Woozy Paintings At Dusk

Last week London duo Ultimate Painting released their third album Dusk through Trouble In Mind Records (grab it here). I still haven't had the pleasure of hearing it in full yet - but i have been enjoying the two tracks off it, opener 'Bills' and 'Song For Brian Jones'. These tracks are more about gauzy autumnal pastoral psych pop - the former is more about the overbearing weight that bears down the have-nots, while the latter breezes along, named after the Rolling Stones co-founder who died in 1969, the year the Free Love movement died at Altamont, woozy and maudlin in the dappled shadows. These guys keep getting better and better - I suggest you head to the Islington Assembly Hall tonight - get tickets here.

Island Fears Forever

It's been a while, but Brighton band Fear Of Men have finally resurfaced, announcing sophomore record Fall Forever (pre-order it through Kanine Records in gold vinyl with a extra cassette here). The new taste of it, 'Island', is a sonorous, cavernous pop bliss bomb, Jessica Weiss' vocals soaring over the shimmering wash and kinetic pattering drums, a song of comfort amidst loneliness, an epiphany of needing the embrace and lead of another to take control in a relationship, or indeed of one's own life. It is over so quickly, a fleeting yet warming re-introduction. It's been a while since I embraced music of this ilk (maybe Globelamp? Or the less melancholic moments of Veronica Falls?), yet 'Island' hits home.

Pete's Right To Cry Over Spilt Milk

Last year I saw a gig at the Old Fire Station in Stoke Newington, headlined by Slowcoaches. I bumped in to fellow Brisbanite Susan Milanovic, who used to drum for the excellent Feathers (which also featured Roku Music/Deafcult/Tiny Spiders/Thigh Master/etc genius and all round dude Innez Tulloch). She mentioned she wanted to get back into playing, and was jamming with this guy who used to be in a few indie bands some time ago. That guy is Pete Astor, of The Loft and Weather Prophets fame, and the result is Spilt Milk, coming out on Fortuna Pop. It's a classy affair all round - recorded by James Hoare (Veronica Falls, Ultimate Painting) and playing most of the instruments, ably supported by Pam Berry (Withered Hand, Black Tambourine), Robin Christian (Male Bonding), Alison Cotton (The Left Outsides) and Jack Hayter (Hefner). The first sip at the chalice is 'My Right Hand'. Spilt Milk promises to have a pastoral motorik undercurrent driving Astor's esoteric guitar pop stylings. 'My Right Hand' is an ode to all best friends, through thick and thin, with a twinkle in the eye. Flying Nun and McLennan/Forster shines brightly in the background.

No Free Agent

Angie has another album on the way in Free Agent. For a very short period (like, a couple of days) I thought it might have been a Sonic Masala release, but Rice Is Nice have done us the pleasure of putting out this incredible record. This isn't as scabrous as her first solo record Turning, but is a great addition to what is an ever-intriguing musical voice in the Australian music undergrowth.

It starts out in a maudlin space on 'Breathing In Blue', Angie's haunting vocals echoing over the crashing of waves and plaintive keys. 'Crocodile Tears' takes us into a chugging rhythm, a garage nosedive haunting the twilight backwaters. (Angie might kill me here, but when the pace slows here, I feel the spectre of Hole's 'Doll Parts' in delivery and atmosphere - but for me it's an inimitably good thing, especially when given the scuffed up and forlorn treatment as it is here). 'Down For The Count' has even more grit in its teeth, a slackjawed swagger and sway, a rock tune that is rough in production and delivery. Things get more 70s glam punk on 'Out Of Age', with a tinny production that sounds both cavernous and transistor radio, and it slays. 'Paris Face' has a lilt in its rollicking throwback rock that reminds me of Veronica Falls at their most avuncular. 'Ricky Street' shuffles along with a more world-weary bent, and the guitar solo holds that burden like Neil Young at his most rustically rambunctious. In some ways mirroring the opener, 'The Bell Rings True' is Angie and keys, but this time a little more avant-pop, the keys following Angie's lilts and swoons, a plaintive accompaniment, and an effectively stark closer.

