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2 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
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themusic 21ST MAY 2014
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INSIDE FEATURED In Hearts Wake Peter Dinklage
READ THE NEXT INSTALMENT OF THEIR TOUR DIARY ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU
The Cairos Future Islands SuperGirly The Disappointed Midlake Pixies Taking Back Sunday Anna Calvi Frente SoundKILDA
MELBOURNE’S ALITHIA CONTINUE THE SEARCH FOR MORE VODKA AND ROCK STAR MOMENTS IN RUSSIA.
HUGH JACKMAN, FAN BINGBING AND PETER DINKLAGE AT X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
“I DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT I’M WATCHING; I WANT TO EXPLORE IT AND BE SURPRISED.” X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST ACTOR PETER DINKLAGE (P18)
James Vincent McMorrow The Horrors
REVIEWS
“NIGHTMARISH SCENARIOS ARE AUGMENTED BY THE CONTRASTING SOUND DESIGN, WHICH MOVES FROM OVERWHELMING NOISE TO COMPLETE SILENCE.” NATALIE RHOOK REVIEWS UNDER THE SKIN (P36)
Album: Owen Pallett Live: Gareth Liddiard Arts: Godzilla ...and more
THE GUIDE Cover: High Tension
WANNA KNOW WHAT NEW MUSIC IS DROPPING THIS WEEK? CHECK OUT OUR RELEASE WRAP-UP ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU.
Eat/Drink: Soup Season Frontlash/Backlash Indie News/Q&As Opinion Gig Guide
DZ DEATHRAYS @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: LUCINDA GOODWIN
FILM CAREW TAKES ON THE MUTANT! READ HIS REVIEW OF THE NEW X-MEN MOVIE ONLY ON THEMUSIC. COM.AU.
review “RIDLEY HAS AN ENTIRE BEER POURED DOWN HIS GULLET BY AN EXCITABLE AIDE DURING A DRUM SOLO.” GLENN WALLER REVIEWS DZ DEATHRAYS (P34)
feature 6 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
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THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 7
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THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 21 MAY - 27 MAY 2014
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ADALITA @ GOLDEN PLAINS. PIC: JESSE BOOHER
Sleep at the ‘G is back this year. The night kicks off from 5pm on 22 May so head in and grab your free cardboard box mattress, pillow and beanie to set up your bed for the night on the MCG concourse. A basic dinner (and breakfast) is provided with entertainment courtesy of Adalita and Mark Seymour. Last year, $300,000 was raised for Melbourne City Mission and the fundraising goal this year is $500,000.
Melbourne Central is kicking off Shot Tower Heritage Week with a One Day Shopping Festival on 22 May from 10am – 10pm. There are store discounts to be redeemed, you can meet Tony Bianco, watch a cupcake tower being assembled and feed your face thanks to the various food trucks that will be rolling into Macintyre Alley. Can you believe construction on Coop’s Shot Tower was completed 125 years ago?
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We’ve got 25 double passes to give away to a screening of Good Vibrations at Cinema Nova, 6:30pm on Wednesday 28 May. The true story starring Richard Dormer as Terri Hooley and Dylan Moran follows Hooley as he opens a record shop called Good Vibrations in ‘70s Belfast, even as the Troubles rage outside. When he starts recording young punks like The Undertones on his new label, he starts a tiny music revolution. MELBOURNE
win
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 9
national news news@themusic.com.au
KID INK SLEEPMAKESWAVES
LEAVING HIS MARK
RISING TIDE
Local lovers of epic sleepmakeswaves are back to drown us once more with their intense and intricate sound, the Sydney post-rockers announcing a second record and a big national tour to celebrate the occasion. Hear tracks from their forthcoming record Love Of Cartography for the first time when the band march into Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, 5 Jul; Rad Bar, Wollongong, 6 & 13 Jul; The Northern, Byron Bay, 18 Jul; The Zoo, Brisbane, 19 Jul; Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 1 Aug; ANU Bar, Canberra, 2 Aug; Amplifier Bar, Perth, 8 Aug; and Manning Bar, Sydney, 16 Aug. Proudly presented by The Music.
Having worked hard at this rap game for over ten years now, Kid Ink has well and truly earned his place on the mountain, the LA native making music as colourful as the tattoos that adorn his body. My Own Lane encapsulates the Kid’s personal individuality and he’ll show off the record over here for the very first time this winter. The 28-year-old will headline The Hi-Fi, Brisbane, 22 Aug; The Hi-Fi, Sydney, 23 Aug; The Hi-Fi, Melbourne, 24 Aug; and Villa Nightclub, Perth, 25 Aug.
THEY WILL ROCK YOU
NEUROSIS
THE NEW TESTAMENT
Neurosis don’t tour much anymore, but when they do it’s a sonic revelation. Influencing everyone from Mastodon and Isis to High On Fire and Caspian, the Bay Area legends turned punk music beginnings into heavy metal trailblazing, and continue to maintain the same intensity and brute force that they first emerged with in the ‘80s. Now it’s your chance to experience Neurosis Down Under for the very first time: in the flesh, tearing the flesh off. Catch them on the following dates: 4 Aug, The Hi-Fi, Brisbane; 6 Aug, Capitol, Perth; 7 Aug, Corner Hotel, Melbourne; 8 Aug, The Hi-Fi, Melbourne; and 9 Aug, Manning Bar, Sydney.
KING BUZZO
ALL HAIL THE KING
The wonderfully weird King Buzzo will be returning to our shores, sans Melvins, for a run of dates slightly different from his norm, stripping it back for some intimate acoustic sessions to promote his newest body of work, This Machine Kills Artists. With no electric guitars or amplifiers in sight, you’ll get unadulterated Buzz Osborne Barwon Club, Geelong, 14 Aug; Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne, 15 & 16 Aug; Small Ballroom, Newcastle, 20 Aug; Newtown Social Club, Sydney, 21 Aug; Anita’s Theatre, Wollongong, 22 Aug; Transit Bar, Canberra, 23 Aug; Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, 24 Aug; and Astor Lounge, Perth, 26 Aug.
“TONY ABBOTT IS LIKE THE BOYFRIEND WHO BEATS YOU UP, BLAMES IT ON YOUR EX AND SAYS IT’S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.” @THE3BASICS GIVE US AN ANALOGY WE CAN SADLY UNDERSTAND. 10 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
It’s been almost 30 years since Queen last rocked Australia, but the remaining original members from the legendary British group, Brian May and Roger Taylor, are keeping the dream alive, bringing their canon of classics out our way with inspired US vocalist Adam Lambert fronting the group. The tour hits Perth Arena, 22 Aug; Allphones Arena, Sydney, 26 Aug; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 29 Aug; and Brisbane Entertainment Centre, 1 Sep. Tickets on sale 28 May.
STEVE-O
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME He may be a teetotaller these days, but rest assured Steve-O still has no problem stapling his balls to his legs. The insane daredevil, stuntman, prankster and comedian is coming our way and bringing with him the most OTT stories imaginable, balancing his terribly terrific tales with plenty of cringe-worthy physical feats, the kind that have made him a household name around the world. Catch the infamous Jackass and Wildboyz star live on stage when he grabs the mic at Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, 30 Jul; Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne, 31 Jul; UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney, 2 Aug; and Astor Theatre, Perth, 3 Aug.
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local news vic.news@themusic.com.au PALO ALTO
HIGHEST HIGHS MEMORANDUM
ALL ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT
Memory is a fickle, deceitful thing. In her new solo performance Memorandum, Kate Hunter delves into a concept both natural and inexplicable. Alternately gothic, unstructured, and darkly funny, her show runs 20 May – 1 Jun at Theatre Works.
SMASH IT
Melbourne band Vaudeville Smash will be playing a show at Evelyn Hotel, 31 May, ahead of the release of their new single Zinedine Zidane. The single is a tribute to French soccer player Zidane, and all other great soccer players, and also features the vocals of SBS soccer commentator Les Murray. Unofficial anthem, anyone?
ARTY PARTY
Art Day! is a live art happening where author/musician Justin Heazlewood (The Bedroom Philosopher) will read his entire book Funemployed over 12 hours. There’ll be a house band, plus guest readers and performers. It’s on at Howler, 1 Jun, 9am–9pm.
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
ARIA-winning sister trio The McClymonts have finished work on their fourth album, Here’s To You And I, and are set to along the east coast. They’ll be at The Palms, 25 Jul; The Capital, Bendigo, 26 Jul; and West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul, 27 Jul.
NEW YORK, NEW YOOORK!
The phrase ‘one-woman musical’ doesn’t get tossed around much – but Rachel Dunham’s witty interview-style solo musical Oprahfication proves it should. It’s taking her all the way to the New York Musical Theatre Festival in July.
THE WAKE OF DAY
Alt-country singer-songwriter Jackson McLaren is set to launch his debut album, Songs To Greet The Dawn, next month, and to celebrate will play a few exclusive shows. Catch him at Bella Union, 4 Jun.
WAITING FOR NO ONE
Brisbane’s The Creases are embarking on an east coast tour in honour of their single Static Lines. Before the overachievers play Splendour In The Grass, see them at Shebeen Bar, 28 Jun.
ON HEAT
Six albums later and Cookin’ On 3 Burners have some pretty big guests for Blind Bet: Daniel Merriweather, Kylie Auldist, Tex Perkins and even more. They’ll be launching the album at Corner Hotel, 4 Jul.
TUNES AND ‘TUDE
If you’re after something a tad fancier than your usual dive, check out the revamped Grant Street Theatre, a swanky new little bar and lounge promising performance art, jazz and contemporary tunes from 23 May.
“WELL LUCKILY I NEVER PLAN ON BEING YOUNG OR OLD. #BUDGET2014”
BRENDAN MACLEAN [@MACLEANBRENDAN] DISCOVERS THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THE SYSTEM. 12 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
Palo Alto, Gia Coppola’s window into the chain-smoking, lost-fuelled haze of youth, doesn’t gloss over nonchalance and dispassion. It screens at ACMI from 2 – 29 Jun.
BACK FOR SECONDS
Veruca Salt will play another show at Corner Hotel on 30 Sep as their 26 Sep date is sold out. Swedes First Aid Kit will play a second show at The Hi-Fi, 30 Jul. Hanson have added a show at The Hi-Fi on 10 Aug.
OPERATION NEO-BANGKOK The We Are Ten celebration is transforming the Revolt Artspace into 2054 NeoBangkok on 8 Jun. The event showcases acts of the future Sinjin Hawke, Mark Pritchard vs Steve Spacek, Sampology, and more, plus acts still to be announced.
TALK THE TALK
Seems like they’ve just wrapped up their national tour, but The Holidays are back on the road again, this time in support of their new single Tongue Talk. Catch the show at The Hi-Fi, 4 Jul with Thief.
FEELIN’ JAZZED
In 2014, Australia’s most prestigious jazz instrumental competition, the National Jazz Awards, invites jazz guitarist under 30 to compete for one of ten performance spots at this year’s Wangaratta Jazz Festival, 31 Oct to 3 Nov. Entries at wangarattajazz. com/national-jazz-awards close 1 Jun.
OPEN UP
Supporting Peabody at Yah Yah’s, 6 Jun will be The Barebones and Motel Love. Clowns and Dead open proceedings for Hard-Ons at Karova Lounge, Ballarat, 12 Jun; at Wool Exchange, Geelong, 13 Jun and Corner Hotel, 14 Jun they’ve got Clowns and Wicked City; and at Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine, 15 Jun it’ll be Dead again.
ANY REQUESTS?
Ahead of their tour in support of album Til My Tears Roll Away, Adelaide duo The Audreys are asking fans to put in requests for older songs through their Facebook page, which they’ll perform at their shows after running through the entirety of Til My Tears Roll Away, with a full band. Head to themusic.com.au/events for dates.
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THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 13
local news vic.news@themusic.com.au USURPER OF MODERN MEDICINE
ALICE SARA OTT & FRANCESCO TRISTANO
KEYS, PLEASE
Alice Sara Ott and Francesco Tristano, two of today’s brightest young pianists, come together to showcase their interpretations of Stravinky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Ravel and Tristano. The duo perform at the Recital Centre’s Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, 2 Jul, as part of the Great Performers series.
WANDER YONDER
Adelaide duo The Yearlings play their own brand of wistful Americana/alt-country on their fifth LP, All The Wandering and to celebrate their achievement will play: Paynesville Wine Bar, 20 Jul; Bella Union, 23 Jul; Basement Discs(arvo in-store) and The Main Bar, Bakery Hill, 25 Jul; Harvester Moon Café, Bellarine, 26 Jul; and The Shed, Maryknoll, 27 Jul.
