It’s been a long five years since Sydney supergroup The Finalists released their debut album ‘First’ (see my review here), and we are so very pleased to be able to premiere their new double A-side single with the tracks ‘Yogyakarta Southern Coast’ and ‘L.A. In The Night’.
Released through the iconic Half A Cow Records, these track epitomise the vibrancy of antipodean inner cities with the guitar driven jingle jangle pop and scaling anthems of what I insistently call the Marrickville Sound: creative blasts from bands in their second, third or more iterations.
‘Yogyakarta Southern Coast’ surfs in with a jangling wash of sound like the waves rolling imperiously into a beach, while Mark Tobin’s yearning vocals and delicate harmonies ringing out. Tobin says:
There’s no doubt surfing can have a powerful restorative effect on the human soul, but is it enough to cure heartbreak? Possibly – and it’s definitely worth a shot in this case when the pain is so achingly fresh. Immersing your body in the ocean and removing yourself from a toxic environment might just be the tonic needed to heal a sad heart.
The production sparkles with as much luminosity as the aforementioned ocean with its restorative and deeply cleansing powers. You can almost detect the salt air and the blinding sunshine that infuses this track, laced with an exquisite melancholy that permeates every note. There is an amalgam of bands like REM or Cast mixed in with classic antipodean bands like The Chills or Paul Kelly to create a rich, vivid sonic journey.
Second track ‘L.A. In The Night’ enters with pounding drums and gentle picking guitars. Tobin’s vocals are rougher hewn, infused with a driven veracity and underpinned by a rolling guitar – echoing something from antipodean legends The Saints, the Hoodoo Gurus or The Bats, a little Velvet Underground. The track features guest Al Goodman on a Fender Rhodes piano which adds a softer, ethereal blush while a guitar solo grounds the track. Tobin says:
The song doesn’t detail life after dark in a real geographic location. Instead it’s about wanting to escape to an imaginary place where there’s no mortgage, no day job, and no relationship complications. Perhaps daydreaming about living in such a fantasy land can distract from deep problems clearly evident with this relationship.
The result is something of a soundtrack to a Nicolas Winding Refn or Michael Mann film – late night neon-lit journeys that are dreamy and other worldly.
This is an exquisite and delightful collection that positively sparkles like the sunlight off the dappling seas.
The double A-side single is available as a special 7″ vinyl as well as through the normal download and streaming sites.
The Finalists consist of heavy-weights of Sydney’s inner city indie music – scene singer/guitarist and songwriter Mark Tobin (Scarlet, Panic Syndrome, The Black Halo, Caligula), guitarist Robert Young (The Wednesday Night, Semi Lemon Kola), bassist Chris Familton (Charlie Horse, Thorazine Shuffle) and drummer Matt Brown (Charlie Horse). A classic example of the Marrickville sound.
You can catch the band launching the single this month – details below.
Feature Photograph: Jo Foster
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