Track: The Brave Faces – Lots of Nights Out
Brighton’s The Brave Faces follow up their impressive debut ‘In The Dark’ (premiered by me earlier this year) with ‘Lots of Nights Out’, another pure pop indie delight. The song captures the ennui of being out with people you don’t particularly like, with a sly sense of humour and a witty turn of phrase: Lots …
Album Review: Warmer – Wooden Box with Strings
Warmer is the project of Nature Strip’s John Encarnacao – Backseat reviewed their last EP, Past Pacific, back in 2018. More recently the other main songwriter in The Nature Strip, Pete Marley, released ‘Savoury-toothed Tiger’ under the name Marveline which I reviewed last last month. With the release of Warmer’s new album ‘Wooden Box with …
Track: The Blind Owls – There’s Something About That Girl
For those who like their rock’n’roll a little scuzzy, a little dirty with a whiff of the sixties and a dash of reverb, The Blind Owls fit the bill perfectly. There’s a little Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds, a little The Cramps, a touch of The Gun Club and the Stray Cats – …
Track: Sweater Curse – Close
Brisbane’s Sweater Curse have just released the fantastic single ‘Close’, which has to be in my opinion one of the most bubbly, bouncy pop hits of the year so far. ‘Close’ has sky-high anthemic choruses, a certain indie pop sensibility and enough grit and grunge to be effervescently cool. And through the bubblegum pop melodies, …
Track: Key Out – Stray
The warm fuzzy shoegaze sound of Sydney band Key Out is at the fore in their new single ‘Stray’ – a delightful shimmering piece that seems soaked in nostalgia and an air of satisfying wistfulness. Mixed and mastered by the legendary Wayne Connolly (Underground Lovers, Youth Group, You am I and Died Pretty amongst others) …
Track: 2Squared/Mark Gardener (Ride) – Chained
Ride‘s Mark Gardener has collaborated with 2Squared (Stephan Haeri of France’s Télépopmusik) in the depths of isolation in his new purpose-built OX4 Sound studio to produce a very nice slice of chilled, reflective electronica – ‘Chained’. The lyrics reflect a very difficult time for Gardener following the break up of Ride. Gardener explains: I wrote …
See: DMA’s release video for The Glow
We were highly impressed by the title track off DMA’s forthcoming album ‘The Glow’, describing it as having hallmark euphoric stadium-perfected choruses, anthemic and pulsating yet underpinned by an air of melancholia. What we have come to expect, in other words, from one of Australia’s most impressive musical exports. The band has just released an …
See: The Clockworks – The Future Is Not What It Was
Clocking in at just 2 minutes and forty-one seconds, ‘The Future Is Not What It Was’, the new single from The Clockworks, immediately makes it clear this is a band with a future, built on the genes of a very admirable past. The angular, stop/start delivery is reminiscent of the very best of the post …
See: The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps
The Chills are one of New Zealand’s finest exports – born out of the inimitable Flying Nun Records era in the eighties and from a coterie of bands coming out of the small town of Dunedin. And like many antipodean bands that arose at that time, they shone so very brightly but burned out so …
Album Review: Empathy Test – Monsters
With an explosive track opener like ‘Monsters’, Empathy Test clearly sets out their vast ambitions for their new album, also called ‘Monsters’. And these ambitions are decidedly and unequivocally met in what is a brilliant, bold and very exciting album. Empathy Test, in this album, tread a fine path between outright commercial accessibility and a …