FOREVER AND EVER
Since releasing Arecibo on 18 Apr, Forever The Optimist have been planning a tour that traverses the east coast. They’ve played with Redcoats, Grinspoon and now they play with The Controllers, Shadowgame, The Quarters and Acolyte at The Espy, 14 Jun.
HEAVY METAL
Brazilian metal mainstays Sepultura have announced a headline tour of Australia, not only in celebration of their three-decade reign, but also in promotion of their 13th album, The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart. They play 170 Russell, 3 Oct.
BLOODY MESS
Sydney-based punk trio Bloods announce a triple-whammy in new single Want It, its accompanying video clip, and east coast tour for good measure. See them at Shebeen Bar, 3 Jul.
LOSE YOURSELF
Choreographical beauty, politics and painful morality take centre stage with It Cannot Be Stopped, a three-piece, three-room contemporary dance performance by rising Aussie. Catch them from 19 Jun at Chunky Move Studios.
HOLE LOTTA GOOD
New boutique electronic music series HOLEANDCORNER have announced local additions to the line-up of their event at Shed 14, 7 Jun. Joining Hot Chip DJs and Matthew Dear will be Matt Radovich, Sleep D, Myles Mac and more.
STILL GOT THE LOOK
Roxette return Down Under in 2015. Catch them with guests Boom Crash Opera on 20 Feb at Rod Laver Arena and 21 Feb at A Day On The Green, Yarra Valley. 14 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU
Last year, Perth experimentalists Usurper Of Modern Medicine headed to Japan to film the clip to their trippy single, Motorola Borealis; weirdly enough they ended up on a game show. Ask them about it when they play Grace Darling Hotel, 27 Jun and Nortchote Social Club, 30 Jun. Proudly presented by The Music.
MIND CONQUERS ALL
Rap duo Mind Over Matter have just unveiled new track Shape Another Heart featuring Jon Reichardt and will take the wraps off their new record This Way To Elsewhere on 30 May. They celebrate at Laundry Bar, 11 Jul.
“FOLLOW, FOLLOW, FOLLOW. TWITTER IS THE PERFECT METAPHOR FOR... SOMETHING. DUNNO WHAT.” FAKE @ITSMORRISSEY ALMOST CONVINCED US HE WAS THE REAL THING.
MAKES ME SMILE
Lily Allen, has announced a Splendour sideshow on 24 Jul at Festival Hall. Hope it’s not too hard out there.
MUST BE FAIT
After releasing her debut EP Atmosphere, Elise Higgins aka Fait brings her reverbdrenched guitar and sparse drum beats to Evelyn Hotel, 13 Aug; The Workers Club, 14 Aug; and Revolver Upstair, 16 Aug.
TROPFEST TOURING OS
Attracting a national audience of around 150,000 people, Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and has become one of our most iconic cultural events, expanding internationally. On 31 May that global reach will see the festival landing in Yokohama, Japan for the first time. Check it out at tropfest.com.au.
RATTLING FOUNDATIONS
On brand new EP, In Your Bones, Perth indie-electro trio Crooked Colours have knocked together songs with impossible density and beauty. Catch the band with Deja and Artist Cartel DJs 4 Jul, Shebeen Bar.
SPLENDID NEWS
The Red Bull Music Academy teams up with Splendour In The Grass for the second year running. This year, the Academy’s bringing the out Peanut Butter Wolf, NGUZUNGUZU, Nicole Millar, Young Franco, Remi, Silentjay, Edd Fisher, Oisima, Sampology and more. Splendour kicks off on 25 Jul.
CRAFTING ARTS
The Victorian Indigenous Art Awards 2014 are after Indigenous artists to submit works before 12 Jun. There’s a total prize pool of $50,000 and no limits on genre or medium.
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music
EVERYDAY HEROES As well as making an impact, In Hearts Wake want to make a difference. Frontman Jake Taylor talks to Benny Doyle about the environmental ideals behind the band’s new record and how they’re hoping to soundtrack a movement.
A
t a time when the most celebrated word on the planet relates to taking a photo of one’s own face, it’s nice to see a band looking outwards rather than focusing inwards, especially a group so young. Almost two years on from their debut record Divination, a surprise success that found its way into the ARIA top 30, Byron Bay metalcore gang In Hearts Wake have returned to the soil with a far more organic hit of heavy – Earthwalker.
after,” Taylor reasons, “but you always have to go back and forth. The band then decamped to Michigan once more to work with ‘Metal Josh’ Schroeder, who also produced Divination. Here the unique messages of each song were woven seamlessly into one standout body of work. “It was just all about nailing the performances and bringing that epicness to life,” Taylor recalls. “And it has a lot more feel, this CD; there was a lot of extra emotion and energy [when recording], attitude when it was needed, but then [also] held off. It was such a big concept we were writing for – diversity is a big one – and it’s not always easy.”
are we sacrificing relationships, our financial situation, not doing all these things that our friends are doing like travelling the world? And I really realised [that] nothing’s changed – I’ve always been doing this for the message, and being a part of what I think is the bigger picture. And this was really, not taking a side, but really speaking out about it rather than being a person on the sideline. “After travelling and seeing a lot of the world with my family and band, I’ve grown to appreciate how lucky we are as Australians,” Taylor continues. “With that being said, I don’t want to see it turned to crap, and I feel that in the state of politics and just the way our economic structure is really heading, it’s worse than it’s ever been. That’s not saying that our dollar is bad, but if the government feels that we need to get our dollar stronger, boost our economy, they’re willing to turn back on every word; we’re talking hundreds of hectares here that they just want to give away because there’s ‘too much forest that’s been locked up’. “I feel that this is the turning point [to make a difference]. Just outside where we live in Byron Bay there’s a huge blockade in Bentley; people, protestors have been camping out there every night, and every morning the police show up trying to get through with all the bulldozers and fracking trucks, and the people are making a stand. It’s on
“WITH A LOT MORE PEOPLE REALLY RESPONDING TO THE MESSAGE AND BEING A PART OF THE EARTHWALKER MOVEMENT, IT DOES REALLY FEEL LIKE WE’RE DOING THE RIGHT THING.”
“It’s evolving,” vocalist Jake Taylor says of the band’s music. “I’m not sure if these songs feel faster or [more] energetic, but there’s a lot more going on. The light and dark has even more of its ups and downs it feels like, but it’s gelling really well. Getting our head around all new material though is challenging, it’s good, and it’s fun to be getting to play the new stuff.” Going against the grain of an apathetic era where too many people simply don’t give a shit, In Hearts Wake are using their position to creatively raise awareness on environmental issues that we face in our backyard, and all around the globe. But while Taylor is singing about logging, mining and our own modern behavioural patterns reacting to such industry – or “being hippies” as one intellectual giant on Facebook put it – the music surrounding his words remains punishing and crisp. As much as the lyrics and sounds are individually powerful though, the two elements of the band are only able to hit so hard because of their co-dependence and ability to feed off each other. The five friends live close to one another in Byron so communication throughout the creation of Earthwalker was constant. But rather than hand his lyric sheet to guitarist Ben Nairne – who took the lead writing the music – Taylor instead would share the vibe he envisaged for a song. This left interpretation open for Nairne and the rest of the band – Eaven Dall (guitar), Kyle Erich (bass) and Caleb Burton (drums). “It’s like a writing a script to a movie, and then the soundtrack comes 16 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
Earthwalker makes the band’s message crystalclear – if we carry on remaining passive and keep allowing terrible decisions to be made by governments, things are quickly going to head south. We need unity between ourselves, and the land we walk on. However, Taylor says when the band started working on this second full-length there was no modus operandi, no ‘what we need to do’ or ‘what we should do’. This album was simply a natural extension of the band members as people – in musical and thematic form. “I definitely felt a responsibility,” the frontman admits. “At the end of the day, why am I doing this? Why are we doing all of this? Why
our doorstep, all of this, and I don’t want to be 50 and say I didn’t try. I definitely want our kids to inherit this beautiful country that we so love now.” Growing up in Byron Bay and being immersed in the Northern Rivers area – easily one of the most stunning regions of our country – In Hearts Wake didn’t find it hard to get inspired about their mission of change, one which has seen them partner up with carbon solutions provider Carbon Neutral and plant biodiverse native trees tying in with ticket and album presales. “Loving these beaches, loving these waterfalls, loving everything this place has to offer – that’s where that importance comes from,” Taylor says. “What makes me happy is going to those places – it really changes my whole day. Even when I think it might not, and I’m just in a mood or whatever, it will seriously just transform everything. If people don’t have that catalyst to do that in their lives, then that’s an unfortunate thing.” Baring their beliefs so honestly and passionately has unsurprisingly led to keyboard warriors having a dig at In Hearts Wake online. But Earthwalker succeeds in informing without preaching, a fine line that the band walk with ease. “It’s more just an appreciation for what we don’t want to lose – that’s the biggest message,” Taylor explains. “I think for the most part people are on board with it because at the end of the day it is a part
of the bigger picture, and any neglect to see that to me is ignorance, not about our music, but to see it’s for the good. There are people that will be confronted by it because they like that Hollywood buffer where everything is good. People like to feel good, they like to be happy, and they don’t want to understand and be shown what’s really happening because it makes them feel uncomfortable. But it’s necessary, it really is.” Did In Hearts Wake question what they were about, not only as musicians but as people? Of course they did, we all do. And there have been plenty of times in the past few years where the band asked if what they were doing was worth it – the financial pressures and social anxiety related to FOMO, an all too real occurrence in a digital age when everyone is putting their best foot forward on the internet. But now, with music as their bonding solution, they are helping to inspire a new generation of socially conscious individuals. “There’s definitely that doubt, as there is with any creative outlet, it comes into your mind – ‘Am I doing what I need to be doing?’” concedes
Taylor. “And I guess now with a lot more people really responding to the message and being a part of the Earthwalker movement, it does really feel like we’re doing the right thing. Y’know, planting trees, it may be a corny thing to some, but what a tree represents to me is life, it changes the weather, it can provide food for families; like, the ‘tree of life’ in many religions is such a symbolic thing, and the earth, I think it’s powerful.”
WHAT: Earthwalker (UNFD) WHEN & WHERE: 7 Jun, Corner Hotel; 8 Jun, Arrow On Swanston
ACORNY WAY TO INTERACT In amongst all this musical progression and conservation, In Hearts Wake also managed to concoct a pretty novel way to connect with their fanbase and concurrently promote their new record. Head to the UNFD webpage and you’ll find the Earth Invaders online video game, a cute little procrastination assister, devised by the band and their label, which sees the boys redesigned in squirrel form throwing acorns at Tony Abbott’s nasty bulldozer brigade. High scores bring with them unreleased tracks and prizes, but everyone gets some lolz. “We’re always trying to offer different ways to release things and get really creative with it, because that’s the best way to engage fans other than have good songs, to do things differently,” explains Taylor. “One thing we do want to implement, amongst all this seriousness and these bold statements, [is a sense of ] fun, because that’s what we are, we’re just fun dudes that do fun stuff. And in terms of the Earth Invaders game, [hilariously catchy faux hip pop jam] Brown Rice, Tuna And Salad, or dressing as hippies [on the cover of Blunt Magazine], we just want to keep it light and remember to be joyous in all of it. The frontman adds, “We’ll have a few fun surprises on the tour too. But the message needs to [remain] undiluted, it’s got to be strong.”
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GAME OF MUTANTS Peter Dinklage has swapped the role of Game Of Thrones’ Tyrion Lannister for a more villainous turn in X-Men: Days Of Future Past. The actor sits down with Guy Davis.
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he charm, intelligence, mischief and presence Peter Dinklage brings to his performances aren’t limited to the stage and screen. Holding court in a Melbourne hotel suite, he gets in a few sly digs at the room’s interior design, suggesting that Scarface drug lord Tony Montana may have had a say in the glitzy decor, before getting down to the serious business of promoting his latest film, the superhero blockbuster X-Men: Days Of Future Past. While he is of course famous for his acclaimed, award-winning portrayal of wily, embattled nobleman Tyrion Lannister on the hit pay TV series Game Of Thrones, Dinklage has a diverse array of characters in a variety of genres to his credit. But Days Of Future Past, which marks director Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise’s helm for the first time since 2003’s X-Men 2, sees the actor trying his hand at villainy, somewhat new territory for him.
