Cigarettes and Science

Some of you may remember Sarah’s post on Perth band POND back in March – others may remember witnessing POND play one of the most rousing sets at Campus A Low Hum 2011. Nick Allbrook is POND’s lead vocalist and he also plays bass in Tame Impala. Along with his friend Cameron Avery he also forms half of Allbrook/Avery, creating garage rock with a hint of ’60s psychedelia. The duo started writing music together in early 2011 when Allbrook moved into a vacant room at Avery’s house, and the result is a weird mash of frutti-tutti pop, crunching garage rock guitars and Clean-style casio riffs. It’s all very childish – the same way Syd Barrett made music to satisfy his inner adolescence. Some of their songs have sing-a-long vocal hooks (‘Empty’), others are dominated by driving guitar riffs that sound straight out of the 1960′s (‘Wait ’til Morning’), but there’s nothing wrong with sounding retro, especially when the music’s got the swagger of The Roling Stones and the lightening riffs of The Velvet Underground.

Allbrook/Avery’s debut album tilted Big ‘Art is out now via Spinning Top Music and can be purchased digitally through Amazon and iTunes. A vinyl release is coming soon. Check out the band’s new single ‘Wait ’til Morning’ and download it, along with their first single ‘Empty’ below.

Allbrook/Avery- Wait ’til Morning: MP3

Allbrook/Avery- Empty: MP3

Allbrook/Avery on Facebook

Posted by Nick Fulton under Australia, Perth
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Floating In Your Head

Adelaide’s Manor (formerly Our Husband) cast a spell with their super melodic pop single ‘Rhodesia’, which seems to conjure up a slightly sad spirit. Nathaniel Morse and Caitlin Duff joined forces in the beginning of this year and show their talents with this song. Bursting with jangly guitar, sparse drumming and their serenely beautiful dual vocals, the result is fresh, unencumbered pop that will have you coming back for more. Nathaniel’s circular reverb-drenched guitar riffs form a pattern that’s barely dented by the primitive drumming, and his fragile but forceful singing leads the way while Caitlin’s surreal wordless vocals provide a sound backing.

The band is currently recording their debut album, planned for release next year with Gaga Digi.

Manor on iTunes
Manor on Facebook

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Adelaide, Australia
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Fox On Stilts

Melbourne’s finest space-punk raconteurs are back with a new single, titled ‘Fat Monk’, taken from their hotly anticipated second album Let Music & Bodies Unite, out through Sensory Projects in September. Strangely though, this new track reminds me more of Adrian Tregonning, Andrew Noble and Daphne Shum’s other band No Zu, whom they perform live with rather than write material for (that’s left up to No Zu’s Nicolaas Oogjes). And unlike Rat vs Possum’s excellent debut album Daughter Of Sunshine, which was heavily infused with a riotous jungle spirit, with a lot of eclectic electronic sounds mixing with unusually warped percussion, ‘Fat Monk’ rides heavily on a scatty multi-layered synth line and a bouncy bass riff. Shum’s vocals are also a dominant force, much like those of a staunch shoegaze artist shouting through a wall of vociferous noise. There’s also a lack of layers attached to this new song, unless you count the intertwining synths, which perhaps suggests that the band is sticking to a more traditional formula, closing the lid on further ambitious experimentations. One critic has already noted that Let Music & Bodies Unite is more accessible than Daughter Of Sunshine.

Melbourne fans can see the band play their first live show since finishing the album, on August 20, as part of the launch of SMEG’s Fringe play Nausea’s Reprieve at TopShed in Fitzroy.

You can purchase Rat vs Possum’s debut album Daughters Of Sunshine and other selected band merchandise from their bandcamp page.

