05.07.17 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Issue
196
Melbourne / Free / Incorporating
Albums: 2017’s Best (So Far)
Opinion: For The Love Of Hate
Tour: Clare Bowen
&
2 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 3
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4 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
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THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 5
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
McLeod Nine
ARIA Award-winning Sarah Mcleod has a new album brewing, Rocky’s Diner, and a Australian headline tour has just been announced to celebrate. It’s been 12 years since Mcleod’s latest solo effort, so August cannot come soon enough.
Sarah McLeod
Come On Down Power-pop trio The Courtneys are coming to Australia in August. After already conquering Europe and the UK, the Canadiannatives have set their sights Down Under to promote their second album, The Courtneys II.
The Courtneys
Mitski
Sex so good you forget to close the Web page when your boss walks back into the office. @mostunladylike
6 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
A Bit Of Mit Australia is about to welcome Japanese-American artist Mitski for two headline shows at the end of the year. The songwriter has already played Glastonbury and Coachella, so this shall be a walk in the park.
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Credits
Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast
Culture Club
National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen
Culture Chameleon
UK supergroup Culture Club are embarking on another tour Down Under, making it their third Australian run in two years. The tour will kick off at the end of the year, accompanied by Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) and Eurogliders.
Editor Bryget Chrisfield
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Gig Guide Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au Editorial Assistant Sam Wall, Jessica Dale Senior Contributor Jeff Jenkins
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Big Pond In A Small Fish
Pond
Pond have confirmed the dates for their September national tour, following the release of their latest album, The Weather. The WA favourites have recruited Body Type and Reef Prince for the entire run.
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Pop superstar Katy Perry has unveiled her Australian tour dates for 2018. The US singer will be heading to most of Australia’s major cities (including Adelaide!) to support her most recent release, Witness. THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 7
Music / A Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Hello, Darkness
Melbourne Museum Night
You may want to leave your kids at home for this one. Melbourne Museum are venturing into after hours territory with their latest event, Nocturnal. The first Friday of every month will host signature cocktails with a dash of education.
Oh My Gogh
NGV VanGogh And The Seasons
Russell Howard
Night owls rejoice, The National Gallery of Victoria announced that for the final weekend of its Van Gogh and the Seasons exhibition it will remain open for 24 hours. Cram your arty pleasure in at the last minute 8 & 9 Jul.
25 The number of days, at the time of printing, until we get new Rick & Morty.
8 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
I Choose Mew Returning to Australia in support of their newest album Visuals, are Danish alt-indie rockers Mew. Catch their visually stimulating set when they track over the country this September.
Mew
Arts / Lif Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
[ Formerly The Hi- Fi Bar ]
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FRI 07 JUL
Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is coming to the MTC’s Southbank Theatre. The show, involving flawed characters and an attempted bedroom farce, kicks off its five-day run this Saturday, 8 Jul .
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THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 9
Music
Anthony Carew chats to Two Door Cinema Club’s Alex Trimble about the then and the now, and the influence of the internet on their game plan.
T
he last time Two Door Cinema Club were scheduled to play Splendour In The Grass, they didn’t make it. In 2014, with the Irish pop combo booked for their second Splendour appearance, they had to cancel, after frontman Alex Trimble collapsed at the Seattle Airport and ended up in hospital. “That’s when everything came to an end,” says Trimble, 27, from London. Prior to that unexpected break -Trimble’s hospitalisation billed as a ‘stomach ailment’- the trio had never taken a break, not since starting Two Door Cinema Club as a trio of teens in County Down. “The first five, six years were so full-on, we didn’t really have time to process what we were doing. And we nearly killed ourselves in the process. Which is surprisingly easy to do, when you’re doing this kind of thing. It was one city to the next, one day after another, for years and years.” Trimble attributes his hospitalisation to “various things”, the gathered effect of years on the road. “Without taking time out to process what’s going on, to relax, to put things in perspective, you drive yourself crazy. You don’t eat properly, you don’t sleep properly, you end
10 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
up exhausted. I wasn’t looking after myself very well. I was partying a little bit too much. It’s a lot of cumulative behaviour, and it takes its toll after five years.” “It’s a terrifying thought,” he continues, “that you’re slowly destroying yourself. So, it’s not something that I gave too much thought to. You just put it out of your mind. Ultimately, it ended up with me in hospital. That’s the point it took for us to put our hands up and say ‘maybe we need a break, now’.” The band — Trimble, guitarist Sam Halliday and bassist Kevin Baird — were ambitious from the beginning. After finishing high school, in 2007, they deferred from their university enrolments and set out touring. “The pressure we put on ourselves was intense,” Trimble recounts. “Once we got on the road, and discovered how much fun it was, how rewarding it was, each little nugget of success spurs you on. We were working our asses off. And we still are. You can’t let that slip. It doesn’t matter how much creativity and talent you have, if you don’t have that drive, that ambition, you’re not gonna take it anywhere.” In their early days, Two Door Cinema Club were entirely DIY. Their first EP, 2008’s Four Words To Stand On, was self-recorded and self-released. They found fans through MySpace, booked their own tours, managed themselves. “It took a long time for us to gain any kind of attention in the media or the wider world,” Trimble recounts. “We weren’t getting played on the radio. Magazines weren’t writing about us. Looking back on it, now, it feels exceptionally rewarding, and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way; all that struggle and heartbreak and exhaustion, all that shit along the way. There’s nothing comparable to that feeling that you’ve achieved your own success. Of course, once we did get any kind of recognition, as far as the media was concerned, we were an ‘overnight success.’” The band broke out with their debut LP, 2010’s Tourist History, which went Platinum in the UK behind its five singles. The album was filled with three-minute bangers, their new-wave pop brightly mixed by French house producer Philippe Zdar, and released by French cult boutique Kitsune. “From the very beginning,” Trimble recounts, “we were always focused on making good pop music. As teenagers, we’d been in rock groups that were more progressive or self-indulgent, but that wasn’t really us. We wanted to make music that was accessible, and open, and relatable, and fun. For us, it’s always been important to have a good melody, to make something memorable, to be catchy.” 2012’s Beacon refined the Two Door Cinema Club formula, its songs ready-made to boom out at summer festivals and arenas; the
People are able to pick and choose and get more much faster. That’s starting to make us re-think how we create and release our music. record hitting #1 in Ireland, #2 in the UK, and #4 in Australia. But, after Trimble’s battles and their subsequent time away, the band’s goals for their third LP, 2016’s Gameshow, involved matching their lightness of melody with weightier subjects. “What inspired the latest record was the internet,” says Trimble, simply. “It’s changed our world in so many ways. We don’t live in the same place we did ten years ago, even five years ago. As a band, we were starting out in the infancy of the internet’s influence on the world. It might be cheesy to say, but it felt like a simpler time. Humans have become very confused by what the internet has done to our world and our lives. We interact with one another in a very different way. We see each other and ourselves in a very different way. The way we consume so many different things, music and art and television, and how we buy products, how we get information, it’s completely different to generations before us. And generational gaps are closing. You can call five years a generation now, with the rate that things are changing. That’s something that’s been on my mind a long time.” Thinking about the internet, and the changing tides of the digital climate, Trimble realised an irony in this endeavour: as Gameshow was to be an album about modern life, the very institution of the album was losing its lustre. “The concept of an album is just not as important anymore; it’s not,” he says. “Things are consumed much faster, and in smaller quantities. Singles are more important than creating a whole body of work. It’s starting to feel, to me, like spending a year making a record, and then 18 months touring it, is becoming less and less viable. People want things faster, they want things fed to them over time. With the rise in streaming services, the accessibility of the entire history of recorded music, people are able to pick and choose, and get more much faster. That’s starting to make us rethink how we create and release our music.” The band were also concerned that, having taken time away following Trimble’s hospitalisation, that the world would’ve moved on without them; four years, in the digital age, is an eternity. “That fear really started to creep in,” he admits. “As the world gets faster,
The Door On The Left
you worry about getting lost, and you worry that if you stop and take yourselves out of the picture, that no one will remember you when you come back.” Instead, Gameshow debut at #5 in the UK, and the band picked up where they left off. Including, finally, returning to actually play at Splendour In The Grass after their 2014 cancellation. Two Door Cinema Club made their Australian debut at Splendour in 2010, and have long to return since. “To be able to travel to the other side of the world and play to people who were digging what we were doing, it was so great; so, you’ve always had a special place in our hearts, and in our memories,” Trimble says. “After ending up in hospital last time, I’m so excited that it’s actually happening now. I can’t wait.”
When & Where: 25 Jul, Festival Hall
Like so many bands circa 2017, Two Door Cinema Club haven’t remained silent in the increasingly conservative political climate. While their Twitter account is filled with the standard promotional bulletins, there have also been recurring critiques of the British government. “Like sheep, the British people, regardless of whether they support Brexit, are being herded off a cliff,” came a pair of 26 Mar tweets, “duped and misled by the most irresponsible, least trustworthy government in living memory.” “Our bassplayer, Kev [Baird], runs the Twitter account,” explains frontman Alex Trimbel. “Even though he takes charge, [political expression] is something that’s important to all of us. Obviously, the world has become a
very confusing, very dark place. It’s difficult for a lot of young people to navigate... If there’re things that we think are important to pay attention to, especially politically — which is such a fucking minefield these days — we can use the platform that we have to hopefully explain our side, and get across what we think is important.” The “very depressing, scary, if not fucking terrifying” rise of Trumpism and right-wing fearmongering is “a classic battle of good vs evil”, Trimble says. “There’s a spirit not just of defiance, but banding together... when the forces of division rise to the top, you see people come together to fight. That’s where you can find encouragement: in the hope that the good will prevail.”
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 11
Music
Overseas Aspirations Orsome Welles’ frontman Michael Vincent Stowers discusses the band’s game plan and goals with Rod Whitfield toward branching out of the Australian market.
B
ands who are relatively early in their career have a number of choices to make, with regards to format, release and timing of their early releases. Melbourne-based progressive alternative heavy-hitters Orsome Welles have opted to record and release a second EP, before making the massive commitment that is writing, recording and releasing a debut album. Rise was recently unleashed and frontman Michael Vincent Stowers explains why they chose this approach.
fandom sites in Sweden and Germany and places like that, so we’re getting our feelers out there and it would be just amazing to head over and go on tour in Europe and America and anywhere else we can get to.” In fact, they spend a fair amount of time actually formally discussing their hopes and aspirations as a band and formulating their longer term goals. “Yeah, we do,” he says, “I think you have to because it’s a big commitment for everyone. Not just in a financial way but in a time way, people’s time is precious, and also emotionally and creatively. It takes a lot to do it, you can’t have one weak link in the chain who isn’t fully there.”
We just wanted to make sure we nailed down the process.
Stowers feels that the band has the strong set-up required to achieve these goals in place now. “We really feel like we’ve got an amazing mix and commitment in the band,” he states confidently, “and we feel this is for the long haul. That’s why we can take our time to release things, we want to build on what we’ve done and just make it better every time we do it.” In the shorter term, the band have a major tour in support of the EP’s release coming up very shortly, a tour that is quite momentous for them in multiple different ways. “It’s our first full headline tour,” he states, “that’s something we’ve been building towards for a long time. It’s also our new bass player’s first run of gigs, so what an awesome time for him to kick off his time in Orsome Welles.”