HUGH JACKMAN, FAN BINGBING AND PETER DINKLAGE AT X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
you grasp what he’s proposing, which is mass genocide.” Perhaps more so than any other superhero saga, the X-Men movies have used their larger-thanlife characters, conflicts and scenarios to reflect real world issues and concerns: prejudice, marginalisation and how fear of the unknown can manifest itself in hostility and violence. “It’s one of many reasons for their popularity,” says Dinklage. “These stories
PETER DINKLAGE AS DR BOLIVAR TRASK
also represent anyone who has ever felt shunned or misunderstood, Dinklage believes. And that speaks to a great many people. “All of us have felt like an outsider to varying degrees – I can speak to that, being the size I am,” says Dinklage, who stands at 135cm. “Mine is just more physically apparent than some ‘mutations’, but we’re talking about anything physical, mental or emotional, anything to do with race, gender or sexual orientation. And especially in America, where these comic books were written, it was becoming more and more of an issue, and people – rightfully so – were becoming more brave about speaking their mind when it came to who they were, who they are.” Pretty heady stuff for a comic book blockbuster, one might think. But Dinklage feels that superhero movies are now getting in line with their source material. “The core comic book fan has been waiting for this approach, I think,” he says. “And Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie was a pioneer of that. “Sure, it’s a summer blockbuster and it’s full of superheroes and robots and crazy stuff that you don’t see in everyday life, but then there are these intimate moments of character conflict that are so dramatic and gut-wrenching, and you rarely see that in these films,” he says. “Why not do that? Why not combine the elements? That’s when you’ll grab an audience. I don’t want to know what I’m watching; I want to explore it
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
“MINE IS JUST MORE PHYSICALLY APPARENT THAN SOME ‘MUTATIONS’.” That said, Dinklage’s Dr Bolivar Trask isn’t some madman plotting world domination and destruction from a mountaintop lair. Rather, he’s a renowned scientist whose plan to wipe out the world’s ‘mutant’ population – including our heroes, such as Hugh Jackman’s clawed brawler Wolverine – with an army of weaponised robots named Sentinels has the endorsement of the world’s superpowers: something that makes him all the more threatening... and more plausible, according to Dinklage. “Usually with the villain role in superhero movies they operate on the fringes, just as the superheroes do,” he says. “They’re considered a bit mad, but this guy is right there with the politicians, seated right next to the president, and he’s a big influence. Because that happens quite consistently – we had a few of those running for president recently in America, and thank God they didn’t get any closer – that’s scary stuff. But nothing really gives away his villainy until 18 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
were written in a time when certainly America was finding itself – there were mini-revolutions taking place within its borders and then there were wars we shouldn’t have been fighting outside our own borders, so it was a reaction to that. And it was done in a way these comic book writers knew how to do, by writing a comic book about it. They’ve always been relevant, and this one was at the forefront of that.” What’s more, the X-Men characters
and be surprised. Game Of Thrones does the same thing, and I think that’s one of the reasons it engages people.” Talking about the audience’s shock at unexpected twists involving some of Game Of Thrones’ most prominent characters, Dinklage says he was “surprised at how surprised people were”, but believes such a reaction stems from storytellers being unwilling to break the mould. “We don’t challenge it enough,” he says. “We serve the same recipe over and over again because it tastes good and there’s nothing wrong with it. But it can get a little boring after a while. Yes, it goes down easy but sometimes things should be spicier.” Game Of Thrones Season 4 is currently screening on Showcase X-Men: Days of Future Past in cinemas 22 May
REASON TO BELIEVE
The Cairos could have released an album years ago but they didn’t. We should thank them for that. Alistar Richardson tells Benny Doyle why four brains are better than one.
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ormally a debut has a few kinks – a couple of creases. Because it’s all just about getting an album out and touring it, right? Right? Not according to Brisbane quartet The Cairos. Dream Of Reason is the cream of a 100-plus song crop, “exercises in writing music” as summarised by Alistar Richardson. Reflecting on the process behind the record, a creative stretch that has seen some of these songs exist in one form or another for up to two years, the
frontman admits that the hard part has passed and now it’s just about getting these songs heard. “Everything has gone on for such a long time that it’s exciting we’ve got all the pieces in place now,” he smiles, “all we have to do is give it our best and really hope that it connects with people.” The Cairos have written some utter gem singles in the past – 2012 tracks We All Buy Stars and Shame drive that fact home. But immediately, when you listen to Dream Of Reason – cut with acclaimed producer Nick DiDia [Pearl Jam, RATM, Powderfinger] at Byron Bay’s Studios 301 – you’re struck by how much the band
have extended themselves, with a huge amount of variety in mood and theme found end-to-end.
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“We’ve always been different songwriters and we’ve come up with different sounds, but I think only ever doing EPs we’ve sort of concentrated ourselves into a certain kind of sound just to have some sort of cohesion. Now that we’re older and we’ve been writing for a bit longer, to be able to show what we can do has been a real important thing to us, and we definitely enjoy the mix of songs we have on [the album].” This diversity in content is a direct byproduct of the fact that all four Cairos’ members tackle songwriting duties equally. Richardson says that sharing those individual viewpoints, together, was a massive factor when writing their debut. “The toughest part, because there are so many different sounding things, was finding out which [elements] would suit each other the best. Because when you have an opportunity to go and record with someone like Nick DiDia and it’s your first album, there’s a lot of obsession regarding what you’re going to do and what’s going to happen. But strangely, it works out really well. It’s difficult, but it does work out.” And with a band full of guitar-wheeling, freethinking individuals, inspiration is never far away for The Cairos. “But that’s always been the case with us,” Richardson shrugs. “If there is a creative lull there’s always three other songwriters in the band, and once you come up with an idea people feed on it and really turn it into something.” WHAT: Dream Of Reason (Universal) WHEN & WHERE: 28 Jun, Ding Dong Lounge; 29 Jun, Beav’s Bar, Geelong
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 19
music
YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING Future Islands frontman Samuel T Herring also raps under the pseudonym Hemlock Ernst and, Dylan Stewart discovers, he’s looking forward to hanging/barbecuing with Curse Ov Dialect when he hits our shores.
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f you’ve had your ear to the ground or your eyes on the right blog, you might be aware that Future Islands, a three-piece from Baltimore, have been sharing their earnest, post-punk sounds for many years. Samuel T Herring is the band’s enigmatic frontman and he speaks from the band’s new label 4AD’s London offices. For him, it doesn’t matter all that much whether Future Islands have recently caught your attention or you were with the band from the start.
mind was aftershave, but I don’t actually remember. I might have had a stuffed-up nose that day. Let’s just say aftershave. Let’s say Old Spice aftershave. He’s a classy guy. I’m just gonna guess.”
“I think the people that would hold it against you for having new fans aren’t necessarily the kind of fans that we’d hope for,” he laughs. “When people love something and it feels really dear to them it can be hard for them to share it. But at the same time I think the people who have been there for us over the years love it because they’re not only our fans, they’re our supporters and in a big way a lot of them are our family.”
While his nose is once again stuffed-up on this grey London day, one thing that is clear is
One major reason for Future Islands’ sudden ascendency is the band’s transition to 4AD. “[4AD] have already allowed us to reach people that had no idea about us, or wouldn’t have known about us otherwise,” the frontman allows. “Also, just being a part of the 4AD history is big for us. We feel like we’ve earned our chance to be a part of a great label and to be recognised by a great label is inspiring in its own right. Our goal isn’t to make people love what we do, our goal is to just get into people’s ears for a second. To be on a label like 4AD gives us that chance: to reach people and let them decide for themselves if this is what they want.” Another massive, and perfectly timed, reason for Future Islands being thrust into the spotlight is their Late Show With David Letterman performance in early March, a week or so out from SXSW. Herring’s passionate dancing and vocal delivery, paired with the band’s tight performance of Seasons (Waiting On You) – the opening cut from their fourth album, Singles – impressed not only Letterman himself but over one-and-a-half million people who have viewed it on YouTube since. So what does Letterman smell like? “Oh, man! [laughs] Y’know, I’ve never been asked that one before. The first thought that came into my 20 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
get to you guys, so we’re just excited to be able to play. We had so much fun the first time we came over and we were bummed that we only played three shows. It’ll be really fun coming back and hopefully it will open more opportunities for us to get back there again later in the year or early next year.” Herring hopes to hang out with some of the locals this time around. “I did get hit up by Raceless from [Melbourne-based hip-hop collective] Curse Ov Dialect,” he gushes with the excitement of a true fanboy. “I’m really psyched because I shouted those guys out in an interview I did recently and he hit me up through Facebook. He basically said,
“OUR GOAL ISN’T TO MAKE PEOPLE LOVE WHAT WE DO, OUR GOAL IS TO JUST GET INTO PEOPLE’S EARS FOR A SECOND.” Herring’s excitement about playing in front of Australian audiences. After a brief tour in 2012, Future Islands are front and centre on the Splendour In The Grass bill. “We heard that the only way to really crack Australia is to get onto the festival circuit and to play on a large scale,” Herring explains. “As Americans, it’s a long journey to
‘You should come and hang out at the house and eat some barbecue with us.’ So I might get to hang out with Curse Ov Dialect! I’m super excited about that because I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time.” If it seems surprising that these Australian hiphop pioneers are on Herring’s radar, it shouldn’t. “I have a hip hop project myself under the pseudonym Hemlock Ernst,” Herring reveals.
WHAT: Singles (4AD/Remote Control) WHEN & WHERE: 26 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands; 28 Jul, Corner Hotel
POP TART
Step aside Miley, Britney and Madonna, SuperGirly is in the house once more. When Paul Ransom speaks to the star of Return Of The Pop Princess, Lulu McClatchy, he discovers that laughing at twerkers is only half the fun. hat if we told you that all pop princesses are not the same? Sure, you might scoff at first; but then perhaps you have yet to meet the inimitable Lulu McClatchy and her vociferous and legendarily crude alter-ego, SuperGirly.
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have Miley. So there’s always plenty of material. I mean, now there’s Lorde and she’s already made it into my show.”
SuperGirly’s shtick is part-satire, part-cabaret, part-pop wannabe. “All through the ages of pop music, there’s been a ‘new someone’,” McClatchy begins. “Y’know, we had Spice Girls and then we had Britney and now we
Far from being a cynic looking simply to take the piss, McClatchy is a not-so-closet fan. “I don’t think there’s as much bubblegum-pop these days. Y’know, people are very critical if they’re not good singers; and you can’t mime anymore and they’re writing their own songs now. They seem to have to have talent these days.”
RETURN OF THE POP PRINCESS
SuperGirly therefore, is no mere mimic. She takes the songs and rewords them, often making them about the princess (or prince) in
TRULY DISAPPOINTED
Michael Strong, vocalist of Perth indie-rock group The Disappointed, is more proud of their new EP than anything else he’s ever helped make. Kane Sutton finds out why.
“W
e really wanted it to be a bit wilder and a bit more us – it was all about showing more personality,” Michael Strong begins. “On the first EP we were really trying to get back into the industry’s good graces.” Weird Peace, the band’s second and newest EP, follows last year’s Stranger and sees the band attach a more authoritative and driven sound. The extra work has paid off splendidly so far, with the EP’s first single, I Disagree
With Myself, gathering national attention as it worked its way into triple j’s summer rotation. For Strong, this seems a far cry from a couple of years ago, when morale was low after releasing a somewhat undercooked solo album. “I and the others had done a couple of flat releases with our older bands so we just wanted to come together and learn from that and to show we were serious about what we wanted to do. I think we got that message across this time around. We had a lot of fun in the studio and I was at the tail-end of an audio degree so I was really geeking out with all that stuff. It was really a great time.”
question. Of course, this does not prevent her from being rude, crude and viciously funny. Says McClatchy of her alter-ego, “SuperGirly is pretty different to me because most of the stuff that she would say and do I never would. I use the costume and the high heels as a mask to let me say all the things I would never say… She’s basically a pathological liar and also very immature, so her cruelty is more out of jealousy than maliciousness. She wants to be a pop star and so she just pretends that she knows them all.”
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Even though she predates social media by a decade, SuperGirly belongs to the celebrity-obsessed generation that hangs on the minutiae. “I think that’s because of Twitter and Facebook and all that,” McClatchy argues. “People can follow their lives more closely and, y’know, sometimes they do reply and you might think, ‘Ooh, they’re my friend,’ but really they’re not.” For McClatchy, Return Of The Pop Princess represents something of a reunion with her creation. Since returning from UK stardom to the relative quiet of motherhood in suburban Melbourne in 2003 she has appeared on screen in Neighbours and Bogan Pride and on stage in shows like Fat Pig. However, she is now ready to dust off SuperGirly frocks and tackle the world of pop tarts once more. “I’ve got a guy [Lyall Brooks] in it from a theatre background and he’s co-directing, so there’s a new set of eyes on it this time.” But rest assured, some things about SuperGirly will never change: “There will be plenty of crudeness, don’t worry!”
WHAT: SuperGirly: Return Of The Pop Princess WHEN & WHERE: 27 May – 8 Jun, Chapel Off Chapel
Aside from making the record more personable, the band recognised they were going to have to be harsher when picking songs, and that’s played a huge part in creating the good vibes within the band. “Stranger came from our very first batch of songs that we put together. This time around I think we wrote about three or four dead-end songs before we got to the good ones – it took a while to warm up to writing them. It was a challenge paring down everything we had on the table and cutting out all the unnecessary stuff, but as a result I think this is the first time I’ve felt like the songs we’ve made are really The Disappointed. The process of writing it was basically a matter of trying to reflect the dynamics of the band, and now we’re really sure of who we are and what we’re doing together.”
