by Chris Familton Seemingly emerging out of nowhere, Matthew E. White’s Big Inner is quickly spreading via word-of-mouth as one of the first great albums of 2013. Those accolades are well and truly deserved for a record that balances intimacy and grand gestures so well. The ideas are simple (love and religion) yet the prolific melodies and strength of composition make it sound like a … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Matthew E. White | Big Inner
by Chris Familton Rules is the debut album from two Australian expats who met in Barcelona and spent the next two years constructing its songs. As the title suggest they set themselves some strict guidelines with which to write the instrumental music that would comprise their debut album, a record that thrives on energy, ebullient yet melancholic melodies and some brutal and primitive rhythms. Instrumental … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Civil Civic | Rules
by Chris Familton Christopher Owens surprised many when he announced the end of Girls and the start of his solo career. Though he was the central figure of that group, his synergistic musical partnership with producer/bassist JR White was integral to their success. On the other hand Owens’ intriguing back story and prolific songwriting has always suggested ambition and restlessness. Lysandre is a brief song … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Christopher Owens | Lysandre
Spencer P. Jones has a knack of surrounding himself with superb collaborators whether it be in The Beasts of Bourbon, The Johnnys, or with the likes of Paul Kelly, Chris Bailey and Kim Salmon. Now he has teamed up with James Baker (The Scientists/Hoodoo Gurus) and Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin from The Drones and recorded a fantastic collection of visceral rock songs as The … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Spencer P. Jones & The Nothing Butts
by Chris Familton Lenny Kaye compiled the seminal garage/punk-rock collection Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 forty years ago and to mark the anniversary two new compilations have been released to celebrate the equivalent Australian scenes in the late 60s and in 2012. Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations of the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 is the closest you’ll come to a snapshot of the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Nuggets – The Original, Antipodean Interpolations and Down Under…
by Chris Familton These are prolific times for Neil Young, even more so than usual with the release of two Crazy Horse albums, a memoir, continued work on next volume of Archives and the development of a new high-end digital music format. Add in touring to promote all of the above and it is something of a landmark year for the 67 year old. Psychedelic … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Psychedelic Pill
by Chris Familton Pinback sound like they inhabit a netherworld suspended between post rock and indie guitar pop and on their new album that combination of styles and a studio sheen have resulted in a diluted collection of songs. Pinback are a fantastic live band where volume and adrenalin give their songs a grounding and a stronger backbone and though Information Retrieved isn’t bereft of … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Pinback | Information Retrieved
by Chris Familton After an eight year recording hiatus The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have returned with an album that finds them in fighting form and returning to some of the touchstones that made them such an exciting and visceral rock n roll band in the 90s. Meat + Bone recaptures some of that stripped down blues and funk that the band built their name … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Meat + Bone
by Chris Familton Some bands sound like their names and in the case of Wellington duo Diving their chosen moniker makes sense as the point where you hit the water and enter a submerged world and an altered state. Your vision is altered, your ears hear things differently as sounds are filtered aquatically and the world on the surface feels like a distant place. Diving’s … Continue reading EP REVIEW: Diving | Synesthesia
by Chris Familton Of the recent spate of reunions, Dinosaur Jr’s was one of the most unlikely, but over three albums it’s proven to be one of the most successful. From the cyclical soloing and piano on opener Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know to the sleepy sway of Stick A Toe In and the rapid-fire riffs of Pierce The Morning Rain, the quota of simple ideas executed … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Dinosaur Jr. | I Bet On Sky
by Chris Familton Since the days when bands like Fugazi, Nirvana and Jesus Lizard ruled the underground of American rock, before death and hiatus cut them short, there’s been a relative sparsity of sonically like-minded bands taking up the mantle set by those and many other acts. Melvins are still carving a unique path and bands like Harvey Milk and Pissed Jeans are promising inheritors … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: METZ | METZ
by Chris Familton With a reputation born mainly from their sweat and swagger live shows, The Jim Jones Revue have finally captured some of that frantic magic on their third and best album The Savage Heart. Breathing new life into purist rock n roll isn’t an easy task when you consider the originators of the genre and the huge number of the bands over the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Jim Jones Revue | The Savage Heart
Doubtful Sounds 