You can hear the aural fingerprints of Straight Arrows bandmate Owen Penglis in the conception of Free Agent, yet this is definitely Angie's beast, one we should all be celebrating. It comes out via Rice Is Nice and friend Nathan Roche's Glenlivet A Gogh Records next month - cannae wait (pre-order it here).

VIDEO VACUUM - Kirin J Callinan, Bleached, Charles Howl, Evening Hiss

It's November already?? Wow. No wonder I'm so tired. And lazy. I'm going to stop doing work now (it's 10am) and watch some music videos. You can too if you want, I'm not the boss of you.



Kirin J Callinan certainly ruffled a lot of feathers and beguiled many others with his debut album Embracism. I personally find his music far better in person, with visuals. That's why I tend to look forward to his film clips more than sitting down for just an aural taste. He hasn't disappointed thus far, and this incredible video for that album's 'Landslide' is incredible. Whilst it certainly helps that the song is probably my favourite from the album, the sight of Callinan hanging upside down above an ocean - that's in the sky - is incredible. And for whatever reason, I always get a kick out of seeing a dog swim. So win win, really.



Lots of bands get a kick out of having Halloween-themed songs for this bizarre commercialised holiday in America, whether it be kitschy tweaked originals or covers. Bleached have taken the former with 'Love Spells', a song that isn't really any different from what they do in the daytime, but have a decidedly ghoulish 80s VHS-era video to go with it. It's all incredibly fun, even if there are some evocative images held within (the woman with the severed hand and bloody crucifix in particular stick in the mind...)



Charles Howl is on the prowl, but he promises he will do you no harm. That doesn't appease me though, what with his extensive usage of white and the sleeping girl. He kicks off with his crotch in our face as he does up his fly! There's a glowing orb and smoke! Wait - he's going to smother her! Or is he? What a creep...or is he actually hugely misunderstood? Meh. He plays a mean garage line, and seeing as he has aligned himself to PNKSLM, he can't be all bad... Really looking forward to hearing more of this.


Evening Hiss - Melt from Daniel Ford on Vimeo.

Daniel Ford know no limits. I could be referencing seminal 90s act 2 Unlimited there. Maybe Ford should cover it? Probably not. He is in a gazillion local bands that would do a good job of it though - Black Vacation, Thigh Master, Kids Cryptic, just to name a few. Here is a song from solo project Evening Hiss, that started as a complement to an art exhibition he has coming up. This effort will be put out on limited release, and based on this track you will be sorry if you miss out. Or just pissed that someone has so much bloody talent to burn.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

There's Nobody There At Veronica Falls To Need You Around

A quick post about London guitar noirish popsters Veronica Falls. They are making a mad dash for Australian shores to play two exclusive shows - tonight in Sydney at GoodGod, then tomorrow at Melbourne's Northcote Social Club. No Brisbane show is a true slap in the face. Nevertheless, they do have a new single that is almost appropriately titled 'Nobody There', out in time for the tour. It will be available on 7" in December through Wichita (pre-order it here), so this is the best way to hear it for now.


If you happen to be in Asia over the next fortnight, you will have ample opportunity to catch them in full flight. See the dates below.

NOVEMBER
2 - Camp Symmetry Festival, Singapore
6 - Voice Space, Bangkok
7 - Freeman’s Sporting Club, Tokyo
8 - Cay, Tokyo
9 - Est, Tokyo
10 - Noon, Osaka
12 - Backstage, Hong Kong

NB - Veronica Falls just released this song, 'Need You Around' a few hours ago. This will have to suffice missing the shows, then...

