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ARE YOU LOCAL? BRISBANE SINGLES AND EPS BY CHRIS YATES
BITTER LUNGS THE Urge To Kill... Rising DANGERMEN Independent Gold Coast screamy hardcore merchants are excited about Stephen King’s sequel to his novel The Shining which is called Dr Sleep. Instead of naming it after any of those things they have instead named it after the line in The Simpsons’ Treehouse Of Horror pisstake of Kubrik’s film of the same name. Stephen King hated the movie as I recall, but he probably liked The Simpsons version, and he would definitely like this track. While King may have gotten softer with old age, these dudes are heading in the other direction, with their sound becoming more and more refined it really feels like it’s building up to something exciting.
Everybody/Executive 7” Swashbuckling Hobo The Dangermen come out hard and put some runs on the board before you even put their new seven-inch on the turntable on account of the brilliant cover illustration featuring a bunch of cats and dogs who are partying hard: one of the dogs has overdosed and a cat is smoking a bong. It does an adequate job of setting the scene, with both tracks delivering the party as much as these guys can take it. This is stereotypical Brisbane garage punk, but the reason it’s a stereotype is because these dudes practically invented it. Everybody is the pick of the two tracks, but that could just be because the cat with the bong is on that side.
THE LOOKING GLASS A JOURNEY THROUGH ARTS WITH HELEN STRINGER Here’s a test of your value as a human being. If I started singing “oooo-eee-oooooo, da da da, da dada daaa-dadi da da da” and in response you immediately explained how and why the space time continuum is about to be fucked then we should probably be friends. This would mean that not only were you aware of the malleability of said continuum but also that on 23 November, the BBC will air Day Of The Doctor and – in what
will be the closest Whovians ever get to time travel – will be simulcast worldwide at exactly the same time and date the original premiered 50 years ago. To demonstrate the significance of the event, remember the reaction to Barack Obama’s first term election? This is the nerd equivalent only times 12 million. There’s not a soul in the world who knows what a sonic screwdriver is who will not wake
MAJOR LEAGUES
COLUMBIA BUFFET
Independent
Independent
The buzz for Major Leagues is not without warrant, but it’s quite incredible how much interest they have received before even putting out a proper release. Silver Tides is bathed in all kinds of shimmering indie pop. A super cute pop song heavied up with layers of guitars and watery effects cascading everywhere, Silver Tides avoids falling into a mess of production despite how much is going on.
The guitar riff that opens Shapes could have been lifted from The Replacements when they went a bit more moderate rock towards the end. They actually mention that band later on in the song, so it’s clearly no accident. The lyrics shamelessly reflect on growing up in Queensland and the video follows this cue, alternating between a dude skating around familiar spots and a kid tearing it up to rock’n’roll in his bedroom.
up at whatever time necessary just to ensure they witness what will no doubt go down in history as the best day ever. Any good day you’ve ever had will pale in comparison: Game Of Thrones finale? This is better. Miley Cyrus twerking? Still better.
the greatest, most complex TV character of all time. Behind that childlike exterior is the lone survivor of genocide; a Time Lord whose morals are tested by his love for humanity.
Silver Tides
The uninitiated like to denigrate Dr Who, dismissing it as a children’s show where a strange man runs around abducting females, befriending small children and breaking every rule about the passage of time he’s espoused for the past 50 years. Yes, it should be noted that occasionally writers discover they’ve overlooked some truck-sized holes in continuity, like previous series indicating that the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times after which he’ll actually die. The producers just slipped in a little line that vaguely suggests the regeneration limit is incorrect. Problem completely solved: Doctor Who lives forever. Contrary to popular belief the Dr doesn’t merely walk around wearing a fez and declaring that bow ties are cool; the Doctor is
Shapes
The Daleks may no longer be cool, but who cares about robot Wiggles when you’ve got the weeping angels, those beasts that feed on time energy and can only move when you’re not looking at them? Thanks to Dr Who, the moment I look at a statue I think, “don’t blink”, back away whilst prying my eyes open and repeatedly praying that there are enough people in the immediate vicinity to perpetuate a quantum lock. Anything your average young adult fiction has thought of barely registers a blip on the scary fiction for children radar. And how’s this for cred: the Doctor’s latest companion, Clara, is dating Rob Stark. Eat shit JK Rowling. I’m setting my alarm for 6.50am November 24. I’ll start crying approximately three seconds in. Luckily nobody will notice because I’ll be wearing my voice-distorting Dalek helmet. THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 61