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Strong feels as “pumped” as he’ll ever be for what’s ahead: a national tour and plenty on the agenda once they return. “We’ve rehearsed this set for months to the point where we’re going to get up there and we won’t even be thinking about playing; we’ll just be having as much fun as we can. As for what happens next, we’ve got a split seven-inch vinyl coming out with Dexter Jones, who’re from Adelaide and playing our EP launch with us, and I’m hoping to get the first two EPs – Stranger and Weird Peace – on vinyl as a twelveinch and release that as a special edition sometime. We’re also hoping to get working on the third EP or the album, depending on how this one goes, but for now, we’re just trying to have as much fun as we can.” WHAT: Weird Peace (Firestarter) WHEN & WHERE: 22 May, The Tote The Disappointed guitarist Mark Neal is employed by Street Press Australia, publishers of The Music. THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 21
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NO LONGER GOING DOWN It’s been a long road for Midlake, but as Eric Pulido explains to Brendan Telford, the weight has been lifted.
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ime heals all wounds. It’s been 18 or so months since co-founder of Texan outfit Midlake Tim Smith decided to part ways with the band. Having the primary songwriter leave a band often spells the end of a band, rebuilding from the ashes as a new project or imploding, their momentum irreparably halted. The band had almost completed recording their fourth album at that stage also – a posthumous release seemed likely, a haunting postscript of what was and what might have been. Instead the four remaining members – Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Eric Nichelson and Paul Alexander – scrapped the material and forged ahead, bringing Joey McClellan (guitar) and Jesse Chandler (keys) into the fore and pushing Purdilo up to the mike. The result is Antiphon, an album that steps away from the pagan folk elements that infused earlier releases and takes on a more ephemeral trajectory, using the psychedelic touches of the past and adding new shades of colour. And while it may not be seen as the road to redemption for Pulido, he readily admits that it is a relief that Antiphon has kept Midlake moving confidently forward during such a tumultuous period. “There were a lot of things that needed to be defined at that time because although it was something we never desired, we had to figure out how we would move on,” Purdilo muses. “I won’t lie; there were some growing pains in trying to rework everything, but there was an overt freedom that came along with it. As in life, when something like this happens it challenges you to drop any pretensions and step up and respond confidently in a way that is hopefully creative as well.” Antiphon is the fruit of this reconfiguration, and it’s a testament to the ability of the remaining members to roll back to the beginning of Midlake – some of the more rock-oriented structures are reminiscent of their 2004 debut Bamnan And Silvercork – while fully embracing the new members of the band and a different process of songwriting and composition. “We didn’t have much time to overthink things so the fact there are similarities to other records is actually an inherent quality,” Pulido asserts. “The fact that there is a member missing now, and a very important one at that, doesn’t mean that we will leave everything behind; when you are in a band 24 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
and are friends for a long time you rub off on one another. So when you start something fresh it’s still going to have some quality of what came before – you can’t leave those personal elements behind entirely. We aren’t trying to run from that but are embracing that; we aren’t ashamed of
but there is the absence of voice altogether on the instrumental track Vale, which Purdilo admits that is poignant. “There was already a transition at play even before Tim left the band and it’s easy to see in hindsight how he wasn’t in love with touring anymore and wasn’t satisfied with things. So I found myself singing along with him more and being positioned closer to the middle of the stage and talking to the crowd a lot to try and deflect some of the attention from him. I want to fill those gaps; as any band does you want things to work, you band together as a unit. So where Tim was at I felt I had to cover those gaps and it worked.
“YOU CAN’T GET CAUGHT UP IN WHAT IS THE IDEAL OTHERWISE YOU BECOME FROZEN ON THE SPOT.” our past. But now there are new inspirations and influences and a wider sense of freedom and scope to draw from.” While the flights of pastoral fantasy aren’t as forthcoming as they were in Smith’s tenure, there is a sense that Midlake is flexing their muscles in a way that may have been constrained in the past. Tracks like Provider and It’s Going Down seem the most glaring representation of Midlake’s new sound,
But obviously when he left it was still a transition but it wasn’t as drastic as it could have been. I’ll never take away the impact Tim had on this band, but there was no time to cry over spilt milk. We just banded together and thought ‘OK, how are we going to do this?’ You can’t get caught up in what is the ideal otherwise you become frozen on the spot; you won’t go anywhere or do anything. We jumped right in and did what felt right, and I think that (Vale) is emblematic of that approach. We feel that every day, every show, is a little victory of sorts. All we wanted to do was to keep moving on and make a record, and we did that, and we desire to keep growing from there. It’s a healthy environment and that can only be a good thing.” WHAT: Antiphon (Bella Union/[PIAS] Australia) WHEN & WHERE: 24 May, Corner Hotel
“It was an easy decision to keep going. At one time Charles was kicking around the idea – not me – of continuing this recording but changing our name, changing the project so that instead of Pixies it was something else. I said, ‘What’s the point of that? We’re still going to sound like Pixies!’ To my mind there was absolutely no point in doing that.”
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The bass parts on Indie Cindy were eventually recorded by Simon “Dingo” Archer (The Fall, PJ Harvey), but Deal’s role on stage was first filled briefly by Kim Shattuck (The Muffs) before passing to Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle, Zwan) – has it been strange for Santiago looking over to the far side of stage and seeing a new face? “In some way I’ve got to admit it’s refreshing. It’s a different vibe, and Paz is very fun to hang around with. She’s very intelligent and she’s fitted in very well with us. We feel revitalised, there’s no other way to put it – we’re like the phoenix rising. We were down, but now it’s like a new rebirth. It’s got to feel good, and we’re still selling out shows – we’ve got four nights in Sydney, there’s no problem,” he laughs heartily. “This new version is working. “[The new material]’s been well received for the most part – it just proves that we’re a real band. That’s what real bands do – they record and they go on tour – so it feels really, really good. I’m really proud of [the new songs] and the audience is really starting to catch on – at first when the EPs were young people were clearly not used to the music but it evolves over time and now you can start to see people singing along with the new stuff and really liking it.
OUTSIDE THE FAMILY STEW After nearly a decade of retreading old ground, Pixies’ quest to make new music was cruelly interrupted by an unforeseen departure from their ranks. Guitarist Joey Santiago talks to Steve Bell about picking up the pieces and getting on with business.
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he legacy that Pixies left on the history of rock’n’roll music during their initial tenure spanning the ‘80s and ‘90s is undeniable. The ongoing reunion tour that they’d been conducting on a massive scale since reforming in 2004, however, had to eventually result in some new music lest the entire thing lapse into an exercise in base nostalgia or, even worse, pastiche. With that in mind in October, 2012 the iconic fourpiece – frontman and creative font Charles “Black Francis” Thompson, charismatic bassist/backing vocalist Kim Deal, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering – decamped to Rockfield Studios in Wales to lay down new material with former production flame Gil Norton for what would become their fifth studio album proper, and first since 1991’s Trompe le Monde. One night early in the piece the band dined together at a restaurant and randomly Deal picked up the tab – by all accounts a rare occurrence. Then the very next morning she approached her bandmates in a coffee shop near the studio and dropped the bombshell that she was flying home the following day – she was leaving the sessions without completing her bass parts, and for all intents and purposes quitting the band. The impact was seismic and for a while the entire future of this massively influential band was at a crossroads. After a few days of mourning the remaining members offered a collective shrug, rolled up their sleeves and re-entered the fray in the studio. The result was the first album of Pixies’ second career phase, Indie Cindy, released somewhat unusually as a series of standalone EPs before last month’s unveiling in conventional album form.
“There was obviously an element of surprise,” Santiago recalls of Deal’s dramatic departure. “It came out of the blue, but the thing that derailed us was, ‘Why did she leave?’ And the other question was, ‘What the hell are we going to do?’ But after a while, it became apparent that we had these half-finished songs when she left – these half-baked songs – and we had to finish them. But kudos to her. “The four songs that we’d already tracked down and she’d finished the bass parts on, we ended up having to replace them for one reason or another – I don’t know, some legal stuff – but the recording process surprisingly didn’t end up changing that much. We had to lay down guitars and the vocals – that’s it. That’s what we do, so whether she hangs around or not we were going to do that anyway.
“It was high time and we had to do something. Beforehand we were happy enough and the fans were just expecting the nostalgic, but after several years we started to think, ‘Okay, for us it’s time.
“WE CAN’T RELIVE THE PAST, SO WE JUST HAD TO FORGE AHEAD AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.” We’ve been around the world three or four times, and now it’s time to put out something new’.” Surely it was daunting releasing new music after such a length layoff, given the esteem in which Pixies’ catalogue is held in the alternative world? “We were initially quite precious about it, but after a while we just had to do it,” the guitarist concedes. “It’s a great batch of songs, and we just stopped being precious about it – we can’t relive the past, so we just had to forge ahead and do something different. Grow up a little bit. That’s not to say that we won’t revert back on the next album – we’re already planning on making another record, so I’m looking forward to that. It’s always a surprise when you go in the studio – you have these pre-conceived notions, but this time around we’re going to stick to it. I really want a hard-hitting record this time around, everyone’s hungry for that and I really want to do it.” WHAT: Indie Cindy (Pixiesmusic/[PIAS] Australia) THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 25
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RECLAIMING THE FEELING Taking Back Sunday’s iconic line-up have found their mojo again on new album Happiness Is, and according to frontman Adam Lazzara, it’s all hands on deck. Benny Doyle gets amongst it.
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t was a move that made every Taking Back Sunday fan smile – the band subbing out guitarist Matthew Fazzi and bass player Matt Rubano for former members John Nolan and Shaun Cooper in 2010. Practically overnight, the New York group’s story had been given an incredible plot twist, and suddenly the title of 2009 record New Again seemed prophetic, with Taking Back Sunday’s Tell All Your Friends debut line-up from 2002 back together. The band have bettered those former glories, however, by kicking on for a second consecutive recording, backing up their eponymous 2011 release with this year’s Happiness Is. In doing so, vocalist Adam Lazzara says that Taking Back Sunday have really found their groove. “When we were doing the self-titled record, I feel like we were still feeling each other out because there were all those years between us,” he explains. “It was really awesome to be making music with one another again, but there were still times where one person wouldn’t be as vocal about their ideas. With Happiness Is, everyone had both hands in it.” Using Taking Back Sunday as a launch pad to see if the chemistry was still there, the bandmates were happy to consume themselves in new music this time around, knowing full well the group was reinvigorated on a personal level. Two years of writing went into Happiness Is, with the five friends – who now all live in different states – scheduling the songwriting sessions in a neutral location, a setting which made sure every idea got a fair chance. Another situation that helped the creativity flow was the fact they were independent for a period, having cut ties from Warner. “When we started writing and recording we didn’t have a label, so there was no outside influence, nobody looking
over our shoulders as we were making it,” Lazzara says. “We were really free to try whatever we wanted, and through that that’s how we ended up with songs like All The Way, which is one
But what would happen if someone left now? Lazzara doesn’t even want to humour the idea. “Man, I don’t even know at this point,” he ponders. “We’ve been through the ringer, and if there’s anything we’re good at it’s adapting to our surroundings. But if somebody left at this point I don’t even know what we’d do? That would probably be it – I don’t know if we could survive another line-up change.” That’s a worry for another day though. Right now, we’ve only got positives to look forward to, with Taking Back Sunday coming Down Under on a co-headliner with The Used. The two bands were sharing stages earlier this year around the US, and “the response was just so great” that they had to share the experience with Australia, no doubt encouraged by The Used frontman Bert McCracken, who these days calls Sydney home with his Aussie wife. “Both bands are kinda in the same place as [far as] like our perspective of everything goes,” Lazzara smiles. “We’ve come out the other end as far as any kind of egos or anything like that, and I think we’re all at a point where we just really appreciate
“I DON’T KNOW IF WE COULD SURVIVE ANOTHER LINE-UP CHANGE.” of my favourites on the record, Nothing At All, Better Homes And Gardens, stuff like that. That’s stuff that only the five of us could do. “In the past we weren’t in this relaxed state,” he adds. “With this one we just went in and threw everything at the wall, and just tried to make the best songs we could, and push ourselves. Having come out the other end of that experience, I think that that’s when we write our best.”
the fact that we’re able to bring our music to people and get a large amount of people in one place to forget whatever it is they’re going through.” And after plenty of behind-the scenes movements and dramas in both camps, getting that good vibe on tour with like-minded peers is more than essential. After all, Happiness Is... “I think that’s important just across the board,” Lazzara enthuses. “For me it’s not just being on tour, it’s my everyday life. You just want to surround yourself with people that appreciate what they’re doing when they’re doing it.” WHAT: Happiness Is (Hopeless/UNFD) WHEN & WHERE: 25 & 26 Aug, 170 Russell
NO POP DIVA
Anna Calvi has brought dark romance back to popdom. Now she tells Cyclone all.
