riding in the hood Luke McGrath Unlike The Hives, who burst onto the scene proclaiming they were Your New Favourite Band, this humble Melbourne group simply asked you to Listen To Little Red. That was all that was necessary – they knew that if you gave it a chance, you’d be hooked. Few bands have so quickly claimed the mantle The Hives aspired to like LITTLE RED has; their ability to whip a crowd into a frenzy with a few jagged chords and some well timed tambourine is quickly becoming legendary. The lads will be battle-hardened by the time they reach Canberra for Trackside – this year already has seen them do two Australia-wide tours, and they are becoming well accustomed to the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.
“It’s not an act or anything… we always just wanted to make people dance.” “We make sure the rider’s completely gone before we leave a venue” says Tom Hartney, he of the husky deep baritone. “We don’t have much money, so apart from that, we can’t afford to buy our own drinks – we just rely on the venues to look after us. We certainly love a drink or two, yeah.” While the band’s profi le has certainly risen dramatically this year, their Nuggets-meets-Motown sound didn’t come about overnight. “I was just listening to one of our old demos the other day, for the fi rst time in ages and it was kind of telling,” says Tom. “There were two of us singing in unison the whole time – I think we both wanted to be the singer so we just both sang together. And then we got another couple of members – we were all friends from school, but all of us were kinda good singers and then we discovered harmonies and we considered that our secret weapon ’cause not many other bands were doing four-part harmonies.” Combine those groovy harmonies with their thrift-store suits and Muppets-like energy, and Little Red often seem like they’ve just been dug out of a time-capsule. Tom is quick to point out that while they are indebted to the ’50s and ’60s, “more than the music of that era, I really like the philosophy. Everyone was really enthusiastic and it seemed really exciting – I think that’s what appealed to us as much as the music.” The band is also conscious their natural exuberance could be mistaken for a gimmick. “We have been going for a while now, and you can only stay innocent for so long, unfortunately,” relates Tom, matter of factly. “It’s not an act or anything… we always just wanted to make people dance.” Their debut album has certainly done just that. For the most part recorded in three straight days (“a few of the songs were first takes, live” reveals Tom), would the band prefer longer next time? “Yes,” Tom says emphatically. “We don’t want to keep doing the same thing. A few people have said they don’t know what the next one is going to sound like and that’s exciting. It’s going to sound different, frankly. The songs are gong to be longer and maybe more… emotive, quite a few more ballads and we’re going to spend a lot more time producing it. We’re really happy with how the fi rst one was but we just want to do something different now.” Before all that of course, there is the summer festival circuit and Little Red’s much anticipated return to Canberra. “I said something to our manager like ‘Why don’t we play in Canberra?’ and she had some good reason, then I forgot about it for a while,” says Tom honestly. Let’s not give them reason again. Little Red will be singing their little hearts out at Trackside at Thoroughbred Park Saturday November 22. Joining them will be acts The Living End, Gyroscope, Cut Copy, The Panics, Grafton Primary and many more. Tickets are available through Landspeed Records and Ticketek.