What: Rise (Independent) When & Where: 8 Jul, Evelyn Hotel
“It was not due to a lack of material,” he laughs, “we just wanted to make sure we nailed down the process, the entire thing, the writing, the production, the recording and the release and touring. We want to make sure that’s of the highest quality we can, so that when we go in and do the first full-lengther, it’s ready to go and ready to take us beyond Australia.” The band have toured extensively across their homeland since their formation five to six years ago, however they have not left our shores to play just yet. Stowers states that this is indeed a major goal for the band in the not too distant future, but it must be at the right time. “Yeah definitely,” he confirms with conviction, “I think when it’s lined up with the release of an album will be when we’ll do it. We’re getting some attention on some 12 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
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THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 13
Music
MARS
King Of The Non-Comeback
MANIA
Nasa has been forced to deny a batshit crazy conspiracy theory that it is running a child slave colony on Mars. Yes, you read that correctly. The theory was dreamt up by an ex-CIA case officer who made the wild allegations on a US national radio show. Because of the potential seriousness of the claims (regardless of how absolutely, totally, unbelievably false they are) a Nasa spokesperson dutifully made a statement refuting the claims, which had a distinct tone of ‘are you fucking kidding me?’ about it. “There are no humans on Mars. There are active rovers on Mars. But there are no humans,” Nasa Spokesman Guy Webster said. Last week, Nasa was forced to refute claims that they were about to announce the discovery of advance extra-terrestrial life after hacktivist group Anonymous (although that affiliation has now been questioned) posted a YouTube video claiming such a history making announcement was imminent. If aliens did come to Earth in search of intelligent life, they might be hard pushed…
14 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
Japandroids’ Brian King catches up with Anthony Carew on everything from Trump’s America to the band’s seeming fiveyear disappearance.
B
rian King, guitarist/vocalist of Canadian rock duo Japandroids, has spent the last three years living in Mexico City. Given that his “life revolves around the two countries that border America”, King has taken the rise of Trumpism hard. “The Peso tanked when Trump was elected, and that has a tangible day-today effect on people’s lives here in Mexico,” he offers. “It makes things that aren’t from here more expensive, it makes travelling more expensive, and it makes things of value, here, worth less.” King moved to Mexico City between the release of Japandroids’ second LP, 2012’s titled Celebration Rock, and their third, 2017’s Near To The Wild Heart Of Life. With a continent’s distance suddenly between he and drummer/vocalist Dave Prowse who’d spent 20 years living in the same city, from Victoria to Vancouver to Toronto - the working ways of Japandroids were suddenly starkly different. “It had a very profound impact on the way that we wrote songs,” says King, “And it also had an impact on the kinds of things we were writing about. A lot of the songs that we wrote in our early days were part of this idea of living in the same city and wanting to break free of it, to get out and see the
world. And, then, we ended up doing that. [This album], there’s a lot of songs about geography and movement and travel, the experiences of doing that and how that effects your life, we’re talking more about that in the songs.” After Japandroids broke out with their 2009 debut, Post-Nothing, the duo have spent most of their lives travelling. King grew up in tiny Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island on Canada’s Pacific Coast, a place that was “very isolated and very small”. But, in the past decade, he’s been all over the world; playing not just through North America and Europe, but in Asia, Australia, and South America. It was all that touring that contributed, in part, to the five years between their last two albums; Near To The Wild Heart Of Life taking long enough to be called a ‘comeback’ album. “Five years seems like quite a long time, but we were busy that whole time,” King states. “There was no comeback. I understand that to an outsider it might seem like we went away. I think part of that is that we don’t have a particularly heavy online presence. We don’t really do social media: I’ve never had a Facebook page, never been on Twitter or Instagram; I’m just not that interested in having that be how I spend my days. While I understand the importance and practicality of having that with the band, I always appreciate it when we can preserve a little bit of distance, and a bit of mystery. So, when people say to me ‘you’ve been gone five years’, I say: ‘Well, we played 300 shows around the world, then wrote and recorded a new record; is that really being gone?’”
When & Where: 11 Jul, Corner Hotel; 12 Jul, Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong
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THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 15
Music
Sounds Of Then And Now
12 Years Strong 2017 marks the 12th year of the National Indigenous Music Awards, hosted in Darwin’s historic amphitheatre. Musicians like Yothu Yindi, Saltwater Band, The Tableland Drifters and Gurrumul have all performed and taken home awards. This year, Emily Wurramara will be taking to the stage with the likes of AB Original, Dan Sultan, Paul Kelly and 2016 NIMA winner Gawurra. The privilege of sharing the stage with such talent isn’t lost on Wurramara. “I’m super honoured and very grateful for the opportunity to be able to play there, because growing up in the Northern Territory I’ve always been to the NIMAs and watched all these amazing, iconic performances,” she says. “I never thought when I was younger, that today I would be getting up on that stage and performing amongst all these legends and it’s just such an amazing opportunity and I’m just so super grateful for the chance to do it.”
16 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
Jessica Dale caught up with Bart Willoughby and Emily Wurramara to talk Indigenous music, past and present, ahead of this year’s NIMAs and the release of The Sound Of Indigenous Australia.
A
head of the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards, the NIMAs have partnered with Festival Records and Warner Music Australia to celebrate the best of Indigenous music, both past and present, with the release of The Sound Of Indigenous Australia. Broken into two parts, Now and Before, the compilation includes the likes of everyone from Thelma Plum, AB Original and Dan Sultan to Yothu Yindi, Christine Anu and Kev Carmody, bringing together a variety of styles and talent to showcase the best on offer from different generations of musicians. Bart Willoughby and Emily Wurramara both feature on the album and represent the ‘then and now’ that the album refers to. Willoughby is known for his work in iconic groups No Fixed Address and Yothu Yindi, and Wurramara is an up-and-comer who’s recently released her Black Smoke EP. When chatting with The Music, it was apparent both are pleased to be sharing the billing; Wurramara adding that the music she creates has been directly influenced by Willoughby and his contemporaries. “For me, being a young Indigenous upand-coming singer-songwriter, Uncle Bart [and his contemporaries] have set the path for us to follow and have unrestricted those
boundaries and really made an example. We look up to them, we see them as our inspiration and it allows us to continue on what their legacy has set.” “They start off from where we virtually left off, so to speak,” says Willoughby. “It’s like passing a pendulum on.” For Willoughby, it’s hard to pick a favourite from the compilation, with each track and artist offering something from the next. “I just love the way people put their version down,” he says. “I just love the way they create their own character because it’s really, really hard to do that.” “It’s just amazing to see a diversity and different age groups and genres on the CD,” adds Wurramara. “Every song pretty much resonates because in a way it tells a certain journey and tells its own story.” When asked if there is anyone among her contemporaries that she thinks is creating particularly important work, Wurramara thinks each offer something special. “I think we have a variety, not to pick anyone out, but everyone in their own way is sharing their journey and sharing their story and it makes them so unique and we each have our own thing that sets us out from the rest,” she says. “We’re all very different from another but it’s amazing to see how we’re coming up and we’re having no shame to talk and speak about issues that are affecting our people through music and through instruments or through storytelling or however but it’s really beautiful to see that.” “What I love is the imagination of how they put the music down,” says Willoughby. “That’s what I’m fascinated by because then you can hear their spirit and their character. The young kids, they just blow me away because I think us old fellas did our job right,”
What: The Sound Of Indigenous Australia [Festival Records/Warner Music Australia in Association with the National Indigenous Music Awards]
Leaps And Bounds
Leaps Ahead Leaps And Bounds Music Festival is taking over Melbourne from 13 - 23 Jul, combining countless venues across the City of Yarra in an effort to highlight local musicians, and to provide a unique and immersive experience to all those who flock to the city’s myriad locations. Below are just a few of the must-see events that Leaps And Bounds has to offer.
Uncomfortable Science Science and music come together for Uncomfortable Science, a project started by Lachlan Mitchell to add a twist to improvised jam sessions: Musicians will gather together to play along to chord progressions that Mitchell free hands on a whiteboard. The musicians are given the freedom to interpret and play however they see fit, creating an unpredictable and inimitable performance. Experimentalist Las Mar is getting involved in the shenanigans and more special guests are yet to be announced. 19 Jul, Bar Open
Paint To Improv Three of Melbourne’s most intriguing bands have been recruited for Paint To Improv, a Leaps And Bounds debut which will involve Taipan Tiger Girls, Zond and No Sister jamming out on stage while painters join them to create pieces of art that reflect the music and the audience reaction. Music and art are combined for a one-of-a-kind experience with the help of visual artists Josh Lord, Hayley Arjona and Stu Thomas.21 Jul, Evelyn Hotel
The Turnup Leaps And Bounds Music Festival is out to provide an inclusive experience for all with The Turnup. The Party Collab Lab is presenting an all ages hip hop, trap, dancehall house party completely free of alcohol and drugs, and is aimed at including everyone of all genders, cultural and religious backgrounds and sexual orientations. Philly and Bahdoesa are the first two acts to be announced, with more coming soon.18 Jul, Laundry Bar
A Moment In Time Back in the late ‘70s, the North Fitzroy Beat Scene gave rise to the anarchic Little Bands movement, which saw short-lived outfits play no more than twice for 15 minutes per show, all the while switching and playing each other’s instruments. Now Leaps And Bounds are reviving the transient practice with two giants of the Little Bands - post-punk giants Primitive Calculators and Use No Hooks, playing only their third show in 35 years. Hot To Rot are slated to kick off the literally once in a lifetime event.15 Jul, The Tote
GL Melbourne locals GL, made up of Ella Thompson and Graeme Pogson, are following up their critically acclaimed debut album Touch with the launch of their latest double A-side single, Destiny/Reflect. The duo are heading to Leaps And Bounds to showcase the work they’ve been tirelessly creating in the studio for the past six months, and will be supported by fellow local talent Fortunes and Colette.15 Jul, Corner Hotel
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 17
Music
Frontlash Wizards
Heartless Doom
Melbourne’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s new album Murder Of The Universe has cracked into the UK charts at position #94.
iPhone This week marks ten years since the iPhone hits stores and the palms of our hands, changing the way we communicate and listen to music forever.
Lashes
Crash Bang!
Just when you thought the ‘90s nostalgia trend couldn’t get bigger, Crash Bandicoot is back for a 2017 revisit.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Backlash Annie Lennox
Despite a 30+ year long career, Annie Lennox was ‘discovered’ this week by a radio talent scout, who told her she has ‘potential’ and could get into rotation on their station #awkies.
Penalty Rate Cuts Penalty rate cuts officially kicked in from 1 July, affecting retail, hospitality and pharmacy workers across the nation by reducing Sunday penalty rates from double-time to time-and-a-half.
Paul McCartney Everyone was ready and waiting for the Paul McCartney pre-sale to kick off on Thursday - until the PM fan club sale caught out everyone with launching on Wednesday, seeing tickets being scalped for hundreds extra by the afternoon. 18 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
With a crushing new record under their belts (Heartless) Pallbearer are heading our way to unleash waves of pure doom on unsuspecting audiences. Mark Hebblewhite took advantage of the calm before the storm to chat to vocalist/guitarist Brett Campbell.
“T
he new songs have been really enjoyable to play live and we’ve been getting a really good response to them,” confirms Campbell when asked whether Pallbearer immediately inserted material from their third LP into their live set. “In fact when we were writing material we were constantly thinking about how the songs would sound live — so it’s not surprising they’re working really well. We take real care with our live sets and we actually change them around to suit the vibe of the show. Sometimes when we’re playing with really brutal bands we might play some of our more spaced out stuff to even things out — but it really depends on our mood. We see what the crowd is feeling and play to that.” In the run-up to Heartless’ release, the band were quoted in the press as saying that the new album was the most prog rock thing they had done to date. This set off alarm bells among doom purists who feared the trio would lose their monolithic heaviness, however they needn’t have worried. Heartless
is Pallbearer’s most well-rounded effort, the riffs strewn across the LP still shimmer with an Iommiesque grandeur. “We were aware that some fans have pretty strong ideas about what Pallbearer should sound like,” admits Campbell. “But really — and people may be surprised to hear this — but we don’t consider ourselves so much a ‘riff’ based band as one based on movement in the music. And it’s not like this record is actually that much different than our older material. Really I think the songwriting has more depth to it — we were determined to push ourselves and not stagnate — but the traditional elements of Pallbearer, including a strong sense of melody, are all there in the songs. “We have never made the same album twice. You know — for example, every Motorhead album is essentially the same damn thing — and don’t get me wrong I love Motorhead — but what works for a band like that doesn’t necessarily work for us.” Talking of metal legends, the last time The Music spoke to Pallbearer we found Campbell’s bandmate Joe Rowland extolling the virtues of Dio era Sabbath (Pallbearer even covered Over And Over on their Fear And Fury EP). As it turns out Campbell harbours a similar guilty musical pleasure that could explain Pallbearer’s sometimes glossy and melodic sheen. “Headless Cross — and all the Tony Martin Sabbath albums are really underrated,” enthuses Campbell. “It’s a fucking great record that people ignore because it’s not Ozzy or Dio. The same goes for Seventh Star with Glenn Hughes — he is amazing on that record and Tony Iommi — what can you say — the man doesn’t write a bad riff and that record is full of great ones.”
