It’s quite surprising that this is Jeff Tweedy’s first solo album given the extent of his career as frontman and principle songwriter with Wilco. Most would have expected him to develop a solo career on the side. He’s always shown an openness to collaborate (Loose Fur, Neil Finn) and he’s played plenty of solo shows yet this is his first foray under his own name … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Tweedy – Sukierae
Writing and recording widescreen and cinematic music, where mood and atmosphere is paramount, and conveying it with minimal instrumentation shows both great restraint and ambition. That is exactly the musical world that Jessica Cassar and Darren Cross (Gerling) have created on their debut album Word Got Out. The cover image of the pair stepping out of darkness and into an unknown light sums up the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jep and Dep – Word Got Out
If you exclude his solo live album and those with The Fog it took until 2011 for Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis to release his debut solo album (Several Shades of Why) so it’s a pleasant surprise that the followup is already upon us. He follows a similar template with Tied to a Star, eschewing drums for the most part and using a more organic sonic … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: J Mascis – Tied To A Star
The Datsuns first hit the hard rock scene like like a lit firecracker back in 2002 and now on their sixth time around they’ve released one of their strongest albums. Deep Sleep takes in all the usual elements that make up the band’s DNA – glam, stoner and garage rock with some MC5 ramalama and an endless supply of riffs and yelps and big choruses … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Datsuns – Deep Sleep
Johnny Marr certainly hasn’t wasted time with his second solo album. When he toured Australia in January it was the end of touring for The Messenger (2013) and he was hoping to get back into the studio as quickly as possible. With Playland he’s made good on his word, continuing to mine big indie guitar sounds, anthemic vocals and now some electronic undercurrents, with mixed … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Johnny Marr – Playland
On her fourth album Melbourne’s Laura Jean decamped to Bristol, UK to work with producer John Parish (PJ Harvey) and the pair have created a sparse, lilting world of bare-boned, yet emotionally ornate folk music. With her unassuming voice and songs about everyday struggles and successes this is the most direct Jean has been with her songwriting to date. The music and both her and … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Laura Jean – Laura Jean
Step-Panther’s debut self-titled album was a mixed bag that pegged them as a band still finding their feet and throwing paint to see what might stick. Three years on, they’ve evolved from a short attention span garage-rock band with too many ideas to a ‘90s alternative rock-flavoured trio with plenty of good ideas and the ability to shape and execute them. Frontman Stephen Bourke has … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Step-Panther – Strange But Nice
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
On his second solo album O’Connor has again created a retro-futuristic album of constructed and knowingly-crafted songs. Musically he digs deeper into the well of primitive 80s electronic landscapes and soul-tinged new wave. It’s a pastiche of everything from Pet Shop Boys to New Order with one ear to contemporaries like Xx and Austra and an overall sonic vibe reminiscent of Underground Lovers’ ‘Cold Feelings’. … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Geoffrey O’Connor – Fan Fiction
It took Robert Scott a decade to get from his debut solo album (The Creeping Unknown, 2001) to 2011’s Ends Run Together and now he’s turned around his third effort in a mere three years. Of course Scott isn’t just sitting around twiddling his thumbs and working on his paintings between records; he’s still actively involved in both The Bats and The Clean and from … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Robert Scott – The Green House
Doubtful Sounds 