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ot that the mysterious guitarist/singer ever aspired to be a pop star. To her astonishment, Anna Calvi broke into the mainstream with 2011’s all-consuming eponymous debut. Last October, Calvi returned with the defiantly avant-garde, and dangerously intense, One Breath, earning further accolades. Now she’s headlining Vivid LIVE. The Londoner first toured Australia with 2012’s Laneway, joined by multi-instrumentalist Mally Harpaz
and drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood. But, with the latter’s departure, she’s revamped her band. “It’s been really fun to kind of play with these new people – and it’s sounding great as a band,” says the shy Calvi. Most write-ups on the diminutive 30-something suggest she sprang from nowhere with 2010’s goth revisioning of Jezebel, a song equated with her beloved Edith Piaf. Her hips dislocated at birth, Calvi endured painful medical treatments through childhood, yet created her own fantasy life. Calvi’s Italian psychotherapist father encouraged her musicality – and she picked up first the violin, then guitar, eventually studying music at uni.
Still, Calvi only started to sing in her 20s, practising furtively at home to Piaf, Maria Callas and Nina Simone. However, she has had different projects. Calvi fronted the “classical punk” band Cheap Hotel, airing the single, New York. Jared Leto invited them to open for Thirty Seconds To Mars in the UK. “It was my first experience of singing live, so I was just learning how to do it really – and learning what kind of performer I wanted to be. But musically it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.” Connecting with PJ Harvey’s ally Rob Ellis, she’d cut that cinematic art-rock debut for Domino Records.
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One Breath is bolder than Anna Calvi. Its overall theme is anticipation – both the dread and the euphoria of losing control. The album is also more personal. Sonically, it’s textured – and transitionary. Calvi, influenced by choral music, experiments vocally, too, and, instead of strumming her guitar, Calvi uses it in near torrents. As such, numbers like Eliza are rockier. This time Calvi teamed with American John Congleton – recommended by Annie Clark (aka St Vincent). For now, she chooses not to self-produce: “A lot of it is just someone holding your hand and making you feel like you’re doing okay.” Calvi has already moved on from One Breath. “Once you make it, you’ve done so much thinking about it, it’s almost you kind of have to leave it behind. I’m more thinking about what I want to do next.” Though a guarded interviewee, Calvi has consistently expressed distaste for contemporary pop. Is there anything redeeming? “Um… well, I guess that Lorde song [Royals] was interesting, ‘cause it was so sparse and it felt a bit like something different – so I can appreciate that as a pop song.” WHEN & WHERE: 30 May, Thornbury Theatre
MEMORY LANE
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Frente are celebrating the 21st anniversary of Marvin The Album with a re-release. Angie Hart and Simon Austin sit down at a café with Andy Hazel and reflect on past American stadium tours and feeling “stabbed” by The Late Show’s Accidently Kelly Street pisstake.
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ven if you weren’t alive in the early 1990s, listening to Frente sounds like eavesdropping on another era: when acoustic pop sold in droves and international influences were filtered through a local scene instead of downloaded directly. Looking back, Frente’s signature songs Accidently Kelly Street and Ordinary Angels could be seen as ripostes to the overtly masculine Aussie rock of the era. Sitting at a Bourke Street café, guitarist Simon Austin battles to be heard over the sound of a passing tram: “It definitely wasn’t a conscious reaction to anything, but it was different.” “We weren’t capable of playing anything else,” adds singer Angie Hart. “When we started rehearsing in earnest,” says Austin, “we would actually arrange a song. We’d take a day or a week to arrange it. I put these guys through hell!” With ARIA Awards in the bag, Ordinary Angels still charting, Accidently Kelly Street riding high and Marvin The Album on its way to selling over 1.2 million copies worldwide, Frente were riding high. When ABC’s The Late Show joined in the fun with the bullseye pisstake Accidentally Was Released, their local reputation never
fully recovered. “I had a real moment of feeling stabbed,” says Austin. “Then I thought, ‘You know what? It’s an Australian thing.’ I know all those guys and they mean it lovingly. To a certain extent, as an Australian, you just have to suck it up. And it’s good. People don’t allow you to get too full of yourself, or full of yourself at all, or even half full of yourself,” he laughs. In the US the band’s pithy take on New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle cracked the Top 50 and Frente’s opened for Alanis Morrissette’s first major North American tour. “At a
certain point those tours get very, very surreal,” marvels Austin. “That Alanis tour, there were some very strange science fiction moments of people walking [Angie] on stage, it was all very religious. You’d look out into an audience of 30,000 people and there’s 29,900 girls with straight hair and 100 boyfriends standing there like this [impersonates bored tough guy]. It was bizarre.” The opportunity to connect with their audience was behind the reunion. “We all got on the phone to each other around the same time and it was just – now! It’s time,” Austin reflects. “We’re making it as polished as it can be, but mistakes are going to occur. It’s going to be great. We’re going to trip over each other, but that’s Frente.” WHAT: Marvin The Album – 21st Anniversary Edition (Festival/Warner) WHEN & WHERE: 22 & 23 May, Arts Centre, Playhouse; 24 May, Theatre Royal, Castlemaine THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 27
festival
MAGIC FORMULA The Paper Kites’ Sam Bentley and director Natasha Pincus chat to Stephanie Liew about name-dropping to get out of trouble with the police and the joy bubbles can bring.
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magine if you saw some French guy on YouTube blowing giant bubbles on the streets of Paris and thought, “I want him to do that in my music video.” The Paper Kites’ vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Sam Bentley thought just that, and it turns out the French ‘bubbleologist’ Sylvain Letuvée was indeed keen enough to be a part of The Paper Kites’ music video for St Clarity (the first single off 2013 debut States) that he flew to the other side of the world. Directed by Natasha Pincus, most known as the woman behind the video for Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know, the St Clarity clip features Letuvée acting as a homeless man who finds momentary joy in creating these huge, entrancing bubbles with found materials. Somehow, watching Letuvée in action also evokes a feeling of wonder from the viewer. While the idea to have Letuvée in the video came first, Pincus and Bentley wanted to make sure the story fit with the song’s lyrics and sentiment, so that it wasn’t just, as Pincus puts it, “bubble porn”. “It’s about seeing something from a different point of view than you have before, and I suppose the beauty of finding clarity in that,” explains Bentley. “Natasha wrote that into the story. You can just see Sylvain’s passion for what he does – none of it is put on. That’s what he loves doing and we were so stoked to capture that.” Bentley unfortunately didn’t get to see Letuvée’s bubbles in real life, due to a schedule clash, but it was probably for the best that the crew was minimal. “You know the Box Hill Brickworks – we didn’t have a permit to shoot there... so we had to kind of break in,” laughs Pincus. “We only had a crew of a few of us and one of them was someone whose whole job was to be on the look-out for any kind of, like, teenagers who were there, doing drugs and causing trouble, so we could protect our camera.” Funnily enough, they themselves were questioned by some police officers. “They came in and were like, ‘What are you doing here?’ We were like, ‘We’re just doing a music video.’ Then Warwick [Field], the cinematographer, was like, ‘Do you know who she is? She made the Gotye video!’ and then the cops were like, ‘I love that video!’ and then they let us go and that was it.
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He was trying anything because we were halfway through the day and we would’ve been screwed so he just tried that on and luckily it worked!” Another challenge Pincus encountered was the unpredictability of bubbles. But it produced some pleasant surprises, too. “They say never
minutes and you could feel that the mood had lifted. Just seeing a bit of magic in the everyday was really beautiful.” The St Clarity video is one of 17 nominees in this year’s SoundKILDA music video competition, which is part of the St Kilda Festival program. It’s Pincus’ seventh year running in the comp. Bentley’s over the moon, not just for his band, but to see Pincus being acknowledged. “It’s one thing to put it out on the internet and hope that people enjoy it, but to get that sort of recognition is really special,” he says. “[Music videos are] a bit of an art form. You wanna be the band that’s putting out things everyone else is referencing and it’s hard to stay ahead
“IT’S ABOUT SEEING SOMETHING FROM A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW THAN YOU HAVE BEFORE.” work with children and animals; well, I’ll add bubbles to that now. Bubble acting is hard, you know? But the cool thing was they were like flash mobs, like we would turn up in this place, and it’d be really depressing, like a train platform at peak hour and everyone’s just sitting there looking really glum and then Sylvain would turn up and he’d bubble on the platform, and people would just light up. It’s amazing what it does to you. We’d leave there after ten
of that. Natasha’s one of those people that is on that fringe of being the person that everyone else references.” While Pincus deems herself lucky to have been included in SoundKILDA again, it’s clear she makes music videos out of sheer love and passion for the format: “You just never know what the next one is gonna do, where it’s gonna take you. I’ve done videos in Thailand with Powderfinger in the middle of a massive festival... Or we’re in Byron Bay with Missy Higgins in the ocean in the middle of winter freezing our tits off going, ‘How did this happen?’ Next thing, you’re with a bubblelier from France in a broken-down brick factory! Music videos can give you the diversity of experience and unpredictability; it’s a really special little craft and it keeps on giving.” WHAT: SoundKILDA WHEN & WHERE: 29 May, Astor Theatre
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 29
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FROM THE FARM TO THE OPERA HOUSE Ahead of his forthcoming Australian visit, James Vincent McMorrow tells Jazmine O’Sullivan about the recording of his latest album and how it can’t be compared to his debut of 2010.
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rish songwriting sensation James Vincent McMorrow literally went to great lengths to bring his latest album Post Tropical into the world, leaving his home country to finish off most of the work on a secluded pecan farm in rural America. Reflecting on his decision to make the journey, McMorrow recalls. “I have my own studio in Ireland which I usually work out of, because that’s what I always thought I wanted – I thought it was my dream to build my own studio. But as I was working on these songs and they were starting to come together I felt like there was something missing. Then I started to realise that while I was working out of my studio I was always going to be safe – I could be there for as long as I needed and there was no clock on the wall, which I think is something you really need when you’re making a record. “So the guys that were managing me in the US at the time mailed me and said they knew of this studio where all these amazing artists had been through, and so I ended up speaking to the guy who owns it and he was like, ‘I’ll fly you down here,’ and this was in El Paso, [Texas] which is such a difficult place to get to! I could have just looked at photos but he insisted I come down and have a look at it, and I just thought that was an amazing thing to offer, so I booked it immediately for 46 days and just went without really thinking about what it meant. It was the greatest thing I’ve ever done from a musical perspective.” As McMorrow relays, the environment he found himself in on arrival was both bizarre and inspiring. “If you’ve ever seen those vineyards or olive gardens where it’s just rows and rows of straight trees that go on for miles, that’s what the farm was like. They had these hollowed rows to allow for the trees’ roots, and from time to time they fill the hollowed-out recesses with water because the trees need a lot of water to grow. So you go to bed and it’s like a desert, then you wake up and you’re on an island surrounded by water. “At the studio there were these planks of wood that connected one thing to the other,” McMorrow recalls, “and for the first week we couldn’t figure out why they were there, until one day we woke up and realised we needed to walk across the planks to get to the studio 30 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
because the grounds were flooded! It was absolutely crazy and it’s not something I’ve ever experienced before, but I loved. [It’s] the most compelling environment I’ve ever worked in.” The finished product is something McMorrow is extremely proud of, as he feels the sound is a truer representation of
a musician though there are things that really resonate with me, particularly hip hop production and the work of people like Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, so that was really what I wanted to do with this record – apply texture and feel to the songs, and kind of delve into that world in a level that I haven’t before.” Having already wowed Australian audiences with the material off Post Tropical earlier this year, McMorrow reveals that he is thrilled to be coming back to Australia, particularly to be playing at the Sydney Opera House as part of this year’s Vivid Festival. “I thought people were making a joke when we were first talking about [playing the Opera House]. I don’t go on
“IT WAS THE GREATEST THING I’VE EVER DONE FROM A MUSICAL PERSPECTIVE.” his musical aspirations than that of his debut Early In The Morning. “I don’t really connect the two records,” McMorrow admits, “because they weren’t made from the same perspective. I’ve always been the same musician, but with the first record I just wanted a record, and I had a guitar and a microphone, so I just used them and made something out of it. As
the internet much so I rely on people around me to tell me what’s happening, so with somewhere like Australia that’s so far away, I don’t really know what’s going on there at all. So when the idea of playing the Opera House [came about], which is like one of those hallowed venues like Carnegie Hall, I started to realise that everything’s getting real. Part of me still feels sure someone’s messing with me because it feels so surreal, but then the first show sold out real quickly! So clearly something amazing is happening there in Australia and I’m really excited to come back and find out what.” WHAT: Post Tropical (Dew Process/Universal) WHEN & WHERE: 27 May, Forum Theatre
were chatting with him afterwards so, yeah! He’s a really great guy. That’s one of the crazy things about being in a band; you end up meeting all these guys. That’s why it was weird working with Damon [The Horrors collaborated on a Gorillaz track that didn’t make it onto Plastic Beach], ‘cause I was thinking, ‘They were a band that I grew up with and I really loved and still do.’”
