Under The Reefs Orchestra are a Belgian trio who certainly know their way around a dark and hypnotic groove. Drums, guitar and bass saxophone combine in a haunting rhythmic mix of post rock and a dash of jazz. It works wonderfully too, conjuring squalls of guitar across a doom-laden desert backdrop. This is a live in-studio version of the song, their brand new single, of … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Under The Reefs Orchestra – Tucuman
“Molly Ringwald was my saviour…” Gothic guitar pop with a post-punk twist is the order of the day on this new track from Vanessa Van Ness, a Melbourne-based guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer from Venice Beach, Los Angeles. There’s a roll call of influential women in the song, over a minimal backing of guitar and percussion. ‘True True Shot’ has a really nice mantra-like quality … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Vanessa Van Ness – True True Shot
J.R. is the moniker of Ontario songwriter Julianna Riolino and her group that includes musicians who have worked with Daniel Romano. ‘PAL’ is a light and bouncy slice of indie country rock that wins due to her great melodies that she builds into the song’s two and half minutes. It reminded me a bit of Margaret Glaspy. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: J.R. – PAL
Nina Harries is a British double bassist and vocalist hailing from Northampton and trained in classical music at the Royal College of Music. She dials into a nice dark and moody trip-hop vibe on this track. “I’ve got a bad feeling” she sings in a haunted, Portishead style before the skies darken and thunderous percussion arrives and her vocal is blasted with distortion. The production comes … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Nina Harries – Will, I’m Not
What at first sounds like a generic noisy indie rock song from New York psych-pop explorers Flaccid Ashbacks takes some really interesting twists and turns over its five minutes. From a Sunny Day Real Estate emotive outlay through to a mid section with sharper edges and into its contrasting country strum that sounds like Pavement. It adds up to a restless yet still captivating sound … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Flaccid Ashbacks – On and On
‘Pink Frost’ stands as one our favourite singles, certainly a contender for our favourite New Zealand song of all time. With that in mind we approached this cover by Mexican quartet Mercvrial with caution but they definitely pull it off. They retain that haunting, swirling melancholic mood, inject some electronic elements (sounding like mid-period Depeche Mode) but without sacrificing the sad heart of the song. The … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Mercvrial – Pink Frost
Melbourne post-punk trio Life Strike have a way of combining that genre’s obtuse angles and edges with a jangly lo-fi aesthetic. It positions them somewhere between the Dunedin underground guitar pop merchants of the 80s and a darker, more garage rock attack and smear. Here’s their brand new single and video from the album Primitive Future which came out last month. ‘Dear Life’ clears away … Continue reading VIDEO PREMIERE: Life Strike – Dear Life
There’s a sweet rambling tinge of Blur in the sound of this track from Ex Okays. It’s mainly in the vocal before the song gets all warbly and comforting like a woozy walk home from a late night bar on a warm summer night. The band have an EP out now called Good/Old Days. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Ex Okays – OGIES
For fans of Fujiya & Miyagi, Neu!, Hot Chip Here’s a crazy, wild yet totally controlled Krautpop sound from Swiss band One Sentence. Supervisor. ‘Acedia’ is a metronomic delight, galloping along and fizzing with handclaps, a vocal sound reminiscent of The Charlatans, guitar that explodes and surges skyward and the unique blend of virtuoso oud player Bahur Ghazi. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: One Sentence. Supervisor – Acedia
Short-circuiting digital post rock and scattered fragments of jazz inhabit this track from Intenso, a trio from Perth, Western Australia. ‘Meek’ starts glitchy – insistent yet tentative – before swelling and morphing into a heaving polymorphic mass of synthetic scree and noise manipulation. Fascinating, disturbing and hypnotic sounds that will pummel you into sonic oblivion over seven intense(o) minutes. Continue reading MEW MUSIC: Intenso – Meek
Some woozy, slow moving shoegaze sounds for you today. ‘Talking Secret’ is a new track from Milly, a Los Angeles band fronted by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brendan Dyer. The song blends UK and US styles really nicely. There are echoes of post rock and grunge in the mix. I guess a band that you could draw some parallels with would be Swervedriver and the way … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Milly – Talking Secret
We’re very pleased to be able to premiere a stream of the brand new album from Fleeting Persuasion, the latest nom de plume of Melbourne songwriter James Spencer Harrison. He’s previously released music under the name J M S Harrison but now, with a richer and denser full band sound on Forever Caught he’s launched it under Fleeting Persuasion. Sonically persuading it is too, … Continue reading EXCLUSIVE ALBUM STREAM: Fleeting Persuasion – Forever Caught
Doubtful Sounds 