Kamikaze Danya Loses It Over Teenage Burritos

Here's an enamouring 7" that came out a few weeks ago through Volar records from San Diego band Teenage Burritos. The band is a bit of a "supergroup" (as in there are members of Christmas Island and Plateaus in the mix, with Andreas from Swedish killers Holograms appearing on the B-side track 'Kamikaze'), and this debut single 'Danya' is a lot of sunny yet grimy take on upper echelon punk. The tracks were recorded on an 8-track where the tape caught jammed, so the warble throughout the two tracks is accidental yet sublime - offering an off-kilter immediacy. 'Kamikaze' in particular slays, and the band have intimated that their upcoming LP (that will be out through Volar and Burger Records any day now - we'll be back on that when it hits our clammy hands) will follow in this vein. They do remind me of a more urgent younger sibling of Veronica Falls, which is a great thing indeed. I don't care how young or old the burritos are, just give me a lifetime supply.

Buy Danya/Kamikaze from Volar Records here.

Big Waves Are Hard

English super independent label Art Is Hard continue to churn out the releases, and the latest one to grab is this AA side cassette (in gold!) from Torquay golden kids Big Wave. It floats on the periphery of the C86-enamoured Fortuna Pop! crowd without succumbing to the more saccharine tropes - an imminently good thing. Big Wave have been in cahoot with AIH for years, appearing on their Dry Route To Devon compilation as well as their Bi-Weekly Pizza Singles Club, and this first full release amply steps up these original slices of jangly pop whilst straddling the euphoric with the morbid a la Veronica Falls ('GW Bridge' being a song about one of New York's most "popular" suicide spots).  I actually prefer this track more than 'Goldmine' - although on repeated listens it won me over. Nevertheless, it's two songs of pristine hooks and melodies, enough to melt this twisted heart at least.

Goldmine/GW Bridge comes out May 20 - preorder it here.

Big Wave - GW Bridge

Losing Sanity On These Juan Wauters

I meant to post about this 7" on Thursday TWO WEEKS AGO, but as always things got a little caught up...so here it is.

It has been a little while since we've heard anything from NY spazzniks The Beets. Their last release wasn't all that long ago - they released two albums in 2011, after all - but with their proclivity for brevity and insanity, it's not hard to understand why the wait has been a little concerning. Fear not, however, as frontman Juan Wauters spreads his wings and his sanity thin by taking on the solo thang. Sanity is the 7" single (see what I did in the last sentence? DO YOU SEE?), and it's a two minute slice of pop irreverence sublimely rendered for your easy and repeated consumption. It's radness in other words, and hope this isn't the only thing we hear from either of Wauters' acts in 2013...

You can buy Sanity here through Wayward Records. Wauters played Shea Stadium in New York last Thursday with Brisbane's own Dune Rats, hence me wanting to post back then. Wauters had been very keen for that particular show - I'm sure Dune Rats were the ones showing their gratitude by night's end... he has done a tour with Veronica Falls recently and has some Beets dates lined up too, so all's swell. Here's the rest of the dates:

04.09.13 - Brooklyn, NY - Silent Barn w/Sea Lions (THIS IS TONIGHT!!! GET ON THIS NYers!) 04.17.13 - Wilkes-Barre, PA - The Crimson Lion
04.18.13 - Oberlin, OH - Oberlin College
04.19.13 - Columbus, OH - Double Happiness
04.20.13 - Chicago, IL - TBA
04.21.13 - Ypsilanti, MI - Woodruff's
05.04.13 - Brooklyn, NY - Death By Audio w/Bass Drum of Death

 

Friday (Night) Cover Up - Zoo Fallout Leaves Me Joed Out

Late in the night. Just went and saw Deerhoof tear the Zoo apart, supported by the elegantly eclectic Primitive Motion (bought their cassette to boot) and one of the best young bands in Australia, Blank Realm (inexplicably short set, yet was pretty damn great nonetheless). After many beers, found it hard to fight the urge to smoke - but I did it. Seriously, quitting anything is hard and pretty bogus, health risk or no. Anyway, I forgot a Friday Cover Up, and in lieu of missing out on Veronica Falls' current covers EP (at only 300 copies it was going to be hard to get it, yet Rough Trade's website did me an injustice by telling me there were copies, to go through to checkout, put my details in, then be told it was sold out - grrrr...) I'm listening to the equally rare Veronica Falls covers EP from last year. Especially their Verlaines cover - 'Joed Out' is a great song anyway, so it's a great way to wind down the wee hours. Good night kids.