HOUSE OF HORRORS Bryget Chrisfield discovers there’s a wooden mask that “looks exactly like Brian Wilson” (a Laneway Festival souvenir) hanging in The Horrors bassist Rhys Webb’s bathroom, Old Fashioneds are his cocktail of choice and Iggy Pop is “one of the coolest guys [he’s] ever met in [his] life”.
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ast time this scribe caught The Horrors live was at a Laneway sideshow back in 2012 and the always sharply dressed quintet sported matching, crisp white shirts. “OK,” bassist Rhys Webb hesitates, “I don’t remember that, but it sounds about right.” So how do The Horrors decide on their immaculate styling before a tour? Webb is quietly spoken, eloquent and his posh English accent charms. He sounds somewhat embarrassed: “Um, well, I don’t think, ha ha, er – well, basically I imagine we probably wait til the very last minute, look at our cupboard, see what we had washed and shove it in a suitcase, um [laughs]. Really, we don’t think about it too much. But, you know, I think it’s important that a band have some interest in the way they present themselves… When we started, all of our jeans cost about ten dollars and our shirts came from school shops. We used to just buy kids’ white school shirts and wear them.” He’s still a dedicated follower of fashion, though. “I did find this fantastic paisley shirt in Sydney once, which, annoyingly, I left at one of the Laneway shows. And someone promised they’d send it back to me and they never did, so I kind of miss that one. “Never mind, I did actually end up with a souvenir from that [festival], though. It was just in the backstage room. They had these wooden masks, almost like tiki kind of things, and I brought one home with me. It’s now hanging in my bathroom and it looks exactly like Brian Wilson.” Much laughter. “It does, it really does,” he promises. The Horrors have just released album number five, Luminous, and, to this pair of ears, standout track I See You calls to mind The Cutter by Echo & The Bunnymen. “There’s always a song where someone says, ‘Oh, it sounds a bit like this and it sounds a bit like so-and-so,’” Webb observes. “With the last record [Skying], there was a
track called Still Life and everyone said, ‘Oh, it reminds us of a track by Simple Minds,’ and we’d never heard it before.” One of the first bands that Webb experienced live was Blur. “I queued up in the snow for seven hours to get tickets to see them at this small gig in Essex where I grew up: Southend-On-Sea,” he tells. “I remember I was 14. I was right down the front and – it was quite a long time ago – there was this band called Sneaker Pimps supporting them. They were a Swedish band, I think, and Graham Coxon was watching in the audience right next to us. And I remember we were kind of quite excited that he was there.” Although Webb says he was “probably too nervous to say hello”, he muses, “It’s weird, because we’ve met him since, and he’s been to see our shows, and we played at Reading Festival and
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Webb also met Iggy & The Stooges. “[Iggy] was playing with Scott and Ron Asheton at the time, who both, you know, tragically are no longer with us anymore. So it was amazing to see The Stooges and to see the Ashetons playing with Iggy,” Webb recalls. “And actually Iggy was one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met in my life, I have to say. Faris [Badwan, lead vocalist] interviewed him and Josh [Hayward, synths] and I kind of creeped in and sat down and watched the interview that was going, on camera. But not only did [Iggy] engage with Faris, he kind of engaged with the whole room. So we sat there listening to his answers and, yeah! It was an amazing experience. [Pauses] you know, there’s an amazing Australian interview with Iggy, which I always watch on YouTube. On Countdown, is it? He plays I’m Bored and he does the most insane performance. Okay, so the interview is pretty insane – but amazing at the same time – and he’s kind of being told, like, to answer the questions seriously, but he can’t sit still, he’s squirming around in the chair. But then when you see that performance and it’s just – he’s playing to a backing track, he’s miming along, but it’s just one guy onstage and the way he commands that stage is insane! I think that’s what it’s all about, basically. It’s one of the most amazing performances.”
“THERE’S ALWAYS A SONG WHERE SOMEONE SAYS, ‘OH, IT SOUNDS A BIT LIKE THIS AND IT SOUNDS A BIT LIKE SO-AND-SO’.” According to Webb, The Horrors’ Hackney studio is “the messiest space you can imagine”: “I think Joe [Spurgeon, drums/percussion] in particular would much prefer it if it was a lot more organised, but it literally is just gear stacked from floor to ceiling.” Is there a bar fridge in there? “Well, you know what? We don’t have a fridge. We do have a little selection of bottles on one of the shelves where we’ve got some gear piled up and – in fact, like, some of the guys aren’t really big drinkers in the band. I think some guys prefer to smoke, to be honest. But Josh and I in particular are whisky fans, so we were doing Old Fashioneds as we were doing this record.” Before you accuse Webb of wishing he were Don Draper from Mad Men, he’s never even seen the show (“I haven’t got a TV and I haven’t had one since I was a kid when I lived at home”). Nevertheless, Old Fashioneds are “probably the band collectively’s favourite cocktail” and, Webb continues, “I’ve been making them at parties for years and never doing it very well until recently, and I’ve cracked it! And now I can do it really well. So I can make you an Old Fashioned if we were to ever meet and I think you’d probably enjoy it.” WHAT: Luminous (XL/Remote Control) THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 31
★★★★ ½
album reviews
RÖYKSOPP & ROBYN
TRANS AM
POD/Inertia
As the title suggests, this is album number ten for the Maryland trio, and as far as marking that milestone the record is something of a summation of their musical magpie tendencies. Across 11 tracks Trans Am swing from metallic post-rock to trancedout krautrock grooves, some wispy folk and strange robotic ‘80s post-punk diversions.
Do It Again
Although it’s only a five-track EP, this Nordic super-pairing give us half-an-hour of weird electro pop perfection, with saccharine and subdued moments balanced out by dense periods of intensity where you can’t tell which way is up.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Volume X
Do It Again offers up an astral journey that takes us from the soil to the stars, returning us at the end of it all spent but smiling. The release is introduced and concluded by two ten-minute pieces, with Monument led by a breathy Robyn, her voice twisted into a warped state by the Röyksopp pair, while Inside The Idle Hour Club acts as a warm-down from the beats that have proceeded it, the chamber sounds giving the track a very baroque feel. Before that though it’s party time. Sayit is a storming bit of call-and-response sass that sees Robyn stomping forth with
Thrill Jockey/Rocket
attitude, riding a curling bassline that is layered to the nines by Röyksopp. The title track, meanwhile, is vintage Robyn, with the Norwegians taking a back seat, simply providing a platform for the Swedish vixen to bring the pop brilliance like only she can. You can practically imagine her explosive dance moves when the beat bursts and those high keys come in. This taster serves as an introduction to a new Röyksopp album, tentatively scheduled for late-2014. All it’s done, however, is made us ravenous for a main course of the Royk-Rob variety. Stay a little longer, Do It Again. Benny Doyle
EYEHATEGOD
32 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
These highlights would make for a superb EP/mini-album without the distraction of songs such as K Street and Backlash which sound clumsy, immature and inconsequential by comparison. These failings aside, this is a good album that, when it reaches its potential, shows that there is still life and creativity left in the loose descriptive of post-rock. Chris Familton
In Conflict
Century Media
From the demented feedback that opens the frantic and lysergic opener Agitation! Propaganda through to the turgid crawl of Flags And Cities Bound, Eyehategod let their frustrations and disgust at the state of humanity fly forth with reckless abandon. The band’s southern roots also remain intact with echoes of Lynyrd Skynyrd found on tracks such as Worthless Rescue. Other standouts include the cinder block heaviness of Robitussin And Rejection, Quitter’s
beauty of Insufficiently Breathless. Megastorm is the moment where the electronic and rock sides of their collective personality combine most effectively with big drums, grinding, distorted riffs and pulsing analog synths.
OWEN PALLETT
Eyehategod
Eyehategod are not a pretty band. And they don’t play pretty metal. The quintet are the aural equivalent of taking a trip into a filthy basement where junkies lie prostrate, needles hanging out of gangrenous veins – a place where all hope has fled and society’s failures are laid bare with no exculpatory filter in sight. If Eyehategod are happy about releasing their first new full-length album in 14 years, this material doesn’t show it.
Most bands tend to blur and blend their influences within their music yet Trans Am keep them, for the most part, separate. Each song brings a new snapshot of genre and approach. Many work well but some fall completely flat. At its high points Volume X delivers Night Shift, a glistening retro synth workout in the vein of Zombi. It sounds cosmic in an intergalactic kind of way and it also succeeds because it sounds effortless. The same can be said for the Mogwai-ish I’ll Never with its graceful sway and vocodered vocals and the acoustic strum that leads the melodic
★★★
Domino/EMI
★★★★ Offensive’s manic stomp and the hypnotic, drunken grooves of The Age Of Boot Camp. If the riffs aren’t enough for you the demented howls of frontman Mike Williams seals the deal by bringing an added urgency to material that already threatens to spiral out of control. There are few bands today that can truly be called dangerous – even so called ‘extreme music’ conforms to formulas that have become staid and uninspiring. With this album, Eyehategod retain a welcome unpredictability. This is music on the edge made by people on the edge. Mark Hebblewhite
Owen Pallett’s intricate song compositions have been the backbone of Arcade Fire’s more ebullient extrapolations, and he’s been a strings-for-hire for the likes of Beirut, The National and Spike Jonze. Yet solo, the Canadian brings forth much more introspective, ultra-personal pop that is equal parts mawkish and confident. Like Sufjan Stevens, Pallett’s softly lilting voice plays well on the stereo; unlike Stevens, Pallett’s grandiose, garrulous and wryly emotional lyrics and compositions do not. With In Conflict, Pallett’s second LP under his own name, he doesn’t change this trajectory. If anything, the ambitious melding of live instrumentation (with the aid of a Czech orchestra), orchestral synthesisers and Brian Eno boosts Pallett’s idiosyncrasies hundredfold. I Am Not Afraid is a strings-piano-and-electronica heavy musing of overcoming
★★★½ real and perceived fears, and the album only builds from there. The Riverbed is a terser affair, a clamorous effort with a marching beat and guitar riff driving Pallett’s operatic mores, something Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart might find a kinship with, while the Talking Heads-esque playfulness of Soldier’s Rock plays with form as Pallett sings, “Pick up the bayonet/And run it through the stomach of your brother”. Nothing about In Conflict is easy, nor should it be. This is Pallett’s world, one of ingenuity, flamboyance and verve, and no compromises are necessary. Brendan Telford
singles/ep reviews
★★½
KIMBRA
90s Music
ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI
I Might Survive
★★★½
★★½
DARK FAIR
HAILMARY
Independent HHH1/2
Black Wolf Records
You Shouldn’t Be Mine
Navigate The Sunrise
Warner
Casual Workout/Inertia
Kimbra’s gone glitch-pop, but the R&B-funk remains in her melodies (and layered chorus). An exciting homage to nostalgia that’s firmly rooted in the present and gazing at the future.
Gone are the days of Architecture In Helsinki’s indie-pop categorisation. Kellie Sutherland’s shrill vocal gymnastics introduce the bopping, sugar-pop title track, integrating an Aqua-style tackiness into an early ‘90s revival anthem. This EP also includes three mixes of the song and, while these generally tone down its squeaky sunniness, they hardly offer a particular reason why this shimmering sap-fest should be so heavily showcased. The softly gliding Andras Fox dub is a slightly redeeming inclusion, although its placid disco beats play on the track’s overwhelming insipidness.
Leading us in gently, opener Poison conveys a longing quality with its blend of early rock flavours, panging chords and Ramona Moore’s wistful singing style. When the duo harmonise, their deep, raw vocals evoke female rock legends such as The Runaways, stripped back into scratchy, contemporary sensibilities. This is especially the case in the coquettish Let Yourself Be Free, which even introduces clapping in its percussion soundscape to step up the nostalgic vibes. Their strongest track, The One Thing, impresses with its steady beat and melancholic chorus. They play at Old Bar on 31 May.
Despite their powerful riffs, these hard-rock songs are characterised by weak choruses and flat lyrics – “Anything is possible/You just don’t believe” – that don’t match the furiousness of their rabble-rousing sound. Attempting to borrow from Josh Homme, the band members’ collectively macho vocal delivery instead comes across as derivative and smarmy. The meandering Waiting For My Time strips back the rage and distortion for some gentle pop-rock stylings, but ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere and fails to capture your attention. They play Cherry Bar on 18 Jun and Rock N Load, The Espy on 21 Jun.