When & Where: Jul 6 -7, Northcote Social Club
Music
Light In The Dark
Alex Knight chats to Anthony Carew about his musical past and the sudden rush that debuted his solo project Brightness to the world.
“I
t’s this whole other way of seeing the world, this other perspective on music,” says Alex Knight. After a decade playing drums for others, Knight now performs as Brightness; “up the front on stage”, the centre of his own project. Knight grew up on the Morriset Peninsula, on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Inspired by a childhood viewing of his dad’s VHS copy of Midnight Oil’s 1985 live concert Oils On The Water, he picked up the drums at 10. His dad bought him a damaged fourtrack when he was 12, and by the time it was fixed, a year-and-a-half later, he’d picked up the guitar. “So, I could put songs together,” Knight recounts. “That was so much fun: just this pure artistic freedom, the sense that you can do anything.” Over the years, he kept four-tracking, while playing drums in other outfits. “I always devoted myself to other bands, whose songs I think are better than mine,” he says. “Or, I guess, I just didn’t want to be the dude up the front. I always felt more comfortable back there, behind the drums.” Knight’s most notable stint came in Kins, a Melbourne-born outfit who spent years based in the UK. “Kins taught me a lot of lessons. Just because 4AD turn up to your show doesn’t mean they’re definitely going to sign you,” Knight offers. “We were the model
of that kind of band that had lots of label interest, toured the States three times, had a record out, a couple EPs, but we still had to work 30 hours a week to pay rent. It felt like living two lives at once: wanting to make it as a band, so bad, but still having to clean windows four days a week... It made me question my credit as an adult, pursuing this young person’s dream.” After Kins’ 2016 demise, Knight found himself back in Newcastle, working on home-recordings. He had “no conviction, whatsoever” to perform them, but when offered a support slot for Oh Pep in Sydney - “They obviously thought I was a band,” he smiles, “but I wasn’t a band, and I hadn’t played any shows” - he debuted Brightness live. “I remember being so nervous, drinking a lot of Canadian Club. I was just sitting on my own in the backstage. It felt bizarre.” And yet, he was signed to I Oh You on the basis of that one show. His debut Brightness record, Teething, stitches songs together from his home-recording years; Oblivion a Dinosaur Jr influenced jammer written when he was 22, Waltz an Elliott Smith-ish ballad recorded live to a reel-to-reel tape machine. “I wanted to put together an album for a sense of completion. [Because] a lot of things in my life were incomplete,” says Knight. “The songs are about being lost, but not in a bad way. Being drunk, being panicked, being in the early stages of love, with this thing exploding beneath you. There’s a lot of uncertainty. But uncertainty can be exciting, and stimulating.”
What: Teething (I Oh You) When & Where: 7 Jul, Yah Yah’s
Don’t Play With Fyre
The man behind the big, fat, smouldering car wreck that was Fyre Festival, has finally fallen foul of the fuzz. 25-year-old Billy McFarland was arrested for Wire Fraud after an FBI investigation and if found guilty he could be facing up to 20 years in the slammer. Taken into custody late Friday, McFarland spent the night at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn before being released on a bail bond of a whopping $300,000. Until his trial his bail conditions state the ill-fated entrepreneur is not permitted to travel beyond the southern and eastern districts of New York, or beyond the limits of New Jersey. Details have also emerged from the FBI report into Fyre Festival, which show that McFarland misrepresented his company’s revenue to secure funds as well as exaggerating his personal net worth to potential investors. So far, Ja Rule – real name, Jeffery Atkins – who worked with McFarland on organising the Fest, has not been arrested, nor has he been approached by any legal body in relation to McFarland’s arrest, although a statement issued through his attorney said he still “believed and believed in” old mate Billy. Might want to re-evaluate that Ja Rule…
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 19
Music
Cable Ties – Cable Ties
sleepmakeswaves – Made Of Breath Only
The Smith Street Band – More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me
Top Albums Of 2017 (So Far)
Kendrick Lamar — DAMN.
2017 has been big so far. We’ve lost legends like Chuck Berry and Chris Cornell; Beyonce and Jay-Z have bought two (surely to be) musical prodigies into the world; Lorde’s finally released her Pure Heroine follow-up after the pressure of David Bowie calling her ‘the future of music’ — and we’re only six months in.
Cable Ties — Cable Ties
e’ve taken a tally around The Music’s offices and compiled our top 30 albums of the year so far — covering everything from classic artists to newcomers, alt to hip hop. Emily Blackburn, Sam Wall, Andrew Mast and Jessica Dale share why these are the albums you need to add to your collection.
Gorillaz – Humanz
Saint Etienne – Home Counties
20 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
This year saw Kendrick Lamar acting as the musical Easter Bunny, dropping the ‘just-as-delicious-as-an-Easter-egg’ DAMN. over the long weekend.Just try not to be transported to the street Lamar paints in opener BLOOD., and just try not to be shocked with its twists and turns. There’s appearances from Rihanna, U2 and Zacari, and a whole lot of that Kendrick magic you were waiting for. DAMN. has proven Lamar to be the consummate storyteller.
We’re not too sure how many mid-2017 ‘Top Album’ rundowns are doing the rounds, but if any of them are missing Cable Ties’ self-titled debut avert your eyes — that list is wrong and dumb and wrong. When it dropped a month and bit ago early flagship Same For Me was our fave. Right now, it’s three-act punk epic Paradise. In between, every track’s had a turn being flogged on repeat and next week it’ll probably be Fish Bowl or Wasted Time (again). The point is it’s rock solid through and through. We could talk about how they’re killing it on their national tour or how their live show melts faces and buckles braces, but it’s kind of extraneous. Cable Ties is just a sick album, one of 2017’s best.
W
sleepmakeswaves
Lorde — Melodrama
”Does perfection exist?”This is what reviewer Rod Whitfield pondered as he reviewed the latest offering from Sydney’s sleepmakeswaves. Lacking nothing, filled with an abundance of vivid imagery and ambience, the four-piece push themselves to the limits of their musical ability and it pays off dividends. It’s not one song, it’s every song.
Probably the most hyped, most awaited and most talked about album of the year so far, Lorde’s Melodrama is living up to all of it. The second album from the New Zealand native, Melodrama has already hit #1 in the US. Lorde’s own lyrics probably describe the reaction best; “Blowing shit up with homemade dynamite” — she actually is.
— Made Of Breath Only
Halsey — Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Halsey’s bio reads simply — “I am Halsey. I will never be anything but honest. I write songs about sex and being sad” — it’s an apt description for her second offering, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.Taking on a Romeo & Julietinspired story and theme, Halsey creates an engaging and enchanting pop album, bringing in the likes of Cashmere Cat, Quavo and Lauren Jauregui to help weave her story.
Music RVG — A Quality Of Mercy
The xx — I See You
Run The Jewels —
A Quality Of Mercy is an eight-track collection of some the best post-punk/retro-pop you’ll hear in a while. Lead Romy Vager treats the lyrics as a confessional booth, bringing down scathing remarks on those that dare to deserve it. Featuring a wunderkind blend of members, RVG’s Reuben Bloxham, Angus Bell and Marc Nolte all get a big kudos from us. If you’ve been looking for a mix of the Psychedelic Furs, Soft Boys and The GoBetweens, look no further.
The xx have embraced a brighter sound for their latest, I See You, drifting away from the dreamy, subdued elements of their previous works. Don’t fret, they haven’t completely walked away from their signature sound; they’re just erring on the side of maximum rather than minimal. Solid beats, gentle strings and moody electric guitar, along with the perfect harmonies they’re known for, make this an easy feat for The xx.
Run The Jewels 3
SZA — Ctrl
Saint Etienne — Home Counties
SZA’s Ctrl is an album divided amongst both the public and The Music team; some loved it for its interesting production takes, some hated it for its lyrical style, some are utterly indifferent. When reviewed, Ctrl was described as “decent considering all the hype — but it’s ultimately superficial.” Nonetheless, Ctrl is fun and something different, and SZA and her debut should be celebrated for breaking the male-only mould at Top Dawg Entertainment. We rate it, you may hate it, but give it a run anyway.
What a stellar year it has been for heritage alt-pop acts. The likes of Blondie and Alison Moyet have delivered albums that stand beside the best of their earlier careers. And then there’s Saint Etienne who, unlike Blondie and Alison Moyet, have never once produced a dip in quality in nearly three decades of musical output.The British trio colour their pop brightly even while dabbling in topics that are as grey as a London winter’s day. And hey, the new pop kids could learn a thing or two from how thoroughly Saint Etienne explore all of pop’s sub-genres. No Swedish-producerfor-hire song template repeated over and over for this outfit. Plus, Sarah Cracknell’s voice is more dynamic than ever.
The Smith Street Band — More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me Melbourne’s own The Smith Street Band are some of the hardest workers on the circuit. After what seems to be unrelenting touring of 2014’s Throw Me In The River, the band went back to the studio with producer Jeff Rosenstock (Bomb The Music Industry!, Antartigo Vespucci) for More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me; an album that narrates the life and death of a relationship, from exciting beginnings to a tumultuous ending to a much-needed fresh start. If you’re a fan of The Smith Street Band, you’ll love it. If you’ve never tried them before, this is the album to start with.
Gorillaz — Humanz As always, Damon Albarn and co impressed. Casually dropping tracks over the space of a few months before the release of Humanz, fans were primed and ready. Expect zero filler tracks and the unexpected — there’s six Ben Mendelsohn narrated tracks to be found along the way, and everyone from Grace Jones to Vince Staples to De La Soul features.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Flying Microtonal Banana Psych-rock overlords King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s Flying Microtonal Banana is the band’s first offering for 2017, having slated themselves to release five studio works in 2017 alone.Technically, the band experimented more with the guitars, basses, keyboards and harmonica modified to play ‘microtones’, notes that are less than a semitone apart. Opener Rattlesnake will grab you with its bass line and before you know it you’ve fallen down the King Gizz rabbit hole and ended up in Wonderland.
Ok, ok, we know that technically Run The Jewels 3 came out in the final days of 2016 (the digital download anyway) but by that point everyone had wrapped up their best albums lists and this one could have easily slipped through the cracks, we think it’s just too good to go unrecognised. Run The Jewels have been celebrated for their artistic triumph and ever-growing popularity over the past three years, and their third album deserves nothing less than to be celebrated in the same breath. Edging its way as a near-classic, make sure you give it a few spins to fully appreciate its multi-layered charms.
The Courtneys — The Courtneys II Four years on from their self-titled debut, The Courtneys are back for round two with the appropriately titled The Courtneys II. Hailing from Vancouver, The Courtneys are the first-ever international act to sign with longstanding NZ tastemakers Flying Nun. Bringing along their own blend of scuzzy indie-pop, The Courtneys add in elements of dreamy lo-fi bubblegum garage punk to create a truly infectious follow up.
Polish Club — Alright Already Polish Club hit the ground running. The Sydney duo waste no time on their longplayer debut, with Where You Been? grabbing your attention immediately with its short, sharp hooks. Alright Already has just the right amount of rockabilly sensibility and will surely be the one to launch them into the stratosphere.
Japandroids — Near To The Wild Heart Of Life Remember that feeling when you were an angsty teenager and you found the perfect album to sum up all your ‘me-against-theworld’ type feelings? Japandroids have handed you the grown-up version, with tracks like the eponymous Near To The Wild Heart Of Life and North East South West knocking it out of the park. Put the album on, crack open the beer you’re now old enough to buy and enjoy all on those great memory lane feelings it’ll bring.