Rat vs Possum- Fat Monk: MP3

Grab a high quality download of ‘Fat Monk’

Rat vs Possum on Facebook

Posted by Nick Fulton under Australia, Melbourne
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I’m A Lost Cowboy

Former Christchurch – now Melbourne – dweller Dove Bailey has created a sequel to his previous musical project FuturNari and has called it A art. In line with his previous solo release Another Unlikely Hero: II, the Game Boy/chiptune artist has stuck with the game sounds but gone all sentimental, with lyrics about indecisive feelings and conflicting emotions. Using two Game Boys, one playing chords and the other providing drone (filtered through a Korg Monotron), and a distorted floor tom, his songs are bleak and saturated with sad miscalculations about life. One would hope Dove’s music doesn’t reflect what’s going on in his real life, because his songs reveal a very negative outlook. Unlike his previous release, which sounded more like a boy messing around creating quirky sound effects, A art can not be dismissed as in-offensive dance pop. The songs here portray characteristics of his previous experience with chiptune, but offer a more discerned and mature approach towards creating something meaningful and musical.

You can name your own price for a download of Dove’s A art EP from his Bandcamp page.

A art- Every So Often: MP3

A art- I Can Guess: MP3

Posted by Nick Fulton under Australia, Melbourne
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Beard/No Beard

A Dead Forest Index finally have their first video. Directed, shot and edited by their friend Leah Robertson, the video for ‘Distance’ (from the band’s Antique EP) has a natural feel that captures the band really well. Interlacing clips of them playing on a deck with footage of them and a few others observing a strange, slow, gypsy dance performed by the suavely-suited Vachel Spirason, the easy, straight-forward video style lends a relaxed nature to the band. Instead of going for something dramatic and atmospheric, which could have easily accompanied a song of such emotional weight, Leah has captured the band at their casual best, and given Sam (percussion) and Adam Sherry (vocals, guitar)’s personalities the space to shine. It’s great to see further things being released by one of our favourite bands.

Download A Dead Forest Index’s Antique EP for free (released via New Zealand label Sonorous Circle).

A Dead Forest Index- Facebook

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Australia, Melbourne
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Gypsy Hangover

If the sound of unoiled bicycle chains and speeding freight trains appeals to you then check out Sydney’s Holy Balm. Their Sellotaped psychotronica is like a polyrhythmic dust cloud; like a giant cat fight played through synthesisers and distortion pedals. They create the kind of wild gypsy hangover that’s both hypnotic and annoying, a complete brain melter if you’re in the mood for something slightly medieval and weird. The three-piece has a reputation for throwing some of the wildest parties in Sydney and have recently shared the stage with The Boredoms, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and Sun Araw. Their latest 7″ single released on Hustle Muscle (which appears to only be available in Australia) in February is a display of the band’s delayed adolescence. A-side ‘Hand Over Fire’ is a cracking jam and you can listen to it below.

Holy Balm- Tumblr

Holy Balm- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Australia, Sydney
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You’ve Got Me Messed Up

RITES WILD is a solo drone outfit from Adelaide, Australia credited to Stacey Wilson, fitting quite nicely into the witch house genre of spooky keyboard psych. Like a kind 0f futuristic blizzard, her music sounds caked in ice that slowly melts to reveal multiple layers of analogue keyboard buzz and various drum patterns. Her voice cries out like a small pixie sized yeti, becoming more approachable as the songs wind and tease their way towards a dark, doomy conclusion. There’s a real genuine ghostliness to the music that’s contextualised by the witch house tag, but there’s something also vaguely transparent that allows you to get hooked in and swept away.  If you’re a fan of Caught Ship, Zola Jesus or Emily Reo then RITES WILD’s deathly tones are probably for you.

Wilson released her debut EP for free download (available from Bandcamp) on March 16.

