backseat downunder
Track: Sydney’s power pop maestros The Nature Strip return to the fray with a bit of essential ‘Surgery’ and a launch gig.
It’s been a while since The Nature Strip brightened our world with their brand of quirky, intelligent power pop (last seen back in 2018 with the EP ‘Past Pacific’, reviewed by me here). In the intervening time, however, they haven’t really left us at all – John Encarnacao’s Warmer project and Pete Marley’s Marveline project …
Album Review: Brisbane’s Noir et Blanc (Amber Ramsay from Cloud Tangle) unveils the ambient classicism of ‘Wallflower Pedestrian’: a beautiful immersive sonic journey.
Noir et Blanc is the new vehicle for Brisbane’s prodigious dream pop wonder Amber Ramsay from the ethereal Cloud Tangle. And ethereal is an adjective that’s going to get quite a run in this review. Where Noir et Blanc departs from Ramsay’s other work is that the music is solely instrumental – a sort of …
News: The enigmatic prince of funk Donny Benét announces new EP, global tour dates and new instrumental single ‘Le Piano’
Sydney-based composer Donny Benét has perfected a brand of uber cool funk – driven by his proficient bass playing – that has caught the world’s attention, with past albums stretching back to his 2011 debut ‘Don’t Hold Back’. COVID restrictions prevented Benét touring his last album ‘Mr Experience’ in 2020 but to salve the pain, …
Track: Perth’s Great Gable’s new single ‘Our Love’ is a gliding, soaring slice of sparkling sunshine. Plus tour news.
‘Our Love’, the new single from Westerns Australia’s Great Gable, eases through the consciousness like a bird gliding through a cloudless blue sky: the sparse and evocative music fluttering and turning effortlessly while the vocals are soft and easy. The result is something quite mesmerising, like lying in a floatation tank while your senses drift …
Track: Sydney punksters Fangz bare all in their new thumping slice of punky pop ‘Falling Is Pretty Normal’ and announce Australian tour.
Like an unleashed hungry junkyard dog, Fangz are heading straight for your jugular – a unrelenting wall of thumping pumping punky rock blasting like a tornado through your head in the new single ‘Falling Is Pretty Normal’. In executing such a visceral blast, the band is not afraid to deal with themes of loss and …
Album Review: Mild Orange emit incandescent rays of sunshine in their new shimmering album ‘Looking For Space’: a dream pop classic that sets a high benchmark for 2022.
New Zealand’s dream pop maestros Mild Orange have been casting light into the shadows of the past two years with a steady supply of pulsating, glossy and shimmering singles. ‘Looking For Space’ is the ultimate result: a collection of mesmerising and intoxicating tracks that confirm Mild Orange’s glorious contribution to the global stage. When we …
Track: New Zealand power popsters The Beths unveil ebullient fizzy single with a dark message ‘A Real Thing’, and announce signing to Ivy League Records.
New Zealand band The Beths‘ ability to delivery frenetic ebullient pop is never more evident than in their endearing new single ‘A Real Thing’: a powerhouse of a track that bubbles and sparkles like an opened bottle of shaken fizz. There is an almost naïve delivery, certainly a low-fi blitz and a dash of yearning …
News: Fremantle’s Spacey Jane announce new album ‘Here Comes Everybody’, sweetened even more by the release of the gentle melancholy bop of new single ‘Sitting Up’, and announce UK/European tour.
After the last few years of ever increasing accolades, Spacey Jane continue to impress with the release of the gentle melancholy pop of new single ‘Sitting Up’, accompanying news of their new album ‘Here Comes Everybody’ set for release on 10 June 2022 via AWAL Recordings. ‘Sitting Up’ encapsulates that Spacey Jane sound: crisp, crystalline …
Premiere: Sydney’s oWo unveil the post punk arctic blast of ‘Super Role Model’, the title track for debut album due out on 25 February.
We are very pleased to premiere today the new track ‘Super Role Model’ from Sydney trio oWo: a slinky louche slice of attitude-laden post punk rock. With a sardonic and dissociated vocals imbued with a sneery attitude, the music is dramatic and bold with shards of guitar slicing the ether. There is an archetypal Australian …
Track: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets release the convivial fuzz of ‘Bubblegum Infinity’ ahead of album release and tour news.
It’s so invigorating to see Psychedelic Porn Crumpets transform their powerhouse status in an immense number of ways. Their music is equally as addictive as it is stupefying, and they prove that time and time again with their latest single ‘Bubblegum Infinity’, another single taken from their forthcoming fifth album ‘Night Gnomes’. An auspicious intro …