up there on my live list too.
I caught up with Dylan from the band for a chat:
First of all, congratulations on the
album, it’s a fucking fantastic piece of noisy craftsmanship. For me it really captures
the hopeful side of world-weariness; a sunlight through the fringe kind of deal.
Thank
you. It's really nice to hear good feedback on the record.
No worries. A lot of people up here
[Brisbane] are really looking forward to hearing those doom guitar swirls live.
It’s a sound that really fits well with the lyrical content: dealing with loss
or regret, but in a way that’s more cathartic than depressing.
I think you have summed up the feeling of the record perfectly.
Going into it did you have any particular
notions about what you wanted to convey?
Although we didn't consciously set out with any particular
notion, there is definitely a familiar feeling that flows throughout.
Can you go into a bit more depth about the
cover art on the album; it’s a very intriguing choice.
The cover art for the album was done by a good friend of
ours; Gus Lord. He was actually working on something else initially, in a
similar vein, but then came across this picture that he accidentally got paint
on and built on that to create the final design. It was perfect! We liked
the fact that it was intriguing and also felt it suited the music well.
I definitely agree with that. As a band
you seem very keen to talk about other people’s stuff that you think is worth
getting in to, between the playing, writing, listening and sharing, it’s pretty obvious music plays quite a big role in your lives.
Music
definitely plays a big role in our lives. The Melbourne music scene is thriving
these days. It’s very exciting to be a part of it.
Yeah, the Melbourne music scene seems to
be really kicking along at the moment. I get a sense of a sort of
cross-pollination making for a vibrant and healthy environment for the bands.
We
play with friend’s bands regularly and at the Gasometer Hotel more than enough
- It’s almost like a second home. So our social life pretty much revolves
around music, on top of the general listening enjoyment.
You must be stoked about getting on the
Release the Bats line up.
We
are extremely stoked on being asked to play ATP! It's a huge lineup of bands we
like. Can't wait!
Tone and volume are pretty central (even
to the sake of ‘worship’) – when you start a new song do you have a way of irking
out or describing the sounds you want, and how long will you spend finding the
right tone?
We are rather obsessed with tone, haha, this healthy
obsession has grown since we started this band. We have a good idea of how we
want new material to sound these days. Recently our setups have grown and we
have now perfected the guitar tones we want at this point in time.
Does anyone have any secrets with their setups at the moment? Personally, I’m very keen to hear how you got the epic guitar sound in ‘transmission’. There's
no real tone secrets kept from anyone that has seen us live. Basically comes
down to powerful guitar amps. The transmission guitar tone was a combination of
death by audio fuzz pedals through an orange OR120 and a JCM800. This was
pretty much the setup for this record. The next record will involve new and old
setups.
The absence of bass guitar is something
people often note about the band – was it a conscious decision at conception to
leave it out? Does it impact on the song writing process?
The
lack of bass guitar simply came from Fuj and myself both being guitarists when
we started out and alongside Rory it just felt right. We figured if we could
create a full enough sound then we wouldn't need a bass player. Some of the new
songs have bass parts written in which are played on guitar.
New songs, eh? Can we expect anything anytime
soon?
Got
a second record in the works, which we will be recording late July, so lots to
look forward to.
Get your hands on a copy of the album and the split 7" with Deep Heat (both out through the fucking incredible Poison City Records) here.
Due to a bit of an illness (don't worry I'm fine) and car issues (an ongoing concern), yesterday had me stranded. It was still an OK day - I watched a few films, started the fourth season of Justified, read some Daniel Cotterell (Winter's Bone is one of the best novellas of the past decade IMHO), started the layout for a gig in June, expanded on a short story premise, a few James Squires IPA beers to see out the day - but it was missing one vital ingredient.
Deep Heat played a free instore at Tym Guitars yesterday afternoon. I am soooooooo gutted.