RITES WILD – Make Plans: MP3

RITES WILD – Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Adelaide, Australia
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Forest Surprise

Pond created an amazing dream funk revival party with their set at Campus A Low Hum, enticing the sun-drenched crowd to dance like they were at Woodstock. With exotic, grandiose songs steeped in nostalgia for 60s and 70s radio rock, their psychedelia-soaked synth meltdowns and catastrophic drum beats backed with swirling europhic sounds was a delightful afternoon surprise. ‘Annie Orangetree’ is definitely my favourite song of theirs, it sounds ecstatic with its weird hair-metal epiphany and never-ending upbeat vibe. Dappled piano melodies linger with weary guitar riffs and tired vocals in ‘Sunlight Cardigan’. Definitely reminiscent of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti in songs like ‘Cloud City’, it’s silly and fun with a real headbanging enthusiasm. It sounds less consciously constructed than three of the members’ (Jay Watson, Nick “Paisley Adams” Allbrook and Kevin Parker) other band, blog-famed Tame Impala. Pond’s is the kind of music that wins your heart over your mind.

Watch a video of Ben Barrington making the cover art for their latest single ‘Greens Pool’ on their Facebook page. You can buy a piece of the art with the 7″ single, and get their albums from Badminton Bandit. See just how much fun they have in the video for ‘Annie Orangetree’, below.

Pond- Annie Orangetree: MP3

Pond- Greens Pool: MP3

Pond- Myspace

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Australia, Perth
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Spiritual Heatwave/ No Doz

NO ZU were one of the best kept secrets of Campus A Low Hum 2011, a wonderfully surprising party band that encouraged everyone to dance. Once Nick and I arrived home in Auckland and wiped the grins off our faces and the camping grime off our skin, we discovered a lovely email from NO ZU’s main man, Nicolaas Oogjes. The multi-instrumentalist (who played in Tantrums for a year and also Tic Toc Tokyo) alerted us to his band of revolving members’ free download EP that was released by New Weird Australia on February 10. A warped and wicked, slanted psych dance collaboration of unsettled horns, itchy drums, plunky bass and seriously sun-damaged synths, New Age is a mind-bending, lighthearted listen. Standout ‘Ghastly Blank’ installs My Disco-style brutal bass chunks with The Fall’s brand of spontaneous and distant vocals with foghorn melodies. It’s other-world dance, alien trance and visceral punk all rolled into one, and while it feels considerably different to their high-energy, relentlessly funky CALH sets, it still has the same enrapturing, curious style that made them so exciting in the first place.

NO ZU- Ghastly Blank: MP3

Download NO ZU- New Age for free

NO ZU- Facebook

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Australia, Melbourne
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An Accurate Reflection

From Tasmania, Australia, Tiger Choir’s washy rhythms spread like a contagious disease, sending cascading electronics and heavily cushioned reverb out into the atmosphere. The three-piece band consisting of Hamish Cruickshank, Sam Nicholson and Eliot Taylor describe themselves as “a bit all over the place”, bouncing between songs littered with electronic samples to songs cut using guitars, adopting a more traditional post-punk viscosity.  All have a kind of reflective nature, sounding like double takes rebounding off a two-way mirror. There’s an airy, slightly shambolic combustion happening, but in some way it sounds sweet and melodic, like a gentle meandering Tasmanian river, deep, slow and muddy.

The band currently has a self-titled EP up for grabs on Bandcamp, which they released in October 2009. In the not to distant future they plan to release their debut album Unicycles, and they have kindly offered a free download of ‘Dancer’, track 5 and the second single off the album. They’re supporting Deerhunter at a couple of shows in Australia then heading to New Zealand for a summer tour, including a performance at Campus A Low Hum in Bulls later this week- the dates are listed below.

February 8- The Metro Theatre, Sydney (Aus) (supporting Deerhunter)
February 9- Billboard, Melbourne (Aus) (supporting Deerhunter)
February 11-13- Campus A Low Hum, Bulls (NZ)
February 15- Happy, Wellington (NZ)
February 17- Whammy, Auckland (NZ)
February 18- El Santo, Christchurch (NZ)

Tiger Choir – Dancer: MP3

Tiger Choir- Bandcamp

Tiger Choir- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Australia, Tasmania
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