In 2005, out of the ashes of Earth’s first phase of existence as a band immersed in heavy metallic drone, came a new beast. Still laden with slow-crawling repetition this was drone with quite different colours, textures and most significantly elegant desert-parched melodies that hung in the air rather than being sucked into a dense morass of guitars. With each album over the last decade … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Earth – Primitive and Deadly
Sydney’s Bearhug have taken things into new sonic territory on So Gone, the follow-up to last year’s Over Easy EP. Gone are the clean, jangling and relatively unassuming songs. In their place are eleven tracks that buzz and fizz with layered, distorted guitars in the vein of Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth and a lively The War On Drugs. Their breezy way with melody is still … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Bearhug – So Gone
Now nine albums deep into his solo career, David Kilgour still keeps one foot in The Clean yet that trio is sporadic and seemingly unpredictable in terms of output and activity to the extent that his body of work with band The Heavy Eights is his primary focus and creative outlet. End Times Undone beautifully captures the same mystical lazy strum and innate homespun catchiness … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights – End Times Undone
I’m loving this new track from Melbournian Peter Bibby. With its woozy, drunk guitars, Spectorish drums and lyrical bent in the vein of Courtney Barnett. It pulls you in and seduces you with a ramshackle and desperate charm. Bibby’s voice is a grizzled, burnt out yelp of a thing which suits the song perfectly. Bibby, a recent signing to Spinning Top Music, has just been … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Peter Bibby – Hates My Boozin’
Die! Die! Die! formed their sonic aesthetic early in their career, those waves of coruscating guitars, tumbling melodic bass-lines, pummelling drums and Andrew Wilson’s passionate punk yelp. S W I M (someone who isn’t me) hits all the same marks while also sounding wider and more worldly, no doubt informed by relentless touring. The fuzz and repetition of ‘Angel’, the hyper speed MBV sound of … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Die! Die! Die! | S W I M
An early release in 2014, The War on Drugs’ Lost in the Dream just keeps on sounding better and better. Now Adam Granduciel has released a new clip for one of the album highlights ‘Under The Pressure’. Continue reading VIDEO: The War on Drugs | Under The Pressure
Thurston Moore has a new album called The Best Day ready for release later this year via Matador Records. Thurston Moore Band is notable as it also includes Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe and UK musician James Sedwards. Their first performance together is on August 19th at Ocii in Amsterdam. Here’s the first taste of the band with ‘Detonation’. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Thurston Moore Band | Detonation (feat. MBV & SY members)
New Zealand has a knack for churning out skewed indie guitar-pop music. From the heyday of the Flying Nun roster through to modern day exponents like Popstrangers there is a unifying seam of bristling, effervescent melodies colliding at interesting angles with chaotic guitars and rhythms and Beach Pigs are another gem from the same goldmine. The opener ‘Daydreamer’ sets the bar high and yet it … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Beach Pigs | Grom Warfare
Led Zeppelin have always retained a sense of myth about them and they remain intact as an iconic representation of 70s rock music. They released their first six essential albums over six years and split when drummer John Bonham died in 1980 which effectively froze them in rock n roll carbonite. Sporadic one-off live reunions and various live compilations have done little to satiate obsessive … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III – Deluxe Editions
Seven Drummers is the title of the album that East Brunswick All Girls Choir released earlier this year and a damn fine collection of songs it is too. They’ve released a new clip for the song ‘West Brunswick’, one of the album’s highlights. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: East Brunswick All Girls Choir | West Brunswick
Melbourne duo Dark Fair (guitarist Ramona Moore + drummer Ellie Dunn) have been getting better and better with each new song we hear and ‘Poison’ is their best to date. It’s a slow building slice of shadowy pop music that relies on guitar, drums and a great vocal melody and delivery. Adalita (Magic Dirt) also makes an appearance on bass guitar. ‘Poison’ comes from their … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Dark Fair | Poison
As the title suggests, this is album number ten for the Maryland trio and as far as marking that milestone the record is something of a summation of their musical magpie tendencies. Across eleven tracks Trans Am swing from metallic post-rock to tranced-out kosmiche and krautrock grooves, some wispy folk and strange robotic 80s post punk diversions. Most bands tend to blur and blend their … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Trans Am | Volume X
Doubtful Sounds 