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 21
Music Ali Barter — A Suitable Girl
London Grammar —
There’s no doubt that Ali Barter is a badass, and this year she brought out an equally badass debut album A Suitable Girl with its strong sense of vulnerability, paired with sweet, poppy melodies. The album encapsulates the feeling of being a female in the entertainment industry, as well as in daily life, and approaches it with sass, angst and grit.
Truth Is A Beautiful Thing
Thundamentals —
It would be seemingly sacrilegious to not include Truth Is A Beautiful Thing and Hannah Reid’s voice. Four years since the release of If You Wait, time and touring have helped deliver a warm, vibrant and mature sound. Head for the deluxe version and you’ll be rewarded with seven extra tracks and a hauntingly beautiful version of The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony.
Everyone We Know
Wet Lips — Wet Lips
Maturity is what comes to mind when you first listen to Thundamentals’ Everyone We Know. Reflection and nostalgia can be found throughout, but there are also points of sugary, commercial goodness with tracks like Think About It and Wyle Out Year. Everyone We Know seems to be a fitting name since just about everyone makes an appearance (Hilltop Hoods, Mataya, Wallace, Peta & The Wolves, Laneous), but the album is all the richer for it.
”Punk is about getting angry, turning up to 11 and kicking out the jams. Wet Lips do it pretty damn well.” Our reviewer Evan Young nailed it with that sentence alone. If you need further proof that Wet Lips self-titled work is worth your time, just look to their fuzzy power chords, tempered screams and their satirical approach to the patriarchy. Wet Lips kill it every inch of the way.
Songhoy Blues — Resistance
Part companion album, part follow up, Salutations is the reimagining of Oberst’s 2016 Ruminations. While Oberst had always intended to release Ruminations as a full band album, he took a detour and chose to go it solo, resulting in rave reviews from both fans and critics alike. Salutations is the album that Oberst had always intended Ruminations to be, just amplified with a reworked track listing, seven new songs and the support of other musicians.
Hailing from Bamako, Songhoy Blues formed back in 2012 after they were forced to leave their homes due to civil conflict and the imposition of Sharia Law. Described as a desert blues band, their second album improves on the greatness of their first, Music In Exile, in every way. Look out for the surprise guesting from Iggy Pop and prepare your dancing shoes.
Joe Goddard — Electric Lines As a part of Hot Chip, Joe Goddard did some great work. As one-half of The 2 Bears he created even greater work. It’s no surprise then to find solo Joe Goddard is his greatest work. Classic house, electro and retro-futurist disco beats are explored with a deep understanding of the genres and an immense amount of joy. And that’s a vital ingredient, Goddard doesn’t forget to have fun.
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Ali Barter – A Suitable Girl
Thundamentals– Everyone We Know
Conor Oberst — Salutations
Joe Goddard– Electric Lines
Goldfrapp– Silver Eye
Goldfrapp — Silver Eye Chances are you’ll be enchanted by Goldfrapp’s Silver Eye from song one, Anymore, a shoulder-swaying number with just a touch of Shirley Manson-edge on the vocals. Silver Eye is lush, buzzworthy and Alison Goldfrapp’s vocals will keep you captivated throughout. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana
Music
The Menzingers – After The Party
The Menzingers — After The Party
Methyl Ethel —
If you’re feeling the stress of your impending 30th birthday, maybe hold off listening to After The Party until you’re actually past the party. If Japandroids’ latest work touches on growing up, then The Menzingers give you a blow by blow of their full quarter-life crisis. Taking you on a journey of feeling uncertain about growing up, The Menzingers still manage keep the party alive with their heavy riffs, rumbling drums and lyrical integrity.
Everything Is Forgotten
Sleaford Mods — English Tapas
Jessica Says – Do With Me What U Will
The first thing you’ll notice is the punchy, repetitive bass. The second is the punchy, punctuation of Jason Williamson’s lyrics. Quintessentially English and unashamedly searing, English Tapas will eat you up if you let it. You can’t help but feel pissed off listening to Williamson’s thick East Midland’s accent — definitely not at him, just at the world — and that’s exactly what Sleaford Mods want you to feel.
Art-pop, psychedelic eccentricities and big ‘80s synths take over Methyl Ethel’s second offering, Everything Is Forgotten. After the catchy Ubu wins you over, go further and you’ll be drawn into Jake Webb’s world where the surreal and the absurd aren’t all too far removed.
Kingswood — After Hours, Close To Dawn The new one from Kingswood was a challenge; not for the band, but for their longrunning fans. Taking a step back from their traditional blues rock sound, Kingswood reassessed by taking on everything from laid-back ballads, country and bluegrass, and even a little soulful pop. What results is an album that is their most radically different yet, and it has paid off splendidly.
Jessica Says — Do With Me What U Will
The Courtneys – II
Pop noir darling Jessica Says is back with Do With Me What U Will, her first album in eight years after a devastating fall back in 2010 saw her fracture her spine and pelvis. Tackling the topics of girlhood, mental illness and desire, Do With Me What U Will takes clear influence from Kate Bush, Debbie Harry and Lady Gaga, resulting in an album filled with a wonderful mix of theatrical minimalism.
To read the full list head to theMusic.com.au
Sorority Noise — You’re Not As ____ As You Think Polish Club – Alright Already
Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 3
Firstly, we’ll flag that this isn’t an album to venture into lightly. If you’re having a great day and think nothing can bring you down, don’t listen. Having said that, if you’re feeling less than great and want to hear from someone who can relate, then Sorority Noise’s You’re Not As ____ As You Think is your album of the day. You’re Not As ____ As You Think is important, filled with bereft and heartfelt lyrics that will surely help a lot, for a lot. Cameron Boucher and co can certainly expect to have many a crowd singing this back to them night after night.
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 23
Opinion
For The Love Of Hate
“I
We’re living through the golden age of schadenfreude, but can something that feels so right actually be doing our society wrong? According to Maxim Boon, yes it can. Illustrations by Felicity Case-Mejia.
can stop anytime I want.” That’s what I told myself. “I’m in control here, I make my own decisions.” How wrong I was. It started innocently enough — the odd YouTube video of someone falling over, an occasional titter at a celebrity scandal or two. But then things started to get out of hand. As the world slowly stumbled to the right, as the new normal of politics was warped into a funhouse mirror of oh-no-he-di’nt absurdity, I became well and truly hooked on the hard stuff. Now I’m ruled by it — I can’t stop myself and I know I’m not alone. My name is Maxim Boon, and I am a schadenfreude addict. But then again, who isn’t? If you’re not familiar with those four foreign syllables, you should be. Schadenfreude — a handy compound adjective gifted to the world by the Germans — describes that thrum of smug, lip-smacking satisfaction when something unfortunate happens to someone else, especially those with an overabundance of elite, arrogant bravado. This is nothing new, in fact humans are universally hardwired to take pleasure in the misfortune of others — if democratic morality is an invention of the intelligent mind then schadenfreude is surely the amoral compass of our lizard brains. We find it enshrined in virtually every culture since the dawn of civilisation. It’s the bedrock of spectator sports, celebrity gossip and our baser modes of entertainment, from Greek theatre to bawdy Shakespearian comedies, vaudevillian slapstick to contemporary stand-up. With the advent of media sharing sites came the birth of the fail video, and as the countless millions of views racked up by these delicious morsels
Donald Trump
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of schadenfreudery delight prove, humankind just can’t restrain its glee at the ball-busting, belly-flopping, face-planting comeuppances of others. As the proverb tells us, pride comes before a fall, and most of the time, that’s a relatively harmless thing. But as the geopolitical landscape has been shattered along the fault lines of opposing ideologies, as grandstanding populism by cartoonish, buffoonish neophytes has stirred-up a cauldron of bile that routinely boils over into toxic Twitter streams, as the chasm between left and right has widened to an unbridgeable abyss, old mate schadenfreude has turned from a pleasant pastime to a global epidemic. Herein lies the rub: the business of government deals with the fates of millions controlled by the decisions of a few. Despite our subjective gratification, the fluffs and fumbles of a handful of political boogiemen can often mean objectively terrible consequences for many, many ordinary folks. Schadenfreude is an almost reflexive response, a knee-jerk beyond our conscious control. But in a world where social media portals have become open manholes to a river of unfiltered, opinionated shit, reactions that might have remained safely locked away in our skulls, now flow freely into the world. As expressions of schadenfreude pour forth, it emboldens the like-minded, and thanks to the likes of Donald Trump, Pauline Hanson and Nigel Farage, the volume of polarising events primed for schadenfreude is at an all-time high. It would be oh so convenient to lay the blame for this entirely at the Trump White
Katie Hopkins
Opinion
As schadenfreude is increasingly fuelled on an industrial scale by media on left and right sides of the political purview, its toxic influence is becoming more and more invasive. House’s door, but while there is certainly a correlation between Donald’s rise to power and the spread of this psychological rot, it is, in fact, an ecumenical crisis. As Exhibit A, I submit myself into evidence. Over the past 18 months or so I have cemented a daily ritual. As soon as I wake up, before I’ve bid good morning to my partner, before I’ve taken a piss, brushed my teeth or even set foot out of bed, I immediately reach for my phone. I follow the bookmarked links to several news sites to get my first fix of the day, with the heady anticipation of the dumpster-fire of right-wing gaffes I will be greeted with. I greedily hoover up news items, opinion pieces, and live blogs, hungry for any and all details from the sushi-train of political blunders that give me that schadenfreude high. Big deal, you might say, but the problem arises when you boil this routine down to its constituent emotions. It is, of course, entirely expected that supporters of right-wing politics should feel happy about the rhetoric of rightwing politicians. But in our golden age of schadenfreude, the left-leaning are reflecting that same happiness, as they bask in the naked idiocy of the political farce, luxuriating in the yummy, yummy outrage. Like many,
Milo Yiannopoulos
I experience genuine disappointment if there isn’t a juicy scandal in the offing, and this is a fact that’s powering a radical change in the media. As current affairs have become the most binge-worthy form of entertainment, the news media has pounced on an opportunity to cash in on our schadenfreude addiction, flooding the airwaves and crowding the internet with tailor-made articles designed to feed our habit. If schadenfreude really was a drug, the news editors of the world would be the Heisenbergs. Such is the potency of the schadenfreude effect, it has given a troubling level of kudos to a particularly odious breed of journalist. The rankest pundits of the alt-right, prepared to put their by-line to opinions so eyewateringly sick-making they’d make Joseph Goebbels blush, have reached rock star levels of celebrity — or more accurately, infamy. These individuals boast a necrotic mix of narcissism, shamelessness and ego, brazenly flaunting their right to free speech while spewing hate tarted-up as commentary. But perhaps their most dangerous alignment is an insatiable need to be in the spotlight at any cost, coated in a thin, tenuous gloss of middle-class intelligence.
In their assaults against political correctness, these commentators play chicken with the public appetite for ever more shocking conservatism, pushing the extremes of their ugly message to breaking point, and sometimes beyond that. Breitbart’s now disavowed wunderkind, Milo Yiannopoulos, only fell from favour after casually advocating for child sex offenders. The Daily Mail’s resident harridan of hate, Katie Hopkins, was finally scolded (although she kept her job) for evoking Nazism in a tweet calling for a “final solution” to Muslim extremists. And yet, those writers willing to be the chum tossed into the media feeding frenzy are intentionally baiting readers across the political spectrum — any reaction less than a total, face-cracking, pearl-clutching blitzkrieg would be deemed a failure. As schadenfreude is increasingly fuelled on an industrial scale by media on left and right sides of the political purview, its toxic influence is becoming more and more invasive. Even as Trump launches attacks on the “fake” media, he is simultaneously ensuring his longevity in the headlines. Even as Pauline Hanson’s corrupt wheeling and dealing is smeared across the tabloids, her isolationist goals are still given oxygen by the attention. What was once an amusing sideshow of implausible clowns has become the main event. The world is enthralled by this political circus, but even after Trump’s demise, our addiction to the entertaining spectacle of super-charged schadenfreude will no doubt have altered the mechanics of power for the foreseeable future.
