written by Chris Familton This has been a bumper year for wistful guitar music brimming with melodies and laidback vibes – perfectly suited to soundtracking either a dreary autumn day or the warming expectation of summer. Real Estate, Girls and Oh Mercy are at the more immediate end of the spectrum but not far behind are a gang of Melbourne musicians in bands like Twerps … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Twerps | Twerps
written by Chris Familton Noisy guitar pop seems to be everywhere at the moment, whether it is stained with garage rock, shoegaze or 90s indie there is a strong melodic vein running through it – more pop and less rock in the traditional posturing sense. Locals Step-Panther have been impressing on the live circuit and now they’ve successfully translated their songs to the recorded form … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Step-Panther | Step-Panther
written by Chris Familton Zola Jesus is one of a number of female singers with strong rich voices that have emerged in recent years. She shares similar vocal tonalities with the likes of Florence Welch, The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson and Austra’s Katie Stelmanis yet she stands out above those and others as the strongest individual of the bunch. Following on from last year’s Stridulum … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Zola Jesus | Conatus
written by Chris Familton Psychedelic guitar rock has been going through yet another goldrush of late with albums by Kurt Vile, Wooden Shjips and the tripped-out sounds of Sun Araw all getting a lot of attention. You can add to that list Pure X (previously Pure Ecstasy) and their debut album Pleasure. Their approach is to take heavy lidded narcotic guitars and marry them with … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Pure X | Pleasure
written by Chris Familton Street Chant finally see the Australian release of their debut album which came out in the homeland of New Zealand a year ago. Not that time dates this kind of music – jangling, propulsive slacker guitar pop – and this trio have talent in spades, captured perfectly on Means by producer/engineer Bob Frisbee. This kind of post punk grunge bears a … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Street Chant | Means
written by Chris Familton San Francisco psych lords Wooden Shjips have had a great run of releases so far with no misfires among the albums, EPs and compilations they have issued since forming back in 2006. West is the band’s fifth album and finds them shifting into a cleaner, more concise musical space. Sure all their trademark signifiers like the droning organ, krautrock drumming, ambivalent … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Wooden Shjips | West
written by Chris Familton Carrie Brownstein has become something of an indie superstar in recent years with her commentaries on NPR, the TV series Portlandia that she co-wrote and stars in and of course her history in the righteous rock band Sleater Kinney. Now she has re-emerged musically in Wild Flag, a four piece that also includes Mary Timony (ex-Helium), Rebecca Cole and Sleater Kinney … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Wild Flag | Wild Flag
written by Chris Familton Every new release these days seems to get tagged with the ‘much anticipated’ curse yet thankfully there are still albums that rightfully deserve premature praise. In terms of local acts, Royal Headache are long overdue for a full length LP having played around Sydney’s garages, halls, pubs and clubs for the last few years. Anyone who has seen them live can … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Royal Headache | Royal Headache
written by Chris Familton After the success of their 2009 debut The Sunspot Letters, Leader Cheetah ran the risk of ‘going big’ by building up their recordings with excess guitars and grand themes. Similarly they could have gone down the Powderfinger avenue chasing mass appeal and in the process losing some of the subtle and special musical traits that they displayed on that first LP. … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Leader Cheetah | Lotus Skies
written by Chris Familton London’s Male Bonding generated a fair amount of buzz with their 2010 debut Nothing Hurts and it sat well alongside the similar noise pop of other bands like Wavves. The second album dilemma that faced them was whether to bash out another set of short, sharp songs or go for something different. It turns out that familiarity was too much of … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Male Bonding | Endless Now
written by Chris Familton Albums like there always run the risk of pastiche or shallow imitation when they attempt to replicate a style so specific and firmly rooted in the past. Many have taken the swamp rock angle (The Cramps, The Gun Club, Scientists, Birthday Party) and made something new and dangerous so Mikelangelo and the Tin Star decided to work some new life into … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Mikelangelo and the Tin Star | The Surf ‘n’ Western Sounds of
written by Chris Familton Peter Murphy is one of those iconic post punk figures who has managed to maintain a mystique and a cult following long after his career has peaked. His claim to fame came with Bauhaus who released some stellar music in a short period at the dawn of the 1980s before the band split. While Murphy went on to initially form a … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Peter Murphy | Ninth
Doubtful Sounds 