  Veronica Falls - Joed Out (Verlaines cover)

Veronica Falls Beats 4 U

Sonic Masala is a big fan of London trio Veronica Falls. Their self-titled debut last year was mightily impressive, mentioned in our best of lists for 2011. So obviously we are fervently excited to hear that new material is following suit. Now here is a new track, 'My Heart Beats'. Recorded by London wunderkind Rory Attwell (Warm Brains), only last week, and you will notice how the sound palette is ever expanding. There is a flicker of Raveonettes in how the big sound seems at odds to the DIY aesthetics of the band's sound, but it invariably works. They are still dark though, and that's why we love em.

Currently completing a US tour with another up-and-comer, Bleached, Veronica Falls returns to the UK and greater Europe in March for a string of shows.

Veronica's Bad Fall Feeling

London's Veronica Falls have been hovering around the edges of success for a while now, and whilst they haven't had the leg up that Male Bonding or even Fair Ohs have had, they still hold their own and punch well above their wait. That said, the slog may be about to come somewhat easier as their debut self-titled album prepares to drop like a meteor in October (thanks to Slumberland Records). Carrying on from the momentum built by great tracks 'Beachy Head' and 'Found Love In A Graveyard' (haven't we all?...no, really??), 'Bad Feeling' rolls forth like a bad acid trip of a Western set in a fictional land between the surf of Big Sur and the hairpin turns of Devilgate Drive. This is the 60s rock hit from an alternate universe that we have all been waiting for. These guys appear to have nailed the Dick Dale/The Shadows-tinged surf rock, the Shangri-Las style of hip-swaying doo-wop brilliance and a dash of Morricone mysticism that has inexplicably become a salient focus in indie rock circles. The B-side 'Back Page' is just as delicious, recorded with Rory Attwell (what ISN'T this guy doing?). This is a release Im very excited about. They will also be playing the Lexington in London in October, then touring the UK with Dum Dum Girls in November. No plans to come down to Australia...yet...but we can take solace that another solid album is on its way.

Buy the Bad Feeling 7" and/or pre-order the Veronica Falls LP here.


Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling by Bella Union

Old Volcanoes Warm The Brain

Whether its my dislocation from the London scene since my sudden departure to Brisbane some six months ago, but I hadn’t heard much at all of note of Warm Brains, the solo project of Rory Atwell (Test Icicles, KASMs). Atwell has proven his worth as a producer of late, working his DIY grungey aesthetics on SM faves Male Bonding, Fair Ohs, Cold Pumas and Veronica Falls amongst others. Yet here he is, refusing to sit idle, releasing his debut album Old Volcanoes (August 1 on Marshall Teller Records).

Loud & Quiet Magazine’s claims that he is wasted behind the mixing desk is a debatable one, but he sure has a talent in his own right as a musician. What this album showcases is a knack for slacker noise pop that not only matches its current contemporaries, but hints at the type of longevity that some of the genre’s innovators lacked, especially when considering the fact that Atwell wrote, performed and produced all of the tracks unaided other than some vocal collaborations (and seeing the vocal talent - Roxanne from Veronica Falls, Gemma from Trogons and Florence from Paradise – it’s easy to see why he roped these lasses in).

Its all very exciting, moreso when considering the promise of Warm Brains performances all over the UK this summer. Garnering help from Joe Ryan (Fair Ohs) and Anna Jones (Brothers), Atwell kicked off his plan for global domination on Saturday with their appearance at the Shoreditch 1-2-3-4 Festival, and are playing the following ace shows:

July 21st – The Garage, London (Islington) w/ Not Cool & Novella
July 31st – The Chameleon, Nottingham w/ Let’s Wrestle
August 3rd – album launch @ CAMP, London w/ Fair Ohs, Cold Pumas, Colours (plus both Male Bonding and Tom Vek will be DJing!)


Pre-order Old Volcanoes here.

Warm Brains – Marble Arch

Falling for Beachy Head