Pauline Hanson
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 25
Music
Loud Affections As the Canadian collective returns from a lengthy hiatus, Broken Social Scene co-founder Brendan Canning tells Steve Bell why having too many cooks doesn’t spoil their distinctive broth.
C
anadian indie ensemble Broken Social Scene have been living up to their name in recent years. The band’s 19 members (when at full contingent) have been scattered to the wind, following their own muse and working on different (often high profile) projects. It was never a split as such — they’ve reconvened for the occasional gig and festival spot during the hiatus — but their newly-minted fifth album Hug Of Thunder is their first new music in seven years, and multi-instrumentalist mainstay Brendan Canning explains that it was easy to slip back into the collective mindset.
You just have to trust your instincts and also trust everyone else’s instincts, because this band is just full of ideas. there’s a lot of big voices and a lot of people who like to sit in the captain’s chair, and when you have six captain’s chairs all pointing in slightly different directions the waters can get a bit murky,” he smiles. “You just have to trust your instincts and also trust everyone else’s instincts, because this band is just full of ideas. Some of them are going to be great, and some of them are going to be not quite as great.” Hug Of Thunder is rife with the band’s trademark joyousness, but there’s also an element of sadness permeating certain songs. “I just think it’s a real reflection of where the band is at and was at during the making of this record,” Canning reflects. “We had three different parents die during the making of this record and one child got diagnosed with an illness — people were just going through shit, as you do at any age I guess but specifically with this group as you get older and different aspects of life’s frailty get in the way. You just have to contend with it, and I think that’s reflected in certain songs. “Then with other songs there’s that buoyancy that’s helped build this band’s career over the years, that jubilation that people have come to expect and appreciate. I think you’ve got to have a little bit of the darkness to even get to the positive aspects, otherwise you’re just in some kind of strange bipolar universe.”
What: Hug Of Thunder (Spunk)
“I came back to it on a personal note just trying to be the best individual that I can be for this group, and for understanding my role or how I could provide the best things for the band,” he offers. “Everyone wears different hats for different songs. You could be playing a different instrument on a different track, that’s kind of how this band operates — if you hear something missing, then maybe you have the missing ingredient. Maybe it’s early enough in the morning or late enough at night, and maybe you’re in the right balance or the right frame of mind.” Canning explains that with so many contributors, it’s just a matter of leaving your ego at the door. “It’s an interesting band to get something done: 26 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
Indie Indie
Press Club
Augie March
Joe Pug
Single Focus
Leaps And Bounds Focus
Just Visiting
Answered by: Iain Macrae
Answered by: Adam Donovan
Single title? Headwreck
Sum up your musical sound in four words? Drummy, bassy, guitary, singy.
Why are you coming to visit our fair country? To drink Coopers, eat some kangaroo filets, and play the odd gig or two.
What’s the song about? Lyrically it’s about a one-sided relationship and a call to arms to back yourself. How long did it take to write/record? The writing process was really quick, it just snowballed into its full form in one boozy afternoon. We recorded it live on a stinkin’ hot day in a studio without A/C in Abbotsford. Is this track from a forthcoming release/ existing release? This is our debut single. Our statement to the world that we’re here now. What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? We got kicked out of our East Brunswick home so they could pull it and four others down. We were pretty jaded I think. There’s no security in the North anymore. We’ll like this song if we like... People say Japandroids, others say Husker Du, I say Radio Birdman or The Saints.
What other events/gigs are you looking forward to at Leaps & Bounds? Can’t go past Mikelangelo. What do you think is the best thing about a festival like Leaps & Bounds? Having a reason to leave the house in the Melbourne winter. What are your favourite places to hang out in the City Of Yarra and why? Long Play has great food, wine and live music. Why should people come and see your band at Leaps & Bounds? This is a pretty rare show for us as we are in the midst of recording. A good chance to see some hits and memories before we go out with some new tunes. When and where is your Leaps & Bounds appearance? 13 Jul, Corner Hotel.
Is this your first visit? This will be my fifth tour of Australia. How long are you here for? Two weeks. What do you know about Australia, in ten words or less? There is not much to see in the middle. Any extra-curricular activities you hope to participate in while here? Eating as much Italian food in Melbourne as possible. Brunetti’s, here I come. What will you be taking home as a souvenir? I always try to grab vintage tea towels to bring home to my wife. Where can we come say hi, and buy you an Aussie beer? 13 Jul, Spotted Mallard; 14 Jul, Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh; 15 Jul Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan. Website link for more info? joepugmusic.com
Do you play it differently live? Nah, the vibe with Press Club is to have songs translate directly from their recorded form to the stage and vice versa. That live energy is the backbone of the sound. When and where is your launch/next gigs? 8 Jul, The Old Bar Website link for more info? pressclubmusic.com
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 27
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Album OF THE Week
Haim Something To Tell You Polydor/Universal
★★★★
The Haim sisters — Este, Danielle and Alana — are back with Something To Tell You, their second album that’s every bit worth the four year wait. The Los Angeles trio have enhanced their driving, percussive, rhythmic music with a maturity and confidence whilst retaining all that made their debut Days Are Gone so successful — the brilliant melodies, production (they’ve stuck with producer Ariel Rechtshaid) and songwriting — not to mention the insane talent of all three multiinstrumentalists. Their music has an ability to transport its listener to a different time, certain electronic sounds or processing are the only thing to signify the songs aren’t straight out of the ‘70s or ‘80s. The Fleetwood Mac influence is even more evident this time around with the significance of drums and percussion, Este’s melodic bass lines, the vocal harmonies and retro synth/keys (Nothing’s Wrong, You Never Knew). The group demonstrate a greater range — slow burner Kept Me Crying has a lo-fi sound and a heavily distorted guitar solo, Found It In Silence is uplifting with a four to the floor kick and the processed beat fills that characterise much of Haim’s music whilst slow, emotive album closer Night So Long shows a different side of the band all together. Something To Tell You is proof that good things take time, though hopefully it’s not another four years before we get another instalment of Haim. Madelyn Tait
Broken Social Scene
The Jungle Giants
Hug Of Thunder
Quiet Ferocity
Spunk
Amplifire Music
★★★½
★★★★
How do you grapple with the logistical difficulties of rebooting a band that used to have 17 members? By their own admission, Hug Of Thunder wouldn’t have sounded bona fide unless everyone had been involved as it had been seven years since Forgiveness Rock Record, a bombastic hodgepodge of grand themes and experiments that didn’t always hit the mark. Yet, despite that three of the band members’ fathers died during the recording and the global climate of doom, Hug Of Thunder remains optimistic and in the spirit of the band we know. Halfway Home sets the pace early on as a high energy, fuzz-bass driven hymn in the vein of 7/4 (Shoreline). The contradiction of Broken Social Scene though is that despite
The Jungle Giants are back for their third album, Quiet Ferocity, and let’s just say, it’s anything but quiet. Sam Hales and co have created a fun, jangly release that surely holds hits that will see you through to the warm summer months. Opener On Your Way Down is solid, with its catchy beats and riffs, and a chorus you just won’t be able to get out of your head. Feel The Way I Do finds some of that ferocity mentioned in the title, a tight number that you can already picture crowds bopping their head to. Quiet Ferocity marks a change in concept for The Jungle Giants, with Hales taking to the producers chair for the first time. What results is an album that focuses on quality over quantity, choosing to build
28 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
their numbers, the band are often at their most effective channelling intimate grooves, very much evidenced by the title track, a glorious ode that transforms from hushed longing to a serenely soaring chorus. Mouth Guards Of The Apocalypse is another winner that morphs from blissful ambience into an off kilter fuzz-bomb outburst. Yet, for its successes, there’s not enough here to elevate Hug Of Thunder to the levels of You Forgot It In People or their eponymous triumph. Christopher H James
the record through their musical ability rather than a multi-layered approach that is so often hard to translate into a live environment. Tracks like People Always Say and Time And Time Again show maturity and growth in The Jungle Giants sound and it’s easy to hear that producing the works themselves has influenced their updated sound. Look out for Used To Be In Love and the eponymous Talking Heads-eque Quiet Ferocity, they’ll be with you for days. Jessica Dale
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Melvins
Over-Reactor
A Walk With Love And Death
Cocaine Headdress Bird’s Robe
Ipecac
Usurper Of Modern Medicine
Toro Y Moi Boo Boo Mistletone/Inertia
Everything Is Nothing MGM
★★★
★★★★
★★★½
★★★★
A two part, two hour, concept album-soundtrack hybrid, A Walk With Love and Death is a strange schismatic mess, purposefully abrasive, lashingly discordant and, in its way, a straightforward vanity project delivered with avant-garde disdain... typical Melvins really. The soundtrack portion, Love, consists of layers of aural antagonism, like listening to the inner thoughts of a Lovecraft protagonist in the last chapters of madness. The LP portion, Death, while being expectedly dark is unexpectedly lacking any of the hellish erraticism that saturates not just the first half but their entire career, yet it’s still some of their finest music to date.
If you don’t have an open mind about music, don’t listen to this album. If you only like hard rock and metal, or hip hop, or electro-pop, or experimental, or dance, or industrial, avoid Cocaine Headdress. However, if you like all of the above and more, this album is for you. This Melbourne duo is jack of all of those trades and master of them all - and that mastery is on display in all its glory here. There is literally something for everyone on this album. And above all, it’s just shitloads of fun to listen to. This is very likely to be the coolest thing you will hear this year.
Steadily developing their reputation for dazzling spacerock, Perth’s Usurpers Of Modern Medicine continue to stretch for the stars. Giving new meaning to the term “career high,” House Of Reps lifts Everything Is Nothing into the stratosphere with superhuman ease. Mercury In Motionless Space sustains the momentum with undulating electronic riffs, while Singularity spells out their anti-gravity manifesto in the plainest terms. The peak intensity comes early on in a flighty first half, but Everything Is Nothing still represents the peak of their flight trajectory to date.
After a fairly conventional outing in previous album What For? Chaz “Toro Y Moi” Bundick returns to his retro-futuristic ‘80s roots on the electronics heavy Boo Boo. Without wishing to spoil Bundick’s reputation as the chilled, lackadaisical Californian at the party, it’s surprisingly bleak at times, not least on the quietly despairing Don’t Try and Girl Like You, which bleeds blue with loneliness. But there are many moments of genuine beauty amid the sadness, as well as Bundick’s patented hazy west coast vibes, which makes for possibly his strongest record to date.
