Australian Garage Rock/Punk band Press club are set to release there 2nd studio album via Hassle Records on August 16th. Originating in Melbourne they have built up a reputation for heavy touring which involves no less than 200 live shows in Australia alone and then they have also made a name for themselves with sell out gigs the UK and Europe after venturing out into the wider world.
Made up of Natalie Foster (Vocal), Greg Rietwyk (Guitar), Iain MacRae (Bass) and Frank Lees (Drums), the bands philosophy of only writing songs that can be performed live and being honest and simple about the process, perfection is only achieved if your mistakes are laid bare, definitely shines through in this album.
Diving into this album the listener is exposed to sounds and lyrical experiences that can be best described as emotional, imaginative, scary, reflective and REAL..If “Separate Houses” does one thing it gives you a feel for how vulnerability and openness shouldn’t be shied away from and certainly the band embrace this, while vocally your just blown away throughout, the layers to this song are so great.
Moving through the tracks what strikes you is the the sublime bass playing from someone that has reached a standard of style of their own in Iain MacRae,while Greg Rietwyk’s guitar playing gives you chills and has you reaching for your air guitar. Drums, well lets be honest here, if your aspiring to do anything in this field its easy to see Frank Lees gets how you should hold the whole song together, and finally the Vocal, Natalie Foster has a vocal range that can go from out and out huge rock garage sound to beautiful pouring out of emotional grunge like lyrical content (if new UK listeners like to make any comparison, maybe Lauren Tate from Hands Off Gretal) but comparisons don’t do this voice any justice.
Throughout the record there are special and introspective moments as the band tell stories of looking in on their lives and ideals. “Thinking About You”, apart from having a killer bassline running through the whole track and some imaginative Guitar playing, brings you into the mind of someone who is trying there best to give you the inner feelings and thoughts of being Stalked, Natalie pulls this from experience, and there’s no doubt of how much fear and vulnerability that this brings.
“Obsessing” – with its haunting guitar lines and bristling introspection gives you this sense of the band looking long and hard at itself, while a little later into this journey “New Years Eve” and “How Can It Not Be Love” two totally different songs that somehow though give a nod to the Punk/Pop Punk influences respectively. Behave focuses on the expectations others place on your life and life choices, but the emotion really starts to flow on album highlight ‘Same Mistake’. Slightly slower tempo to most of all the other songs, however the vocal emotion that it spits at you along with the pounding heart beat of musical brilliance just leaves you feeling drained but happy.
Has there been a better record this year, or with as much musical brilliant combined with lyrical honesty? I think not.
