The Breakdown
The shimmering, jangling guitars and harmonies of Perth band Rinehearts seemingly captures the brilliant bright Western Australian sunshine in their sound, and temper it with just a shake of yearning and melancholia.
Rinehearts, who comprise former members of Screwtop Detonators and Snowman, have just released their second album, ‘Full Bloom’, through Cheersquad Records & Tapes in Australia and New Zealand, and venerable power pop institutions Kool Kat and Rock Indiana in the US and Spain. They have also announced their Full Bloom tour, taking in shows in Victoria and WA in October.
‘Goodness’ opens the account with a boogie woogie rollicky romp with nah nah nahs, a barroom piano plonk and a bacchanalian spirit- you scared the goodness out of me.
‘Powerlines’ positively bursts through the speakers and showers you in sunshine and joy. With a chorus that’s as towering and awe inspiring as the trees in the Valley of the Giants and a wall of jangling shimmering guitars, there is a genetic link to the sixties via the psychedelic touches of fellow Western Australian luminaries of the paisley underground (Scientists, The Stems, Hoodoo Gurus).
‘Call Me Up’ has an REM buzz – sky-scraping jangles and a yearning flow with the most glorious harmonies:
‘Blue Jeans’ reminds me of Teenage Fanclub with its soaring harmonies and sky-scraping melodies. ‘Falling Down’ coast on a bed of jangling guitars with a Tom Petty sparkle and a melancholic hue.
‘Could You Would You’ is a twelve-string onslaught of powered pop that soars on layered harmonies and a breezy melody that blows like the gale force winds off the southern coast of Albany.
‘I Don’t Mind’ introduces a little steel into the mix, still leavened by the glorious harmonies that ring out above the grunge guitar fuzz. It’s a heady concoction that spills into the hyperactive pop sheen of ‘Delilah’.
‘Piling On’ has a sixties burnish with yearning vocals that harks back to bands from the paisley underground. ‘Coming True’, the final track, canters with a high-stepping pace, twisted guitar sounds and a barbed wire thrum – less jangle, more rumble but more of the same ringing harmonies.
Rinehearts again have captured a sixties carefree energy and burnished it with a contemporary sheen, wearing Byrdsian undergarments with a paisley vest and velvet suit while joining the Teenage Fanclub in updating to the modern world.
The band has been lucky enough to work with none other than legendary musician/songwriter/producer Dom Mariani (The Stems/DM3/The Some Loves/ Datura4) on production duties for the new recordings. A longtime fellow Perth resident, Mariani has described Rineharts as:
that rare band that you come across from time to time, doing their thing without a lot of fuss, but with true dedication and a knack for crafting perfect pop.
It’s a brilliant album that fizzes and sparkles with vivacity.
You can catch Rinehearts on the road launching the album:
Sat Oct 21 – Seasonal Brewery, Maylands, WA
w/ Zerodent, Dead Tooth Hottie and Paranoias
Thu Oct 26 – Espy Basement, St. Kilda, Vic
w/ Age of Iguana
Fri Oct 27 – The Eastern, Ballarat, Vic
w/ The Thing From Spring and Moondyne Joe
Sat Oct 28 (arvo)- The Eighty Six Super Saturday mini fest, Barton Fink, Thornbury, Vic
Sat Oct 28 (evening) – The Gem, Collingwood, Vic
w/ Plastic Section
Thu Nov 9 – (duo show) Vinyl Cafe, Leederville, WA
Sat Nov 11 – Maylands Street Festival, WA
Wed Nov 15 – Rechabite Hall, WA w/ Jebediah
Sat Nov 25 – The Fire Station, Bussleton, WA
Sat Dec 2 – (duo show) Freo Social, WA w/Gaz Coombes (Supergrass)
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