Christopher H James
Christopher H James
Rod Whitfield
Nic Addenbrooke
More Reviews Online Public Service Broadcasting Every Valley
theMusic.com.au
Washed Out Mister Mellow
Listen to our This Week’s Releases playlist on
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 29
Live Re Live Reviews
Grinspoon @ Evonne Goolagong Arena. Pic: Jaz Meadows
Grinspoon
Marriage Equality Arena 30 Jun
Grinspoon @ Evonne Goolagong Arena. Pic: Jaz Meadows
Alex Lahey @ Corner Hotel. Pic: Emily Jensen
Bec Sandridge @ Corner Hotel. Pic: Emily Jensen
Bodytype @ Corner Hotel. Pic: Emily Jensen
30 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
Hockey Dad @ Evonne Goolagong Arena. Pic: Jaz Meadows
Was 1997 really 20 years ago? It’s certainly hard for this writer to accept; however, the numerous anniversary shows circling the country this year have helped to cushion the blow. In 2017, Grinspoon’s Guide To Better Living celebrates its 20th anniversary, and tonight Melbourne is throwing one hell of a birthday party for it. Negotiating the path to Evonne Goolagong Arena through the labyrinthine fencing surrounding the Rod Laver Arena precinct is an arduous task that means opener Pressure Tested 1984 is a tad muffled during the mad dash to find Door Seven. After slipping through the crowd during an impressive Boundary, our efforts are rewarded with DCX3, which sounds as feral as ever (pun most certainly intended). It’s the Grinners of old, albeit on a massive scale, with the sold out arena floor teeming with frothing punters. Lead singer Phil Jamieson is in top form, all pointy arms and swirly hips, delivering every lyric both gutturally and gloriously. “Happy Friday, thank you all for coming out tonight,” chirps Jamieson. “This is our first single we released off Guide To Better Living,” launching into Pedestrian. Pat Davern’s guitar cuts through the air like a sonic chainsaw, matching bassist Joe Hansen’s muddy low end. Most of the crowd appear to be hardcore, day one fans, though there are a few from the Triple M era that seem a little confused by the heaviness of Grinspoon’s early work. Addressing the homophobic elephant in the room, Jamieson quips, “Thanks for joining us at Marriage Equality Area... love is love,” before ripping through a banging Just Ace. The singer mugs happily for the crowd, occasionally stopping to give Davern a cuddle, and the band seem relaxed. Their ease with
Long live Grinspoon, and down with hateful old homophobes.
each other reflects in their tight, energetic set. Repeat is delightfully sinister; the crowd bathed in eerie green light as drummer Kristian Hope’s cymbals crash maniacally. Bad Funk Stripe is gorgeous and sprawling, a step away from this evening’s heavier offerings. Davern noodles along, and Jamieson strums along with the acoustic strapped to his chest. Jamieson’s vocals seem clearer and stronger tonight, his voice never waivers or cracks, whether it be howling or crooning. Well, it’s been an absolute fucking pleasure. Cheers to you!” says Jamieson as the band leave the stage, though the audiences yells for more. Oop, what’s this then? Jamieson pops up, costume change and all, on the soundboard at the back of the room to perform Protest, a hidden track from Guide To Better Living. In a flash he rejoins his bandmates for a greatest hits encore. Chemical Heart hits squarely in the chest, just as it always has, searing and heartbreaking. Not one to take himself too seriously, Jamieson scrambles onto the drum riser and takes a goofy curtsy at the song’s conclusion. It’s easy to forget just how important Grinspoon are to the Australian musical landscape, and how anthemic their songs are, both from early in their career to present. If they continue to perform at the spectacular level that they have tonight, a 30-year anniversary would be welcome. Long live Grinspoon, and down with hateful old homophobes. Love always wins. Madison Thomas
eviews Live Reviews
Electric Lady Corner Hotel 1 Jul
Gretta Ray may be playing an acoustic guitar for tonight’s set but she’s certainly got all the electric feels running through her. Ray’s triple j Unearthed High winning song Drive has the crowd singing along in unison to every word and her mature and effortless vocal range has us in complete awe of her talent. “Over the past couple of months I’ve been writing what I hope will become my debut album,” Ray reveals. She shares a new song that will probably be on it, called Blue Minded. “Everyone should dance and it’ll be fun!” Bec Sandridge assures us. She dives into her upbeat catchy tune You’re A Fucking Joke, which she says is about thinking you were in a relationship with someone who turns out to be in one with someone else. “It could also be about my performance last night when I fell over backwards on stage. If it happens again tonight, it’s planned,” she laughs. “Thanks for being here and believing in us!” shouts singer-songwriter and founding member of the Electric Lady project — Jack River. Tonight, we celebrate her honest and relatable lyrics — dedicated to all the Arts undergrads who, just like her, found it tough to get a job. “Go do whatever it is that you want, no matter if it’s bingo, archery, or to be a musician. Do it. Give it a go. I hope this inspires you!” she encourages us. Ali Barter sums up the evening perfectly with her hit song Girlie Bits as she sings, “What’s a woman really made of?.. Something glorious.” She hits the nail on the head with her fist-pumping feminist indie-rock anthem to bring the show to a close. From an idea that only took root a few months ago, Electric Lady has come alive
to celebrate the unstoppable momentum of women in music and is a force to be reckoned with. Michael Prebeg
Vaudeville Smash Howler 30 Jun The drums and a heavy bass line kick off as members of Vaudeville Smash hit the stage one by one before launching into the first track in a flurry of sequins and animated
Electric Lady has come alive to celebrate the unstoppable momentum of women in music. choreography. The flute wouldn’t usually be the first instrument that’d come to mind when thinking of funk music, but frontman Marc Lucchesi proves otherwise with a wild solo to get it all started. These guys are at their best when they settle in for a solo - especially in Potion, which features an insane sax performance. Keys prodigy James Bowers’ delicious little fills are what dreams are made of and the drummer’s falsetto is ferocious enough to shatter the ceiling in one breath. “Oi isn’t this that other fuckin’ band’s song?!” one punter yells to his mate as they start playing the instantly familiar opening to Oh Loretta. The frontman of ‘that other fuckin’ band’, Sex On Toast, is yanked out for a 30-second sing. It’s assumedly unplanned and just
a tad awkward, but punters are living for it nonetheless and belt out the track for the entire 30 seconds. The crowd goes nuts for Devil Said, with the majority totally clued in on the accompanying dance moves and needing very little coaxing to break them out. “We’re gonna get all sexual on your asses” Lucchesi yells before sliding into Driving Me Wild as the smoky pink lights are dimmed and the room is drenched in some steamy guitar shredding for that slow jam pleasure. The crowd tonight is on the rowdier side and the cold weather is probably getting to people’s heads, because for some reason a fair few sloshed punters assume it’s okay to dump wet, empty cans of beer and frosty cups of ice onto the merch table (and themselves), only to be utterly enraged when told otherwise. Crowd participation curbs this feistiness as next everyone’s instructed to ‘get down’ - like, literally squat on the floor so we jump up at the song’s climax. There’s not one person who’s not on the ground at this point.
More Reviews Online theMusic.com.au/ music/live-reviews
Tyrannamen @ The Gasometer Hotel Branch Arterial @ Evelyn Hotel
...The drummer’s falsetto is ferocious enough to shatter the ceiling in one breath. Smash hit Zinedine Zidane and old favourite Dirty Old Man (Come Inside) closes out the night in an intense, sweaty, beersoaked tangle of punters flinging themselves and each other around in crazy funk-fuelled happiness. Natasha Pinto
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 31
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
meet Mary. Reflecting the hope of the liberal USA before and after the Kennedy assassinations, it’s about how easy it is to see bad decisions after they are made. Fortunately this theme stuck after the 1981 Broadway opening of Merrily, which closed after 16 performances and a critical reaction that left Sondheim saying he wanted to leave music theatre. He didn’t — his next work was Sunday In The Park With George (1984) about the frustrations of being an artist — and the re-worked Merrily now stands with his best. Limited resources and time have restricted this production while giving it a strength that comes from limitation. With only a piano (Cameron Thomas), the music doesn’t have some of the feel-beforeyou-can-think complexity, but it gives a focus on the characters and on the lyrics that reveal the unspoken conflicts that explain why the characters behave at their worst. The ensemble are consistently wonderful and all support the possibly perfect casting of the trio of friends. Brooks lets us see the private regret beneath Frank’s bravado, Melloy shows every brick that builds her protective wall of acerbic confidence, and Gardner reveals the confused anger that makes him try to sabotage friendship and success. Sara Grenfell’s direction is strongest at this character level but it struggles to reflect the same themes in the bigger picture, which can leave the story feeling disjointed. Emily Collett’s costumes are a retro delight of colour and cut that define time, reference themselves and support character. However, the design (with Rob Sowinski) looks like a scrounged rehearsal set that distracts from the action with suburban McMansion chandeliers and a staircase that frustrates the choreography and confines the action to half of the stage. Watch This feed our need for Sondheim and introduce new audiences to the painful joy of his work. Now, can someone please give them some money so they can develop into one of our best companies. Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along Theatre Until 15 Jul, Southbank Theatre
★★★★ Watch This formed in 2013 as an independent Stephen Sondheim repertory company. Merrily We Roll Along at the Lawler follows Assassins, Pacific Overtures and Company, and continues to position them as a vital part of Melbourne’s theatre community. In 1976, Hollywood producer Franklin Shepard (Lyall Brooks) throws a party for the A-list, including his ex-Broadway star wife, new young lover and oldest friend Mary (Nicole Melloy). By the end of the night, he’s devastated everyone who loved him and the story (based on a 1934 play) is told in reverse chronological order, back to 1957 when Frank and his best friend Charley (Nelson Gardner)
Anne-Marie Peard
32 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
It Comes At Night
It Comes At Night Film In cinemas now
★★★★ It Comes at Night, the second feature from American filmmaker Trey Edward Shults after his acclaimed microbudget debut Krisha, is the work of someone confident and in control - there’s a certainty when it comes to setting up and pulling off genre conventions like the jump scare and the slow burn (a few of the former, a fair bit of the latter) but also, it seems, an understanding of their limitations. Writer-director Shults keeps things lean and spare with this film - it has a handful of locations and a handful of characters - and one gets the feeling he has done so in order to hone his edge as a storyteller and a technician, and it pays off. It Comes at Night works terrifically as a device designed to whiten the knuckles of the viewer as the tension mounts but it also simply but effectively depicts the actions and reactions of people placed under increasingly intolerable levels of pressure and duress. There’s a virus. It’s contagious, incurable and deadly. And we can speculate that it has crumbled the fuck out of civilisation. Paul (Joel Edgerton), Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) and their teenage son Travis (Kelvin Harrison, Jr) have embedded themselves in a remote rural house, isolating themselves from whatever horrors lie in the outside world. When Will (Christopher Abbott) tries to break into what he believes is an empty house, searching for food and water for his wife Kim (Riley Keough) and little boy Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner), Paul at first holds him captive, then agrees that the young family can take refuge with them. It’s a compassionate move, and a smart one - there’s safety in numbers, after all. It may also doom them all. The two families may be sheltered from the virus (or maybe not) but other diseases slowly begin to spread through the house - distrust from the possibility of a lie, tension stemming from repressed sexuality - and paranoia takes root. Shults doesn’t overplay it, instead creating atmosphere through long silences, muffled noises and shadowed, half-visible shots, and nor do the actors, with Harrison, Jr doing incredible work as a young man trapped between childhood and adulthood and Edgerton consolidating his position as an understated but wholly magnetic lead. Guy Davis
OPINION Opinion
Howzat!
Local Music By Jeff Jenkins Naked And Famous The ‘90s are back. Double J has released a compilation, The 90s: The Greatest Decade In Music? Def FX were one of the decade’s most intriguing acts, a thrilling fusion of grunge and electronic rock, fronted by Fiona Horne, who has just issued her autobiography, The Naked Witch. Fiona explains that the title refers to a witch “with nothing to hide behind”. Part memoir, part self-help book, it’s a revealing read, at times heartbreakingly honest, with Fiona revealing she was sexually abused by her grandfather and taunted at school. “Small tits, massive lips, Mrs Fish, Fiona Horne,” her schoolmates would sing. “For decades, I was convinced that you had to pay for happiness with sadness,” she writes. She didn’t find contentment until she became a witch. Before then, Fiona dabbled in drugs, had an all-girl punk band in Sydney, The Mothers, who released the single Drives Me Wild, which Fiona wrote about her then boyfriend Blackie from the Hard-Ons. Fiona was a feisty frontwoman. When Def FX hecklers yelled, “Show us your tits!”, she’d
reply, “I will if you show me your dick. Wanna borrow my tweezers to find it?” Fiona then befriended Billy Corgan. “You are pretty,” Billy told her. “But from certain angles, you look incredibly plain.” They remain friends, but Fiona says the comment confirmed her insecurities. “Again I knew I was cursed to be good but not good enough.” After Def FX broke up, Fiona posed for Playboy (“Witches have always been exhibitionists”), dated Matt from The Mavis’s (inspiring their hit Cry) and Geelong footballer Clint Bizzell, shared management with Kylie, and became a regular on TV, including an appearance Burke’s Backyard with Don Burke, “the most vulgar man I’ve ever met”. She had a fling with Tom Jones, who encouraged her to move to LA. “Tom was a very generous lover - in every way,” Fiona
Fiona Horne
writes. “He had a huge voice, a huge heart... a huge everything, actually!” The Naked Witch is certainly no fairytale, but Fiona has had a full and fascinating life. Now, Fiona’s doing humanitarian work on a Caribbean island, where she’s also a witch, pilot, fire dancer and yogini. Raining Pleasure After a six-year hiatus, Melbourne’s magical rockers Sand Pebbles are back, with a new album, Pleasure Maps, with a launch at the Spotted Mallard on 26 Aug. Hot Line “May you know what to do when the time comes” - Charles Jenkins , The Last Polaroid.