Stephanie Tell
Stephanie Tell
Stephanie Tell
PAUL & WILL
When A Man Loves A Woman WJO Glorified karaoke. The vocals, while hitting every note flawlessly, lack any kind of real emotion. Like call waiting music with tinny piano backing. Percy Sledge’s passion is not translated here.
BLOODS Want It
Tiny Galaxy
MORE REVIEWS themusic.com.au/reviews/album
A nod to the riot grrl era. Drums and a bass melody carry the verse and then a frenzy of guitars, back-up ‘ah’s and a load of fuzz kick up the gleefully bratty chorus.
★★★
★★★★
PIERCE BROTHERS
WOLF ALICE
The Night Tree
Creature Songs
Headlights
Gaga Digi
Dirty Hit Records/Sony
Interscope
Chilled-out electronic-pop with a splash of nu-soul, but with more of an organic than mechanic feel. Bridgette Le’s cottony vocals are like a feather to the ear. Keep tabs on this Melbourne trio.
Rapid percussion and woodsy hooting in Tallest Teepee In Town convey the wide-eyed purity with which this duo peddle their craft. There are obvious flavours of Mumford & Sons in their jangly, emotive choruses and folksy earnestness. This grounded humility is showcased in the foot-tapping ditty It’s My Fault however the song’s almost identical sentiment to Little Lion Man is strange and a shame considering it’s the EP’s strongest track. Similarly, there’s a contradiction between their contrived British lilts and use of didgeridoo in Golden Times but their twee, simple harmonies are certainly well executed.
This hyped London quartet kick off their new EP with two excellent alt-rock offerings. Despite starting too similarly to Gorillaz’s 5/4, sizzling opener Moaning Lisa Smile proves a distinctive track in its own right; thick, warm guitars encasing you in a comforting fuzz. Stop/start dynamics and gritty backing vocals inform a memorable example of contemporary rock – its moody grunge flavours paired perfectly with Ellie Rowsell’s powerful, angelic voice. The EP’s second half is a softer beast however it’s still underscored by dark angst, as demonstrated in closer We’re Not The Same’s distant, bird-like screech.
Stephanie Liew
Stephanie Tell
Stephanie Tell
EMINEM FT NATE RUESS A charged apology to Em’s mother, admirable and intensely personal. Yet after that initial listen you’ll feel no desire to ever hear it again. Musically, an unmemorable effort. Ruess’s vocals sound cartoony against the piano and beats.
LEISURE SUITE
Great Expectations Deaf Ambitions
Quantic – Magnetica Yann Tiersen – ∞ (Infinity) The Hipstones – Wise Man Joseph Tawadros – Permission To Evaporate Kishi Bashi – Lighght Oasis – Definitely Maybe (Chasing The Sun edition) Ramona Lisa – Arcadia Mr. Scruff – Friendly Bacteria Tori Amos – Unrepentant Geraldines
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 33
live reviews
DZ DEATHRAYS, PALMS, FOAM Corner Hotel 16 May Corner Hotel’s stage has been arranged to cater for tonight’s headlining Brisbane twopiece, with stage left drumkit angled. Perth act Foam waltz out, all straggled locks, and make the most of this atypical set-up. The dynamics and mechanics of their sound are very Nirvana 101 and, coupled with singer Joel Martin’s predilection for thrashing around with hair in face, the similarity is compounded. Their enthusiasm wins the crowd over, however.
the crowd chant the lyrics with greater vigour than Parsons’ amplified voice. A spartan lighting configuration of the letters ‘D’ and ‘Z’ behind the duo is as rough and ready as the music itself, adding to the rawness that makes this band so effing good. Ocean Exploder has audience members singing the guitar line and Dion Ford from Palms is invited onstage to provide extra guitar for Less Out Of Sync. Following The Mess Up, and proving they’re still piss-fit, Ridley has an entire beer poured down his gullet by an excitable aide during a drum solo. Teenage Kickstarts and Gina Works At Hearts conclude tonight’s high-energy set, with Parsons’ guitar feeding back musically on its own in his absence.
DZ DEATHRAYS @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: LUCINDA GOODWIN
“Hello, we are Choirboys and this is Run To Paradise.” Except that it’s Sydney’s Palms. Pisstaking frontman Al Grigg is gregarious and wacky. There’s an upbeat, melodic sensibility to the group’s power-pop sound. Vocal lines drive the tunes and the preponderance of “ah”s and “whoa”s found in tracks like Love demand crowd participation. As the boys conclude their set, the first crowd surfers of the night materialise. As MOP’s Ante Up (Robbin Hoodz Theory) fades out over the PA, the curtains are opened to reveal DZ Deathrays, basked in ominous red light. Drum rolls courtesy of the flailing Simon Ridley merge with vocalist/guitarist Shane Parsons’ first meaty power chord and, as the recognisable thrust of No Sleep ensues, 34 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
driven track with a gradual drum build-up that equates to instant head-nodding. The song sounds too big for this small stage and we can easily imagine it performed in front of thousands of anticipating fans with Citizen Kay making an entrance through a trap door onto a stage filled with smoke. It’s instantly apparent Citizen Kay has an irrepressible charm and charisma and his cheeky grin would even make your mama coy. His extremely enthusiastic drummer doesn’t let all the attention go to Kay, thanks to animated facial expressions and flailing arms. Raise A Glass featuring The Brass Knuckle Brass Band receives high rotation
DZ DEATHRAYS @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: LUCINDA GOODWIN
“Here’s a new song that we haven’t practised,” Ridley mumbles upon the duo’s return, before the toms and intricate guitar work of Tonight Alright sound. “This is the biggest Melbourne show we have ever done. You guys are fucking awesome!” bellows Parsons. The controlled chaos that is Teeth, from the Ruined My Life EP, closes out this undeniably kickass show. D and Z ghost images dance on the retinas of the sonically pummelled as a parting gift. Glenn Waller
CITIZEN KAY Shebeen Bar 16 May Citizen Kay’s Preach is the perfect opener – a really ostentatious, electric guitar-
focused on hip hop beats while still sneaking in layers of organ and drums. Closer YES! revisits the heavy brass layered with up-tempo beats – if you weren’t dancing before, you are now. The crowd has merged in front of the stage by now to get in on this final danceable track, the title of which pretty much sums up the affirmative feelings we have for this talented, youthful rapper. Yes, just yes! It’s all a little depressing when the song finishes. Citizen Kay channels the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Lupe Fiasco and we’re happy he represents Australia in the international hip hop scene. Jemma Gomularz
DZ DEATHRAYS @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: LUCINDA GOODWIN
on triple j and is clearly Citizen Kay’s most wellknown track, with patrons singing along to every word. This track is exemplary of Citizen Kay’s distinctive style, harmoniously blending live instrumental elements with rap. Again, there are no subtleties in his music but rather trumpets, saxophone and drums accompanied by slick hip hop rhymes and a funky dance solo that sums up his effervescent character. We get the feeling that Kay and his drummer either go hard or go home. The personable Kay chuckles over a minor technical difficulty and introduces his newest song, Manage. Dissimilar to aforementioned songs, Manage is about love gone wrong and is a bit more
THE ENGLISH BEAT, THE RESIGNATORS, THE SKA VENDORS Corner Hotel 15 May The exuberance of Melbourne’s The Ska Vendors makes them a welcome addition to the long and illustrious list of ska bands that this old town has produced. They warm up the joint and prime a crowd keen to dance the night away. Later, The Resignators put a bomb under the relatively easy, feel-good vibes that are spun with their punk-
live reviews inflected ska. They rough up Crowded House’s Now We’re Getting Somewhere into a jaunty, three-minute workout before dropping originals. Ex-Gwar guitarist Steve Douglas puts a heavy spin on the mix. He takes time in between songs to thank his ex-bandmate and friend Dave Brockie for decapitating Tony Abbott’s effigy at recent Australian shows before his untimely passing this year. The Resignators’ take on ska is heavy and as their set progresses they tend toward raucous rock with something of a ska twist. Alongside acts like The Specials, The Beat rank among the greatest exponents of 2Tone to have emerged from the UK in the late ‘70s in those pivotal punk years. These
fine form and leads the band through almost two hours of absolute classics that sound as fresh tonight as they did back in the day. In between songs Wakeling reminisces about the dreary humdrum of an angry young man’s life in Birmingham and good times at the city’s infamous, hardrocking night club Barbarella’s. Tracks such as Twist And Crawl and Hands Off… She’s Mine get the show off to a fine start but it’s tunes like Stand Down Margaret and Save It For Later that many are waiting to hear. Tears Of A Clown unleashes carnivalesque ska mayhem and there’s a subtly jazzy Click Click, but it’s an amazingly soulful cover of General Public’s I’ll Take You There plus the soft pop reach of the same band’s Tenderness that
THE ENGLISH BEAT @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
days, their legacy of classic ska is kept alive by the band’s co-founder by Dave Wakeling who fronts The English Beat, which is now based Stateside. It’s interesting to note that outfit’s onetime co-frontman Ranking Roger also does much the same out of the UK with a band that retains the original moniker: The Beat. Hardcore fans may ache to see original members reunited, but Wakeling has recruited some excellent players to help him present these songs. The set starts with an ironically smooth version of Rough Rider that instantly hits a feel-good sweet spot. In the absence of Roger’s distinctive toasting, the group focus on dealing idyllic, Caribbean-influenced vibes that put a subtle, pop spin on these ska tunes. Despite his age, Wakeling remains in
best showcase The English Beat’s capacity to introduce diverse influences into a ska context. The set takes many in the crowd on a somewhat nostalgic trip and Mirror In The Bathroom has some fans dancing for all their worth onstage. It’s an exhilarating end to a flawless set. Guido Farnell
THE ANCIENTS, TWERPS, KRAKATAU Boney 16 May Prog-rock band Krakatau open the night and set a sauntering pace. Twerps enter next and our energy
amps up. The beanie-wearing crowd thickens as the fourpiece head to the stage. After touring the US and playing sold out gigs with carefree Canadian Mac DeMarco last year, Twerps prove they’ve secured their place as an indie-pop band that blends catchy tunes and shoegaze elements. Marty Frawley’s opening, “How ya goin’?” sets the congenial, unhurried vibe of the night. Dreamin gets the crowd dancing and Jules MacFarlane brings her vocal talents to the Courtney Barnett-esque This Guy, taking over from the band’s usual lead singer, Frawley. While they’re reluctant to show too much enthusiasm, Twerps’ chilled-out music resonates from the moment they hit the stage.
THE ENGLISH BEAT @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
The crowd disperses before the headliners appear on stage, which shows just how much of a following Twerps have garnered. The Ancients eventually arrive in their latest incarnation: mainstays of the band – lead vocalist Jonathon Michell and bassist Georgina Ward – are joined by guitarist Hamish O’Neill, keyboardist Sophie Perillo and drummer Julian Patterson. Reminiscent of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, The Ancients bring calm, inoffensive, dreamy sounds to the stage. The single off their latest Night Bus album, Molokai, is a highlight. This song exemplifes The Ancients’ jangly guitars and Michell’s soft, incomprehensible lyrics. While the band’s psych-pop music is undoubtedly beautiful, ideal for a chilled-out Sunday session or an early afternoon
summer festival slot, the songs tend to sound repetitive. There isn’t much inter-band member interaction and the crowd now talk amongst themselves. Michell does address the crowd on occasion, offering, “Was that an ironic appreciation of the song?” as we clap. “But I really appreciate it,” he adds. “I really do.” Every now and again a and drum crescendo offers hope of what’s to come, but a climax never follows. The energy is lost and never regained and this gig dawdles toward the finish line. This talented band is let down tonight by their inability to capture the audience’s attention. When the lights are switched on and everyone clears out of the venue, The Ancients feel like leftovers after the main act. Gabrielle Easter
THE ENGLISH BEAT @ CORNER HOTEL. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
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KIMBRA@ FORUM THEATRE. PIC: HOLLY ENGELHARDT
Kimbra @ Forum Theatre Primitive Calculators Presents Little Bands #3 @ The Tote
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 35
arts reviews
GODZILLA Film
In cinemas Gigantic monsters fighting it out with each other, using the city of San Fran as a battleground: that’s the stuff we want from Godzilla. Fire, suspense, destruction and the thrill of the hunt (and being hunted) balance out the unconvincing emotional scenes, lack of character development and off pacing. Bryan Cranston (scientistturned-conspiracy-theorist) is somewhat underused, Ken Watanabe’s only expression is shock/disbelief as scientist Ishiro Serizawa, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (hero/family
GODZILLA
man) shows off muscular arms and a furrowed brow and that’s about it. The real stars are the computer-generated Godzilla and MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) – who elicit more feelings than the human characters – as well as the tense, industrialtinged score/sound design. The 3D aspect of the film is lacking, particularly when there is so much opportunity for things to come flying at you, although the point-ofview shots from characters’ perspectives are often anxiety-inducing. Not one to add to the list of mustsee monster films, but worth watching for its occasional moments of brilliance. Stephanie Liew 36 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
ITALIAN MASTERPIECES: FROM MUSEO DEL PRADO Visual Art
NGV to 31 Aug The latest winter blockbuster at Melbourne’s NGV could be the most alluring yet (2009’s Dalí: Liquid Desire was a particular hit with hipsters). Over 100 artworks have come from The Prado in Madrid, including paintings by the Italian masters Raphael, Titian, Correggio and Tiepolo, plus a Michelangelo drawing.
