album review
Album Review: The forecast is far from ‘Partly Cloudy’ for FLOWERTRUCK’s irrepressible and sparkling second album.
We’ve long been fans of Sydney/Illawarra band FLOWERTRUCK who have perfected an antipodean-flavoured brand of indie pop that has a genetic link to an amalgam of The Go-Betweens and The Apartments on one side of the ditch, and the Dunedin sound epitomised by Flying Nun roster of The Bats and The Chills on the other side. Blinding …
Album Review: Prudence’s ‘Negatives’ takes us into the heart of darkness – an ominous, brooding collection of treasures that glitters in the void.
With psychedelic-inflected vocals, nuanced and louche, the ghostly apparition that is Tom Crandles’s musical project Prudence has just released ‘Negatives’. It is a gothic-flavoured collection that reflects the period of turmoil over the last few years, bleeding through every pore, and yet seems to offer a glimpse of hope in the end. Opening track ‘Introduction’ …
Album Review: Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird unveil the glorious and majestic ‘Smiles of Earth’, out through Double Drummer, on the eve of a national tour.
‘Smiles of Earth’ is quite simply a glorious album and, for me, immediately takes its place as one of my contenders for album of the year. The new album from Melbourne outfit Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird (CTBNF), out through the esteemed Double Drummer, is a perfect storm of incredible songwriting, magnificent instrumentation and an …
Album review: Hobart post-punk trio, Liquid Nails, unleash powerful debut, self-titled LP
Post punk Tasmanian 3-piece band, Liquid Nails have been together since 2019. Subtract 2 years for a global pandemic, mix it with the glacial pace of offshore pressing and shipping, and they have, in a timely fashion, banged out their debut LP! The 12 inch 45rpm self-titled album (in true punk tradition) delivers 10 blistering …
Album Review: The Valery Trails’ ‘The Sky is Blue’ is an antipodean-flavoured collection of indelible anthems and evocative imagery.
The new album ‘The Sky is Blue’ is a glorious collection of antipodean indie pop vignettes from Brisbane outfit The Valery Trails – an album that is anthemic and bold. With a euphoric use of horns and a jingle jangle pop swing, opening track ‘Jaisalmer’ recalls the anthemic glory of fellow Brisbanites The Saints in their …
Album Review: Tegh & Adel Poursamadi – Ima ایما : probing electro-acoustic possibilities and reaching to the future.
As a practitioner and sound artist Shahin Entezami (aka Tegh) has produced a consistent stream of expansive works which have put him at the forefront of the Iranian experimental music scene, a community that continues to reach way beyond its homeland. His music entranced under the melodic swell of 2015’s undulating ‘Night Scenes’ then took …
Album Review: Horsegirl fulfill all promises in the stunning ‘Versions of Modern Performance’ – one of the most authentic and exciting debuts.
There is a visceral discordancy and inherent chaos that threads throughout ‘Versions of Modern Performance’, the debut album from Chicago trio Horsegirl, (out through Matador Records/Remote Control Records). This anarchy is magically and stunningly resolved by the bitter sweet melodies and harmonies that cloak and bind the barbed-wire strands. The oft dissociated, disconnected vocals are …
Album Review: Rubber Oh – Strange Craft
During lockdown, Sam Grant – part of the godlike (or more appropriately, hellish), Sabbathian riff-age of Pigs x7, and also studio engineer at Newcastle’s Blank Studios – gave birth to Rubber Oh firstly as a pure and unfettered personal creative outlet between recording the myriad bands at his studio. Rubber Oh’s celestial jouissance was conjured in …
Album Review: HIGH ACE to Unveil Stunning Debut Album Release “Snowcap Menace”
Every now and then, a full-length LP/CD comes along that stops you dead in your tracks. Snowcap Menace is unmistakably one such album. The brainchild of Australian folk-rock husband & wife duo, Jeff Lang and Alison Ferrier, Snowcap Menace is a virtual cornucopia of the pair’s musical influences and varying styles, ranging from blues, ethno-folk …
Album Review: Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers
The thing about Kendrick Lamar albums is that they become, in their own way, cultural touchstones. To Pimp a Butterfly immediately became regarded as one of the best albums, certainly rap albums, of all time. Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City became enough of a force in its own right to be recognisable by an acronym. Damn., …