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 33
OPINION Opinion
Statue
Dance Moves
Business Music When Your Club
When your club needs a boss Statue have a new split two-track record with Ara Needs A Boss Koufax coming out on Cin Cin on 21 Jul. I messaged Tom Gould from Statue about his role as Statue and as With Paz the drummer for No Zu. Your tracks Base and Face feature on the new Cin Cin test pressing alongside Ara Koufax, did you fight for which artist was going to be on the A-side? “Base and Face are site-specific structures created for the club. Not long ago Ali (Warm) and Mike (Fort Romeau) approached me about releasing tracks on their label... after a few conversations with Sam and Luke (Ara Koufax) we realised it looked as though we would be on the same release... I was a fan of all parties involved in this project prior to it being constructed and it feels all A-side to me.” What hardware is evident on Base and Face? Could hardware be improved from the perspective as a drummer? “Almost all of the percussion ideas come from playing them myself. There are idiosyncratic patterns and sounds that come from these being played that give the overall sound a more human touch. I try to limit the amount of sounds to be used in a track early on whether it is outboard gear or software and work from there. There are played percussion samples, bass station 2, and a Roland AIRA TR-8.”
OG F l ava s
Vince Staples
Urban And R&B News With Cyclone
V
ince Staples - sardonic Long Beach, California MC - shared fans’ tweets on dropping his art-rap album Big Fish Theory. Many contained the word “weird”. Indeed, Staples has fully embraced IDM (‘intelligent dance music’) - the ‘G’ in G-funk now denoting ‘glitch’. But is it so surprising? Staples collaborated with James Blake on 2016’s Prima Donna EP. He also blessed Flume’s Smoke &
34 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
SZA – CTRL
Retribution and Gorillaz’ Ascension. And both Flume and Damon Albarn appear in the credits of Big Fish Theory (the latter as a vocalist). Flume co-produces the abrasive future bass - and, notably, Kendrick Lamar-featuring - Yeah Right alongside Banoffee’s Ripe cohort SOPHIE. Detroit’s Jimmy Edgar steers the robo-funk 745. Staples - successor to New York urban-goths Mobb Deep (#RIPProdigy) as much as gangsta pioneers NWA - conceivably feels that left-field electronic beats complement his nihilistic lyricism (Party People is an anti-club banger). After all, he’s long lauded Joy Division. Yet Staples is actively defying Afrofuturist tropes. The key track on Big Fish Theory is the social allegory Crabs In A Bucket - UK proto-grime broken beat co-produced by Justin “Bon Iver” Vernon. Hip hop and experimental electronica are intertwined - Staples himself citing Afrika Bambaataa’s Kraftwerkinspired Planet Rock in his recent Reddit AMA. In 2000 OutKast aired the drum’n’bass BOB (Bombs Over Baghdad) - and Big Boi’s new Boomiverse has that same ravey Southern bounce. Today Staples isn’t even the only hip hopper subverting IDM. DJ Khaled, hypeman supremo, samples Blake’s pal Mark Pritchard on Grateful’s On Everything. Still, with his post-techno manoeuvres, the usually lowkey Staples has actually eclipsed Young Thug’s Drake-supervised country-trap debut Beautiful Thugger Girls.
OPINION Opinion
New Currents
I
n spite (or perhaps partly because) With Tim of Beyonce and Rihanna’s commercial Finney and artistic successes, this decade has been a difficult time for female R&B singers, and women in pop generally: increasingly relegated to the role of back-up or “top line” vocalist on multi-artist collaborations, they’re rarely allowed any sense of agency, let alone real personality. So it’s heartening to see Missouri singer SZA (real name Solana Rowe) garner so much attention for her debut album CTRL, which comes after a string of wellreceived EPs. Perhaps inevitably, SZA’s attractions are overly spun as being in contradistinction to R&B business-as-usual, and she’s frequently described as a “singer-songwriter” of “alternative” or even “indie” R&B. In reality, CTRL manages that tricky balancing act of sounding distinct and novel by synthesizing a series of disparate trends within R&B itself, some more or less typical and some out of left-field - so there’s the expected general air of looseness and wispiness and slurred truth-telling that if you squint might recall Frank Ocean or Drake, while the warm, dusty production is caught halfway between urban modernity and classicism. But SZA also sounds more comfortable offering simple soul-bearing over an acoustic guitar than any R&B artist since Tweet, and her throaty vocals strongly recall more underground R&B singers, from K Michelle (but less melodramatic) to Dawn Richard (but less grandiose). Throughout, there’s a vibe of emotional, sonic and vocal honesty and bitesized relatability that finds common cause with fellow traveller Kehlani, but the overall combination sounds one-of-a-kind. Lyrically SZA walks a similar tightrope, at once blunt and abstract, personal and metaphysical. On opener Supermodel she tells a true story of revenge-adultery after learning her boyfriend cheated on her in Las Vegas, while Doves In The Wind is an extended riff on the relationship between the hunt for “pussy” and the SZA’s quest for a meaningful romantic connection - notably, while this song features a fine guest rap from Kendrick Lamar, it’s SZA’s own detour into an examination of the romantic successes or otherwise of Forrest Gump that offers the most head-scratching quasi-profundity. Maybe, like Kendrick, SZA keeps it real by not confining herself to a position either for or against realness, her lyrical musings evading any sense of over-scriptedness by wandering all over the map. It’s to her credit, then, that
CTRL doesn’t sound particularly messy or unfocused, or perhaps rather that it sounds just messy and unfocused enough to come across as somehow coherent. If SZA is subtly unusual, then Young Thug wears his distinctiveness proudly: the Atlanta rapper - whose last major release (2016’s excellent Jeffrey) featured Thug on the cover wearing a dress has followed it up with the explicitly songful Beautiful Thugger Girls, with the cover sporting Thug playing an acoustic guitar. And there are guitars and singing all over BTG, most notably on the countryesque opener Family Don’t Matter, where Thug yammers and yowls about popping prescription medication at home over an acoustic strum for all the world like he’s the second coming of Bubba Sparxxx. But in this and in other gestures towards songfulness (the fruity pop of Do U Love Me, the lithe groove of On Fire) BTG feels more like a logical extension of past experiments than a radical break; that this something that resembles pop feels entirely coincidental. As always, the primary attraction remains Thug’s own voice; a fascinating, gymnastic tool.
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THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 35
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 05
All Our Exes Live In Texas
Gavin DeGraw: 170 Russell, Melbourne Bohjass + Lo Res: 303, Northcote
Not In Service + Party On My Darling + The Mochasins: Bar Open, Fitzroy
The Lemon Twigs
Andy Allo: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Malcura: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
The Music Presents Orsome Welles: 8 Jul Evelyn Hotel The Lemon Twigs: 25 Jul The Curtin Two Door Cinema Club: 25 Jul Festival Hall Sigur Ros: 27 Jul Margaret Court Arena Vera Blue: 8 Aug Tap House Bendigo, 11 Aug 170 Russell, 12 Aug Wool Exchange Geelong Ali Barter: 25 Aug The Workers Club Geelong; 1 Sep Theatre Royal Castlemaine; 8 Sep Corner Hotel Dan Sultan: 1 Sep Wool Exchange Geelong; 2 Sep Forum Theatre Mew: 12 Sep Max Watt’s At The Drive In: 28 Sep Festival Hall Caligula’s Horse: 30 Sep Max Watt’s Alt-J: 7 Dec Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Milk! Records Residency with Various Artists: Coburg RSL, Coburg Connor Black Harry: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The Basement Bees + Francois + Blyolk + Selki + Anti-Violet + FiveFours: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Comedy Big Time feat. Sonia Di Lorio + Alasdair TremblayBirchall + Claire Hagan + Rhi Down + more: Howler, Brunswick Lomond Acoustica feat. Bill Jackson + Pete Fidler + Craig Woodward + Suzette Herft: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East The Quirks + Than: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Saskwatch: The Curtin, Carlton Wine, Whiskey, Women feat. Anita George + Annaliese Rose: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Weatherboards + Arbes + Boxcrunch: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood Moonlover + Coyote & The Blacklights + Pup Tentacle: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood
The Exes In Texas Bring in the weekend with alt-folk outfit All Our Exes Live In Texas this Friday before they actually go to Texas itself for SXSW. Fill your heart with their chilling harmonies at Howler from 8pm. Piss Factory + Boy Parts + Dogood + BC: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Thu 06
Jacob Sartorius: Palais Theatre, St Kilda Sun God Replica + Sweetcheeks: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Kickin The B at 303 feat. The Jackson Four: 303, Northcote
Comedy Comes To The Hills feat. Steve Hughes + Claire Hooper + Kirsty Mac: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Spiral Perm + Yachay + Bosco Tang: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Georgia Fields + Phia: Suttons House of Music, Ballarat
Casey Bennetto + Kerri Simpson + The Projectors: Bella Union, Carlton South
Mango Retreat + The Constables + SPARKS + Spiritus: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Andy Allo: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Allday
Emah Fox + Lacuna: Boney, Melbourne
Tiana
In Oakleigh Tonight feat. Mick Thomas + Jemma Rowlands: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Cobra Snake Necktie DJs: Catfish (Front Bar), Fitzroy Lisa Crawley: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick
Full Speed Ahead Following the success of latest release Speeding legendary rapper Allday is hitting up Festival Hall for one major party across the country. Bringing his pals Japanese Wallpaper, Nicole Millar and Mallrat with him, the talent radar is off the charts.
Cuban Crimewave + Maverick + Mona Bay: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
36 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
Sweethearts: Cherry Bar, Melbourne TRAPT + Demonatrix + Two Oceans Pass: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Tiana’s Tiara
Armour Group + Kollaps + Mensch + Lost Few: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
Tiana Martel brings her five-piece modern soul/blues outfit to Compass Pizza Bar Saturdaywith a collection of new material, recently recorded at The Bunker studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Mallrat: Karova Lounge, Ballarat Jimmy Stewart + Nedd Jones: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Cross Eyed Cats: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East The Meeseeks + Creature Fear + Funk Dancing for Self Defence: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford
Trivia: Wesley Anne, Northcote
Pallbearer + Bog + Cascades: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Melbourne Club Band: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East
The Taxithi Project: Open Studio, Northcote
Slow Dancer + Poppongene + Daggy Man: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Mama Kin & Spender + Rowena Wise: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Gigs / Live The Guide
In Store with All Our Exes Live In Texas: Basement Discs (12.45pm), Melbourne
All Our Exes Live In Texas + Ports + Susie Youssef: Howler, Brunswick
Andy Allo: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Christ Crusher + Bill Shankly + AD Skinner: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Daze: Boney, Melbourne
Russell Morris: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh
Woodes
Into The Woodes Melbourne alternative singersongwriter Woodes keeps going from strength to strength. Now setting off on her Run For It tour across the east coast, her etherial, transfixing vibes will fill the walls of The Workers Club this Saturday. A Swayze & The Ghosts + Loobs + Don Bosco: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Tenderhooks + El Tee: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Atticus Street + Elk & Mammoth + Melanie Taylor: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Anti Violet + Hannah Kate + Boyparts + Wasterr: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood Wavevom + Department + Forward Flank: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Knock Off Drinks with Chris Wilson: Cherry Bar (5.15pm), Melbourne A Celebration of the life & Music of Chris Cornell with Superunknown + Alice Remains + Jordan Donnelly: Cherry Bar, Melbourne 1am Slot feat. Party Dozen: Cherry Bar (Jenni Bar), Melbourne Damon Smith: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East
The Nudgels + Max Teakle & his Honky-Tonky Friends: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Primordial + Vomitor + Nocturnal Graves: Max Watt’s, Melbourne Pop Up Show with Clairy Browne: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda
Harrison Storm: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Allday + Japanese Wallpaper + Nicole Millar + more: Festival Hall, West Melbourne Party Girls: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick Stonefox + The Winter Gypsy: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
How ‘Bout That
Russell Howard: Hamer Hall, Melbourne
If you’re not into the abrasive Saturday night club scene, treat your ears to the hypnotic melodies of Abbey Howlett instead. Wesley Anne hosts her jazz electronica and haunting songwriting this Saturday night, for free.
