This recently released track by US group Van Vleck caught our ear with it’s mix of frantic post-punk and a dark gothic sonic aesthetic. It reminded us of everything from Black Angels to Interpol to Sisters Of Mercy in its insistency and doomy yet melodic riffs. There’s not much else to report about the band, who appear to be a trio who used to operate … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Van Vleck – Morning Page
Mantra-like, hypnotic, fluid and rolling. That’s the first impression of Mt. Mountain‘s new track ‘Aplomb‘. It sits in the psych rock camp but it possesses a looseness that’s a defining factor in what makes the song so great. Propelled by some fine bass playing and guitar that is equally important as a rhythmic tool, singer Stephen Bailey intones lyrics over the Krautrock moodiness and warm … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Mt. Mountain – Aplomb
Cederick Knox hits cosmic mystery mode on this new track ‘Back In The Box’. There’s a shadowy creep to the sound he’s created. Part jazz, part avant-experimentalism, initial drum tracks were recorded with cerebral palsy drummer ’Spack in the Box’, on top of which a series of players (including members of Squid and Pelican Man) were invited to improvise. These recordings were then used … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Cederick Knox – Back In The Box
“Pull your head in ya flamin’ galah” are the first words you hear on this new track from Sydney band 100. The first release on the new label Endless Recordings, founded by Bad Dreems guitarist Alex Cameron, it rips and snarls like an inner-city delinquent. Part belligerence, part studied sneer. It reminds us a bit of much missed bands like The Scare, and Witch Hats … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: 100 – Psych
‘Manifesto’ is the second Sprints track we’ve posted in the last few months and much like ‘Drones’, this one hits in all the right places. Wild guitar noise, mantra-like vocals and a rhythm section that knows its Krautrock and post-punk – taut and unrelenting, funky and tough. This is the title-track from the Dublin quartet’s new EP coming in 2021. Of the song, singer and … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Sprints – Manifesto
This new track from Brighton UK-based Public Body jerks and twists, shudders and pivots in all the right places. Conjuring up a fractured collection of frantic post-punk rhythms that somehow all come together in a head-nodding, nerve twitching song that digs in deep, both sonically and in its subject matter – capitalism and government hierarchy. ‘Table Manners’ is the fifth in a run of singles … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Public Body – Table Manners
There hasn’t been a lot of heavy music this year that has moved us and it was a refreshing surprise when we came across this track from instrumental Irish group A Burial At Sea. It’s post rock at the metallic end of the spectrum where changes happen in an instant amid the guitar crunch and clever drumming. What makes these guys standout from many other … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: A Burial At Sea – Nice From Afar, Far From Nice
The first thing that struck me about Danish band Leizure is how much they remind me of some Australian bands, in particular the much-missed The Scare as well as Melbourne group Witch Hats who have been pretty quiet for a few years now. Given the sound and influences those bands no doubt share, a line can be drawn through Iceage, Ought, Viagra Boys, Birthday Party, … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Leizure – Nightmare
The EP, featuring covers of iconic songs by Wire, XTC, The Comsat Angels, The Korgis and The Passions is out now via Basketcase Records/Redeye Worldwide Australia’s favourite jangly guitar/paisley popsters Ups and Downs return with this five track EP of covers of much-loved new wave and post punk tunes from the ’80s! They say the past is ‘another country’, and it is well worth revisiting as Ups and Downs lovingly reclaim alternative classics by XTC, Wire, The Passions and The Comsat Angels. One of … Continue reading NEWS: Ups and Downs Release New EP Another Country
A well-known figure in the Sydney music scene, Simon is best known as a drummer with his musical outings stretching way back to the thriving indie-rock years of the Sydney music scene of the ‘90s. A founding member of the much-loved Disneyfist and later Modern Giant, Simon was also an original member of the acclaimed Aerial Maps, along with his brother Adam Gibson. Along the way Simon has … Continue reading NEWS: Simon Robert Gibson releases debut solo album
JESSICA THE SPACE BETWEEN INDEPENDENT (via Bandcamp) One half of folk-noir duo Jep and Dep (also featuring Darren Cross of Gerling), Jessica’s debut album takes the sound forged from that musical partnership and crafts it into her own ethereal and immersive world. Cross is still on hand as producer and engineer but it’s clear from the outset that this is Jessica’s singular and personal vision. … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jessica – The Space Between
Darren Cross returns with a new album called Keeping Up? In recent years he’s explored folk noir with Jep and Dep, his own eclectic solo albums and a pair of instrumental acoustic folk albums under the moniker D.C Cross. Here he orbits planet Gerling closer than he has since the band split back in in the late 00s. It’s still a totally different musical creature … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Darren Cross – Keeping Up?
Doubtful Sounds 