The Melbourne band, featuring current and past members of Boomgates and Infinite Void amongst others, might be fairly unheralded up these parts, but (hopefully alongside geographical compatriots White Walls, and incidentally they released this sexy as 7" split a couple weeks ago) that will all change soon enough. Serving up a heady concoction of Wipers/Nation of Ulysses esque punk dissonance and esotericism with grungy dirge and a lurid gleam in the eye, the four-piece are terrifyingly titillating, a punch to the face that caresses the loins. I bought their 10" EP New Design on Record Store Day and it hasn't left my turntable for the past week. Blistering.
Buy New Design (out through Poison City Records on 10" vinyl) here. It promises to be one of the most truly exciting calling cards - their debut LP cannot come fast enough. And if you saw them play this weekend, why not tell us how it went in the comments? It gets so lonely around here...
There isn't much I can tell you, other than if you aren't out and about celebrating this at your local record store, I don't know why we are friends. So many exclusive releases, it's incredible! Here is a massive list of some of the things on offer. There is a lot of local gear too, so keep your peepers gleaned!
Here are four I'm pretty excited about:
Baltimore's Dan Deacon is a cuddly maelstrom of gummi-bear electronica, a sugar rush of giddy proportions, yet on last year's America produced a sliver of gravitas that further accentuated his relevance in the 21st century. He has a 500-press only 7" through Domino Records that utilises four - count 'em, four - drummers, two for each cut on the wax. The two tracks, 'Konomo Ripoff No 1' (essentially ripping off the Congolese Konomo No 1 - naturally), features ex-Ponytail skinsman Jeremy Hyman and percussionist Kevin O'Meara on one cut whilst the other sees ex-Double Dagger drummer/current Roomrunner frontman (and regular Dan Deacon Ensemble participant) Denny Bowen and regular Deacon cohort Dave Jacober take control. It's vintage Dan Deacon - therefore, vintage excellente.
Then there is this beautiful absurdity. Indianapolis label Joyful Noise have somehow managed to collate some serious shit under a 7" serious they are naming Cause & Effect, with the premise being an influential, historically-significant solo musician on Side A, and the modern result of that musical influence on Side B. And they ain't fucking around - the first cabs off the rank include Thurston Moore coupled with Talk Normal, Lou Barlow synced with Dumb Numbers, and David Yow vomiting arm-in-arm with Child Bite. The special, limited edition run that is available only to VIP Joyful Noise members is pressed on silver/clear split colour vinyl, while the regular edition for all the other people, is printed on black/clear colour vinyl. Amazing? Fuck yes. You can actually order too - try that here - and try some of the results here and here.
And as I mentioned last week, there is the new (posthumous) Double Dagger record 333 - only 1000, so they will sell like the proverbial. You'd be insane if you had the opportunity to pick this up and didn't - DD are definitely one of the unsung bands of the past ten years, full stop.
Finally, for some local flavour, the excellent Tym's Guitar started a record label late last year in the form of a 7" record club (which I am a part of), and it's drawing some pretty special exclusives (including an amazing Earthless one-off). This is another pretty rad one - Californian nutjob guitar rippers The Shrines. If you don't know what they are all about, think Fu Manchu, in your teens, on waaaaaaay too many Red Bull-tainted bowls. Sweet, I know.
So get there. It doesn't even matter if you buy anything. I love going to Tyms, or Title, or Rockinghorse, or Jet Black Cat, or Woolly Bully (RIP), as much to listen and to chat as I do to buy. Many friends have been made in such a place. If these places die out, so will an integral part of why music is the amazing thing that it is. And to remind you, Brisbane is having some pretty cool parties at its stores. Head to any one of the below, and trust me, it will prove to be an outstanding day - it may even change your life.
TYMS - opens at 10am. Second wave of new stock rolls out at 1pm. Bands start at 12pm, including The Nation Blue (most likely their only show in Queensland for 2013 - an absolute must-see!), Bruce!, Midnight Wolf, Emperors, Roku Music and Cannon.
Rockinghorse - opens at 9am. Bands start at 12.30 and include Per Purpose, Living Eyes, Brainbeau and Half Spoken.
Jet Black Cat Records - opens at 9am. Bands start at 12 with We All Want To, with Thelma Plum at 4 and Morning Harvey at 6.30, with a mystery band thrown in for shits and giggles.