Connor Black Harry
Fri 07 Gordi: 1000 Pound Bend, Melbourne
The Wikimen: Open Studio, Northcote
Oolluu + Jamatar + Ben Willis: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Plotz + Dom Kelly + Tram Cops: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Figures + A Gazillion Angry Mexicans + Colibrium + Phoenix Day: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Pallbearer + Holy Serpent + Agonhymn: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Runk: Baha Tacos, Rye
Foley!: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
DJ The Knave: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Beer Garden), Brunswick
NGV Friday Nights feat. Steve Gunn: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Southbank
Saatsuma: Arts Centre Melbourne (The Channel), Melbourne
Kilter + Feki + Alta: The Prince, St Kilda
Greg Steps: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Front Bar), Brunswick
Black Alpine + Lace & Whiskey + Saffire Rose: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East
Dirty Lopez & his Sax Mambo: 303, Northcote
Plastic + Way Dynamic: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Abbey Howlett
Carl Dunai: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
Baby Animals + The Screaming Jets + Palace Of The King: 170 Russell, Melbourne
CHILD + Bitch Diesel + Spawn: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Vancouver Sleep Clinic + Lakyn: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Clea + Nice Biscuit + Domini Forster: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Broads: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy
Jackie Bornstein Quartet: Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn
Small World Experience + Thigh Master: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood
Medal Of Connor Beginning this Wednesday night, singer-songwriter Connor Black Harry is chilling out your hump day with his stellar vocals and soothing guitar works at The Evelyn Hotel. Get cosy, grab some mulled wine and de-stress from 8.30pm.
Mesa Cosa: Penny Black, Brunswick The Resignators: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Cursed Earth: Reverence Hotel, Footscray Jess Hieser + Jade Talbot + Tash Zappala + Dear Matilda: Sash Bar, Northcote
Merpire + Liv Cartledge: Wesley Anne, Northcote Mon Shelford: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Harrison Craig: Wesley Performing Arts Centre, Horsham Louis Donnarumma + Amber Isles + Rin McArdle: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East Wavevom + Rhysics + Cracker La Touf + Mona Bay: Woody’s Bar, Collingwood Brightness: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy Biles + Ari Sharp + Scumwitch + Wishes + Muddy Lawrence: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Alleged Associates + Zerafina Zara: Smokehouse 101, Maribyrnong
Pugsley Buzzard: Bar Open (Front Bar), Fitzroy
The Australian Bon Jovi Show: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Superheist + Frankenbok + Dreadnaught + The Ascended: Barwon Club Hotel, South Geelong
Crowned Kings + Rust Proof + Hammer Time + Overpower + Starting Fires: The Bendigo, Collingwood Black Mountain String Band: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 37
Comedy / G The Guide
Sat 08
Afternoon Show with Phaedo + Shemaiah Kaye + Mild Child: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Endless Heights
The Good Minus + Copperhead Brass Band + Mijo Biscan: 303, Northcote
All Our Exes Live In Texas: The Workers Club Geelong, Geelong
All Ages Show with Touche Amore + Turnover + Endless Heights + Fever Speak: Arrow On Swanston, Carlton
Sean McMahon & The Moon Men + Davidson Brothers: Union Hotel, Brunswick
Adam Simmons’ Origami: Bar Open (Front Bar), Fitzroy
Jessica O’Donoghue: Wesley Anne, Northcote
Samba & Forro: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Abbey Howlett: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
The Heart Instinct + Formiles + For What It’s Worth: Barwon Club Hotel, South Geelong
Planet of the 8’s + Olmeg + Sonic Moon + Cash: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East
Andy Allo: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne On-ly: Boney, Melbourne Rebecca Barnard + Victoriana Gaye: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Boadz: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick Baby Animals + The Screaming Jets + Palace Of The King: Chelsea Heights Hotel, Aspendale Gardens The Mercy Kills + Los Amigos + Midnight Alibi: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Gavin DeGraw
Ruby Soho + Shelpac + Respect the D: Woody’s Bar, Collingwood
Dizzying Heights Endless Heights have snagged the support gig for American post-hardcore band Touche Amore. The Sydney five-piece will be accompanying the LA rockers at Corner Hotel this Sunday night with Turnover and Better Half. Amaya Laucirica + Contrast + Mystery Guest: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
The Ruby Rogers Experience: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Georgia Fields + Phia: Major Tom’s, Kyneton Paul Dempsey: Max Watt’s, Melbourne
Grammy-nominated act Gavin DeGraw is hitting up super intimate venues across Australia for An Acoustic Evening With Gavin DeGraw tour. Settle in for a night of crooning vocals and emotive melodies this Wednesday at 170 Russell.
Tiana Martel: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East Gold Class + East Brunswick All Girls Choir + No Sister + Friendships DJs: Corner Hotel, Richmond Alexis Nicole: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Front Bar), Brunswick DJ Simon Laxton: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Beer Garden), Brunswick Orsome Welles + Qlaye Face + Transience + The Valley Ends: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The 60s Girls Rock Show with The Substitutes: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
38 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017
Evan Klar: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy Parsnip + Sachet + The Stroppies: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford Bon But Not Forgotten + The Volts + more: Yarraville Club, Yarraville
Tom Ballard + Cal Wilson + Dave Callan + Nath Valvo + Sami Shah: Howler, Brunswick
Not Over DeGraw
Margaret RoadKnight: World Music Cafe, North Fitzroy
NGV Friday Nights feat. The Panics: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Southbank Steve Gunn + Jess Ribeiro + Andrew Tuttle: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Jamie MacDowell Hammond Combo: Open Studio, Northcote The Lyrical : Penny Black, Brunswick Creek: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy The Hornets: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
A Tribute to Rancid feat. The Timebombs + Topnovil + The 131s + Strawberry Fist Cake + Blind Man Death Stare + Jerkbeast: The Bendigo, Collingwood
Sun 09 Lara Prokop + Tim Palstra + Jade Talbot: 303, Northcote
Cobra 45’s: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
The Trepids + Lukewarm Ice Tea + The Ninth Dimension: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Death Bells + Buzz Kull + Publique + Dormir + Muscle Memory + The Bends + more: The Curtin, Carlton
Andy Allo: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
The Jump Devils + Ceili All Stars: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
Bon But Not Forgotten + The Volts: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Galata Express + Baba Noir: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Cherry Blues with The Three Kings: Cherry Bar (2pm), Melbourne
Charlie Bedford: Catfish, Fitzroy
Foley: The Loft, Warrnambool Press Club Band + Darts + Rad Island: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Holy Balm
Afternoon Show with Joel Parnell: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Pony Face: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Clove + Doll Holiday + Spencer Vine + Reside: Reverence Hotel, Footscray
Double Denim Fundraiser with Space Tortoise + Stu Daulman + Rhi Down: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
The Australian Bon Jovi Show: Satellite Lounge, Wheelers Hill
Andee Frost: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Purple Revolution - A Tribute to Prince with Andrew De Silva: Skyways Hotel, Airport West
Holy Balm + Various Asses + Glamouratz: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood
Mike Noga: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill
Hannah Kate + Sandy Hsu + Foolish Boys: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood
The Flying Dukes: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
The Skids + Rabid Dogs + 58008: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Hanksaw: Surabaya Johnny’s, St Kilda
Laing Brothers: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island Woodes + Ash Hendricks + Seavera: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Remix To Ignition Wonky house trio Holy Balm are launching their new remixed 12” Activity Mixes this Saturday night. Witness them take their 2016 album to new eccentric heights at The Tote with Various Asses and Glamouratz.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Sporting Poets with Various Artists: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East
18+ Show with Touche Amore + Turnover + Endless Heights + Better Half: Corner Hotel, Richmond The Nudgels: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Front Bar), Brunswick Matinee Show with Jai Waetford: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Opal Ocean + Caravan Kids + Thongbirds: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Peter Vadiveloo: Farouk’s Olive, Thornbury Afternoon Show with The People: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Wayne Jury & The Rectifiers: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Marty Kelly & Co. + Black Mountain String Band: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
8th Birthday Party with Seedy Jeezus + Mannequin Death Squad + Two Headed Dog: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Boadz + Pugsley Buzzard: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
Grenfell Relief Fundraiser feat. DJ J’Nett + Rambl + One Puf + Kovac + DJ Raaghe + Mickey Edwards + more: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Afternoon Show with Joe Guiton + Rachel Short: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Ben Salter: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy Moreland City Soul Revue + Alison Ferrier Band: Union Hotel, Brunswick Afternoon Show with Selki + Danika Smith: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
Afternoon Show with Mark Hughes & the Temple of Blues + Anthony Rea & The Charm Offensive: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East
Pony Face + Spiral Perm + Alice Williams: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Zane Thompson + Tash Zappala + Oliver Proudfoot: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East
Brooklyn ‘86: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
DJ Set with The Jungle Giants: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Tim Guy: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy
The Happy Lonesome + The Golden Rail + The Ra Ra Ra’s + Michael Plater: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Omina #2 feat. Phoenix Manson + Slow Job + The Sadults + Zockapilli + The New Dregs + more: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Mon 10 Ben Carr Trio: 303, Northcote
Saskwatch
Kilter
Kill-ter Be Ya Keep the party going when synth wizard Kilter brings his rich and immersive sounds to The Prince on his Through The Distortion Aussie tour. With Feki and Alta your Friday night is sorted.
Brooklyn’s Finest: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Yolanda Brown: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Wind It Up with Various Artists: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Uncomfortable Science with Lachlan Mitchell: Boney, Melbourne
Secret Native + Scuttle: Open Studio, Northcote
59 Rockers + Jade Nye + Shano Won: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Take It From Me with Jess McGuire + Sami Shah + Maureen Matthews: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Japandroids + Press Club Band: Corner Hotel, Richmond Public High + Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows + Unholy Trip: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Miff + Luke Miller: Open Studio, Northcote Skyscraper Stan + Angie McMahon + Cahill Kelly: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood
Sk-watch This Space
Holy Serpent
Indie-soul groovers Saskwatch are heading to The Curtin this Wednesday evening in support of their upcoming album Manual Override. They’re previewing some of the albums tracks so you can make all your buddies jealous.
Unplugged Live feat. Alex The Astronaut: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Southbank Loonee Tunes + Hornstars: Open Studio, Northcote The Vanguards: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Bontan: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran The Barnyard Stomp: Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North Moogy: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave Andrew Nolte & his Orchestra: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Rhyece O’Neill & The Vengeful Narodniks + James McCann & The Vindictives + Penny Ikinger + Black Bats: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood Damn the Torpedoes + Moody Beaches + Some Jerks: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood Barely Standing: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island
Snake Eyes The return of the colossal Pallbearer is here, and Melbourne act Holy Serpent have scored a sweet support slot. Get knee deep in their thick doom metal at Northcote Social Club this Friday night, tickets are selling fast.
Liz Mitchell + Emma Russack + Lehmann B Smith + Zac Denton + Ashley Bundang + Lachlan Denton: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood Gymnastics In The Seventies + Auntie Leo & The Backstabbers + Jimi Crisp + Bloom: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Kit Convict: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy
The Rollercanes + Elk & Mammoth + The Hot Springs + The Ians: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Afternoon Show with Pup Tentacle + Cosmos + Pseudo Mind Hive: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Tue 11
Bart Willoughby: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury
Make It Up Club feat. Various Artists: Bar Open, Fitzroy
THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017 • 39
40 • THE MUSIC • 5TH JULY 2017