Pond are and forever will be compared to Tame Impala, with whom they share a few members, and yes they both trade in retro-fitted psychedelic rock but dig below the surface and the two bands are clearly circling different planets. On Hobo Rocket they’ve pulled back on the overblown eccentricities that were generally to their detriment and produced a concise, freewheeling and fun album. The … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Pond | Hobo Rocket
Straight Arrows‘ debut LP was well received across the country and internationally so it’s great to see the follow up is due for release in March next year via Rice is Nice in AU and Agitated in the UK/EU. Until then we’ve got a brand new single Make Up Your Mind to keep us happy (stream/download below) plus a run of live dates where no … Continue reading NEWS: Straight Arrows release new single and tour dates
It has been a six years since Jamie Hutchings put Bluebottle Kiss on indefinite hiatus to focus on what has become a successful solo career with each solo release met with growing critical acclaim. Now Hutchings has returned to a fuller, noisier and more rhythmically intense sound with his new band Infinity Broke which features ex Bluebottle Kiss drummer Jared Harrison alongside regular Hutchings collaborators … Continue reading NEWS: Jamie Hutchings unveils new band Infinity Broke
Sydney’s Sister Jane are releasing Whole Wide World, the first single from their new album, on October 15th and have kindly sent a pre-release stream out into the digital aether. It finds them sounding impressively widescreen with tumbling drums, reverb-laden guitars peeling off all corners of the canvas and vocals that resonate with lush melodicism and barely contained urgency. There’s a decidedly UK post punk/indie … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Sister Jane | Whole Wide World
Wellington, NZ band The Golden Awesome are heading to Melbourne for a handful of shows in October after they support Beach Fossils in their hometown later this month. If you’re a fan of dense, layered hypnotic rock music then you’ll want to get along and check them out. They continue the same psych lineage of bands like MBV, Lush, Ride and JAMC while also tipping … Continue reading TOUR NEWS: The Golden Awesome announce Melbourne shows
by Chris Familton The years roll by but New Zealand seems to have the consistent knack for throwing up bands that continue the lineage that was formed in the early 80s while still carving out a niche for themselves in the overcrowded world of left-of-centre guitar rock. Popstrangers have already released a stellar record this year and now Ghost Wave have turned potential into an … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Ghost Wave | Ages
by Chris Familton Recorded at Terminal 5 in New York in July 2011, Live In NYC marked the release of Jane’s Addiction’s most recent studio album The Great Escape Artist. As with most live albums you are left with a ‘you had to be there’ feeling but as far as aural representations of live shows go this is a dynamic, visceral and sonically engaging recording. … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jane’s Addiction | Live In NYC
by Chris Familton This was a night where two bands rooted in guitar music came together from quite different directions. Wavves drew the notably larger crowd on the back of their notoriety and accesibile punk pop while Unknown Mortal Orchestra drew from the well of classic psych rock and soul music. One band caressed and cajoled their melodies while the other shouted and bashed out … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Wavves, Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ The Standard, Sydney (25/07/13)
For many In Utero is their favourite Nirvana LP where the band carved out their most unique collection of songs and felt like they were developing into something truly special outside the hype and platitudes of press and mass appeal. Indeed their reaction to that and everything else that was happening in Cobain’s world ran deeply through the record. Universal Music Enterprises will commemorate the … Continue reading NEWS: Universal announce ‘In Utero’ 20th Anniversary Reissue
By Chris Familton Just over a decade after their defining and most successful album Songs For Deaf, Josh Homme and gang return with their sixth studio record in the highly anticipated …Like Clockwork. Since that 2002 peak the band have increasingly explored darker, more eclectic musical territory and while much of it was brave, genre defying and often fascinating there was always the nagging question … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Queens of the Stone Age | …Like Clockwork
by Chris Familton Melbourne quintet Beaches produce an excellent debut album five years ago that reinforced the continued relevance of creative guitar music. Thankfully the group have again convened to collectively pen a new batch of free-ranging, sonically psych-imbued songs that highlight their ability to compose songs rich in melody across an expansive musical terrain. In some ways Beaches are an instrumental band. Sure they have … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Beaches | She Beats
by Chris Familton Smith Westerns still feel like newcomers pushing to assert themselves amongst a group of already established friends but they are now up to album number three, a fact that nullifies any flash in the pan claims for the band. On Soft Will they continue to mine the same vein of power pop and glam infused indie guitar pop but there is a … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Smith Westerns | Soft Will
Doubtful Sounds 