Track: Kite – Teenage Bliss
With an insistent, driving beat and a cinematic wall of synths, ‘Teenage Bliss’ is a blistering release from Swedish duo Kite. Reminiscent of bands like New Order and Pet Shop Boys, Kite have created a delicious slice of synth pop that is exuberant and pulse-quickening with its sequenced sounds and catapulting chorus. Touching on the …
Track: Thrillhouse – Ready When You Are
Proving themselves to be a fascinating and very exciting new band, Brighton’s Thrillhouse have followed up their brilliant single ‘Lesser’ with a brand new single ‘Ready When You Are’, a clear statement of creative intent. This is such an inventive and creative band that is producing something quite distinct and special. ‘Ready When You Are’ …
Album Review: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Sideways to the New Italy
With ‘Sideways to the New Italy’, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (RBCF) have clearly announced their presence as one of the most accomplished and uniquely Australian indie bands around. And, in my opinion, they can proudly take their place in the Pantheon of indie greats on a global stage too. However, it’s the Australian connection that …
See: Mermaidens – Bastards
New Zealand’s fabulous Mermaidens have just release a video for the song ‘Bastards’ off their album ‘Look Me In The Eye’, out now through Flying Nun Records. ‘Bastards’ is a dark brooding sleek song immeshed in melancholia and regre,t with a serpentine bass and a haunting refrain: I’ve got bruises from being too close. Mermaidens …
Track: Hatchie/The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Sometimes Always (Cover)
When you have Australia’s Queen of shoegaze/dream pop Hatchie joining with US indie pop darlings The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in a cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s iconic ‘Sometime Aways’, your heart is brimmed full of gladness. The fact that 100% of sales from this release on Bandcamp Day this Friday, 5 …
Track: Dead Famous People – Goddess of Chill plus album news
Dons Savage, the creative force behind the legendary Dead Famous People, has had an extraordinary but brief career in the eighties – she sang on The Chill’s brilliant and aptly named hit ‘Heavenly Pop Hit’, signed to Flying Nun Records, moved to London from her native New Zealand just after the peak of the Dunedin …
Track: The Brave Faces – Lots of Nights Out
Brighton’s The Brave Faces follow up their impressive debut ‘In The Dark’ (premiered by me earlier this year) with ‘Lots of Nights Out’, another pure pop indie delight. The song captures the ennui of being out with people you don’t particularly like, with a sly sense of humour and a witty turn of phrase: Lots …
Album Review: Warmer – Wooden Box with Strings
Warmer is the project of Nature Strip’s John Encarnacao – Backseat reviewed their last EP, Past Pacific, back in 2018. More recently the other main songwriter in The Nature Strip, Pete Marley, released ‘Savoury-toothed Tiger’ under the name Marveline which I reviewed last last month. With the release of Warmer’s new album ‘Wooden Box with …
Track: The Blind Owls – There’s Something About That Girl
For those who like their rock’n’roll a little scuzzy, a little dirty with a whiff of the sixties and a dash of reverb, The Blind Owls fit the bill perfectly. There’s a little Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds, a little The Cramps, a touch of The Gun Club and the Stray Cats – …
Track: Sweater Curse – Close
Brisbane’s Sweater Curse have just released the fantastic single ‘Close’, which has to be in my opinion one of the most bubbly, bouncy pop hits of the year so far. ‘Close’ has sky-high anthemic choruses, a certain indie pop sensibility and enough grit and grunge to be effervescently cool. And through the bubblegum pop melodies, …