ALBUM REVIEW: Bob Mould | Silver Age
by Chris Familton Since his days in seminal US punk band Hüsker Dü in the 1980s, Bob Mould has led a varied path from the introspective Workbook to the anthemic raw guitar sound of the band Sugar in the mid 90s. He also briefly worked as a professional wrestling scriptwriter, penned a memoir and dabbled in DJ’ing and electronic music. There were solo albums released … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Bob Mould | Silver Age
WATCH: Mining Boom | Craigie
Perth’s Mining Boom have just released a new clip for their excellent track Craigie. The clip features crazy tripped out digital distortion over a collection of images. The song is built on a great droning backdrop with some melanbcholic guitar in contrast to the lyrics of bashing and gyms. Craigie comes on the back of the previously released PDA, a killer Interpol meets The Strokes … Continue reading WATCH: Mining Boom | Craigie
INTERVIEW: Sola Rosa
by Chris Familton Though Sola Rosa continues to be an increasingly collaborative project, the signature sound still comes from Andrew Spraggon who has been on the New Zealand music scene for two decades, predominately as Sola Rosa but also early on as the singer and guitarist for indie rock band Cicada. The transition from guitars to samplers came at a time when he was running … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Sola Rosa
New Releases | October 6th 2012
NEW RELEASES This week sees a handful of noteworthy album releases with the most prominent being the new Tame Impala LP Lonerism. The hype has been building for this one for a while now and on early listens it doesn’t disappoint. There is a huge widescreen sound happening with Kevin Parker’s trademark psych signature all over the guitars, drums and increasingly – synths. San Diego’s … Continue reading New Releases | October 6th 2012
ALBUM REVIEW: Shihad | The Meanest Hits
by Chris Familton Nearing a quarter of a century together and well overdue for a greatest hits compilation, Shihad have put together a 2CD collection that reinforces the claim that they are one of the greatest rock bands to come out of New Zealand. The best-of travels from their early speed metal origins on the Metallica-aping It, through their industrial and post punk influenced debut … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Shihad | The Meanest Hits
EP REVIEW: Sweater | Sweater
by Chris Familton Dissonance and controlled aggression have always been hallmarks of rock n roll, it is just the context that has changed as the pop culture landscape has evolved. Over time the emergence of sub genres and sub sub genres has been an important factor in the continued relevance and progression of rock music. Post rock, noise rock, math rock, post punk – call … Continue reading EP REVIEW: Sweater | Sweater
ALBUM REVIEW: Donny Benét | Electric Love
by Chris Familton Expectations of another album of Donny Benét’s earnest synthetic funk pop weren’t high given that his debut was in such a specific and narrow style. Surprisingly and thankfully those concerns have been comprehensively allayed on Electric Love. This is an album that takes the template of Don’t Hold Back and stretches it, bends it and reconfigures it into refreshingly exuberant shapes. The tools are … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Donny Benét | Electric Love
ALBUM REVIEW: Grand Salvo | Slay Me in My Sleep
by Chris Familton On 2009’s Soil Creatures, Melbourne singer-songwriter Paddy Mann (aka Grand Salvo) impressively blended poetry, folk and classical music into a delicate work about life’s intricacies. Three years and a short-lived relocation to Berlin later, and he’s returned with his finest work to date. Slay Me in My Sleep is an ambitious concept album about an old lady and a young boy who breaks into … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Grand Salvo | Slay Me in My Sleep
LISTEN: New single from Total Control on Sub Pop
Melbourne’s Total Control are releasing their first 7″ single on Sub Pop next week and both Scene From A Marriage and the b-side Contract are exclusive to the release. The release comes on the back of their Henge Beat LP from 2011 that garnered great reviews. After a deceptive acoustic guitar intro the song kicks into gear with the band’s choppy swagger making providing a … Continue reading LISTEN: New single from Total Control on Sub Pop
ALBUM REVIEW: Redd Kross | Researching The Blues
by Chris Familton Now into their third decade, Redd Kross have delivered their seventh album that has them sounding as vital and visceral a power pop band as ever. Researching The Blues has certainly been a long time coming since the band reconvened in 2006 after a decade long hiatus. The quality of songwriting shows that time was put to good use, allowing them to … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Redd Kross | Researching The Blues
ALBUM REVIEW: Edward Deer | About Monsters
by Chris Familton Edward Deer is a relative newcomer to the local scene yet his age and experience belie the maturity of songwriting and performance on his debut album About Monsters. Deer’s style is many faceted and on first listen many will peg him as a singer songwriter of the heart on sleeve confessional type yet this is an album that slowly unveils itself and … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Edward Deer | About Monsters
LIVE REVIEW: Shihad @ Metro Theatre, Sydney 07/09/12
by Chris Familton A night of celebratory rock was kicked off by locals The Upskirts and though at first coming across as fairly generic alt rock they soon revealed a real mixture of influences. They swung from Arctic Monkeys guitar pop to a a great dirgy track sung by drummer Thomas Kell that sounded like The Cure. They approach basic rock songs with an inventive … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Shihad @ Metro Theatre, Sydney 07/09/12
Doubtful Sounds 