dramatically Caravaggio-esque Saint Sebastian, the near-naked martyr rendered in the throes of agony… and ecstasy. Not everything is religious – or devout. Charles III almost burnt Francesco Albani’s erotic The Judgement Of Paris. The Venetian Titian’s portrait of a young Philip II is a study of regal PR (alas, the king later lost the Spanish Armada). Cyclone
UNDER THE SKIN Film
In cinemas 29 May Adapted from Michel Faber’s 2000 novel, Under The Skin stars Scarlett Johansson as
GUIDO RENI’S SAINT SEBASTIAN, 1615–20 MUSEO NACIONAL DEL PRADO, MADRID SPANISH ROYAL COLLECTION
Starting with Emperor Charles V, Spain’s monarchs became major collectors, and patrons, of Italian art – some Italian states then part of their empire, along with the Americas. Their hoard, spanning the Renaissance to the Baroque, wound up in The Prado, which opened in 1819. Director Miguel Zugaza attends the media launch. It’s a big deal: many of these works have never before been lent. One of the exhibition’s draws is Raphael’s Holy Family With Saint John. Correggio’s Noli Me Tangere (“Touch Me Not”) is narrative art depicting Christ’s resurrection, as witnessed by a stunned Mary Magdalene, against a luminous landscape. Oscar Wilde adored Guido Reni’s
Laura, an alien life-form who for reasons unknown appears on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland, assuming the form of a human female. She gains possession of a nondescript van and commences a cycle of travel and seduction, preying on men who are alone, asking them for directions to random places, quizzing them about whether or not they are meeting people at their destination. If the men appear to be alone, she offers them a ride. Once in the van, Laura’s seductive charm proves irresistible and the men go willingly into derelict buildings in great anticipation, not realising they will never emerge. This predatory pattern continues until Laura picks up a passenger that she does not lead to the same fate.
Directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth) – who used non-actors to play the roles of the men Laura picks up, filming their responses to her offer with a concealed camera – brings this creepy, emotionless, enigmatic film to its full potential with Mica Levi’s eerie soundtrack providing the perfect accompaniment to the film’s unique visual language. Nightmarish scenarios are augmented by the contrasting sound design, which moves from overwhelming noise to complete silence. Under The Skin is disturbing, engrossing and thoroughly deserving of its art house accolades. Natalie Rhook
UNDER THE SKIN
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themusic.com.au/reviews/arts-review
X-MEN PREMIERE. PIC: DAVID HARRIS
Film Carew Good Vibrations The Fault In Our Stars X-Men premiere
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 37
38 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
the guide Answered by: Karina Utomo How did you get your start? Just had a bloody good crack at it! I just wanted to be in a metal band like 4 Dead that I saw in Canberra where I grew up, so I got together with Ash [Pegram, guitarist] and started a band. Sum up your musical sound in four words? HOT PIES HIGH FIVES. If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? It would be The Bronx. And we get to do it four times in June throughout Australia. Yew!
HIGH TENSION
You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can bring one album – what would it be? It’s a tie between Suicide Invoice by Hot Snakes and the new Pissed Jeans album, Honeys. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? I spewed in a cup and someone drank it. True story. Why should people come and see your band? ’Cause your ears will get boners. When and where for your next gig? Alex Gillies’ Once Every 15 Days art exhibition launch at Old Bar, 23 May. Website link for more info? facebook.com/hightensionband
Pic: Kane Hibberd
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 39
eat/drink MOROCCAN SOUP BAR – 183 ST GEORGES RD, FITZROY NORTH 90% on Urbanspoon with more than 2,500 votes... That speaks for itself, really. Not the cheapest or fastest option, as this place gets busy, but if you’re after a quality, filling feed (strictly vego, though), you’ll find it here; their solid foods are just as good as their soup, and they do banquets. Plus, they allow you to bring your own plastic containers to take leftovers home.
PHO HUNG VUONG 2 – 150 VICTORIA ST, RICHMOND As long as you go to a place that makes authentic Vietnamese cuisine, chances are you’ll get a halfway decent bowl of pho. If you’re looking for a superior slurp you may have to be choosier, but there’s no shortage of knock-out pho places. Many have dubbed this the best place to get pho in Melbourne. Other top places for pho: I Love Pho 264 (Richmond); Hao Phong (Footscray); Pho Chu The (Richmond).
TIAMO – 303/305 LYGON ST, CARLTON The place that does ever-reliable pizza and pasta also has a staple Italian soup on their menu, and they do it well: the Brodo, a chicken broth with tortellini and spinach.
SOUL SOUP CAFE – 55 CARDIGAN ST, CARLTON Different fresh soups every day. A few of their recent selection have been: Malay Sweet Potato; Chorizo Chowder; Mushroom, Sweetcorn & Barley; Cream Of Celeriac & Fennel; Beef Revioli; Cuban Bean. They do great coffee, sandwiches and sweet treats too!
SOUP SEASON
BRIMCC JAPANESE ORGANIC CAFE – SHOP 2, 601 LITTLE COLLINS ST, MELBOURNE
When the degrees drop there’s nothing better than food that warms you up. And soup definitely falls into that category. If you’re not in the mood to simmer something on the stove for two hours, here’s where you can go for your soup intake. Illustration Sophie Blackhall-Cain.
As well as a large range of organic soups they do Japanese rice and noodles dishes and curries. You can even combine it all in their sets: choose from half curry and rice and small serve of soup; half curry and rice and a salad; sushi and salad; or salad and soup. And that’s just the lunch menu; there’s also heaps of variety on the dinner menu and vego/vegan/gluten-free menu.
(SO)U(P)TENSILS Regular table spoon – for those who couldn’t give less of a shit, they just want that soup in their mouth ASAP. Soup spoon – for those who want to do it right and get the most enjoyment out of their soup and the act of soup-eating. The most practical, unless you’re eating an Asian noodle soup.
40 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
down that soup as fast as you can. Or you don’t have a spoon. Or it’s a side-serving of something like miso or egg drop soup.
Chinese spoon – nice oval shape suitable for mouths of all sizes. Good for piling noodles onto. Variation: Japanese spoon – same deal, but due to its less mouth-friendly, mini-ladle-like appearance is better for slurping noodles off.
Bread – when you need a little more carb than what the soup alone can provide, or just want to bite more stuff. Or you like the feeling of sucking soup from a sponge-like textured, soggy thing.
Bowl – for when you’re in a hurry and you just wanna
Pic by Mikael Tigerstrom
eat/drink FOOD TRUCKIN’
WHITE GUY COOKS THAI
What food fad do you see being popularised next? Melbourne is in the midst of a Korean food boom. Look out for the Korean Fried Chicken Truck! I think Korean fusion is going to be huge too.
whiteguycooksthai. com.au
What is the best aspect of having your business mobile? We can operate anywhere! You get to meet new people from a range of different locations and the trucks all trade together; it’s very social.
Answered by: Simon Williams
What is an ingredient you couldn’t live without?
Roving location, Melbourne
Kaffir lime leaf. The smell and the flavour lifts Asian dishes beautifully!
What is your dream festival to cater for? Golden Plains! We have been there for the past two and had a magic time. I have quite a few friends that go and it is great to dash down to catch a few of the bands between rushes at the truck.
Who is serving/cooking and what makes them special? Chefs Jeremy ‘JDawg’ Gelman and Joe ‘Joto’ Chow. These guys can pump out fresh and flavourful dishes in no time at all! Joto is a photography nut and takes all the food photos you see in our social media posts.
SOUP AROUND THE WORLD
Where do you eat out? Jinda Thai in Abbotsford for world class boat noodles; Rosa in Coburg for the most amazing soup and slow-cooked lamb.
Indonesia – Soto Ayam: spicy chicken broth with chicken pieces, rice cakes, shallots, boiled egg,vermicelli noodles. Served with a lemon wedge, chilli sauce and optional rice. Good remedy for winter ailments.
What should I order when you pull up? Pork Belly Sliders and Chicken Green Curry.
HOT SPOT LEARNTOLIVE COMEDY GALA – REVOLT ARTSPACE, KENSINGTON, 24 MAY LearnToLive is a humanitarian organisation that provides healthcare and education to communities worldwide through the promotion of self-sustaining practices. They put on a Comedy Gala last year, which managed to raise nearly $15,000 to go towards healthcare clinics and sustainable water projects in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. They’re hoping to double that amount at this year’s Gala, which features hosts Sammy J & Randy, as well as Denise Scott, Jimeoin, Josh Earl, Tina Del Twist, Ronny Chieng and Dave Callan. Laugh for a good cause; get your tix through revoltproductions.com.
SHOP FRONT
movestore.com.au Answered by: Michael Dykes Position: Director IT, Strategy, Store Design & Move Stores What’s the philosophy behind your store and products? We believe Move fills a gap in the market for those looking
for stylish, high-end technology with a design aesthetic. Customisable products mean Move customers can create a unique look to suit their own personal style. What kind of customer would love to shop at your store? The Move customer is predominantly, but not exclusively, female and aged between 25-35. Move customers prioritise finding the right products that make
Thailand – Tom Yum: a hot and sour soup comprising stock, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, crushed chili peppers. Often served with prawns and noodles. Like a hug from the inside. Spain – Gazpacho: cold soup with a tomato, bread, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar. Liquid tomato salad? France – Bouillabaisse: fish stock with cooked fish and shellfish, garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron. Fancy French fish.
MOVE STORE Emporium Shopping Centre, Shop 3-050, 287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Russia – Borscht: beans, beets, carros, potatoes, dill, sour cream. Bright pink/ red in colour. Packed with vitamins.
a statement about who they are as individuals. What’s your most popular product? It varies by category but the consistent thread that runs through our customers choice is style: stylish products that look great and perform well. Anything exciting on the
horizon that customers can look forward to? In addition to its flagship Move Emporium and Move Bondi Junction store, the brand has opened a Move Highpoint store and will open a Move Indooroopilly store in May. We plan to have ten stores before the end of the year.
China – Egg Drop Soup: silky strands of egg in chicken broth are made by dropping beaten egg into the hot soup and whisking quickly. Served with scallions and sometimes tofu. A common side soup for meals.
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 41
the guide vic.live@themusic.com.au
SINGLE FOCUS
ALBUM FOCUS past collections of writing, but most were nailed down in the lead-up to recording.
EAGLE & THE WORM Answered by: Jarrad Brown Single title? Automatic What’s the song about? Instinctive vibes. Automatic reactions. Subterranean mind connections. Tuning in. Tuning out. How long did it take to write/ record? A day for each. Is this track from a forthcoming release/existing release? It is a 7”. We released it into the world on 20 Apr for Record Store Day. And we have an album out later in the year that it may or may not be on.
Layers of sound. Rhythm sounds. Drums. Lots of words coming out like a drum beat.
KIM CHURCHILL
We’ll like this song if we like... Rhythm. Lots of little sounds put together to make one bigger sound. Bass guitar, brass.
Where did the title of your new album come from? I took one of the lyrics, “silence win”, and tried to break it down to the most common denominator. I felt the two words were working paradoxically. So I separated them, finishing with Silence/Win.
What’s your favourite song on it? Rage. Not sure where it came from. The self-critic in me rests easy and I enjoy it more for this reason.
How many releases do you have now? Three releases. More like seven or eight albums – some have been deleted from history (fingers crossed), others limited releases.
When and where is your launch/next gig? 23 May, Northcote Social Club.
Do you play it differently live? A little. Not much. Sometimes we jam on the rhythms. And go for longer. When and where is your launch/ next gig? 30 May at Shebeen Bar with Foreign/National and Hollow Everdaze. Website link for more info? facebook.com/eagleandtheworm
What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording?
ARTS FOCUS
CIRCA Answered by: Duncan West Do you remember the f irst time you went to the circus? No, but then again, I have been landing on my head fairly consistently from a young age. The first time I really remember circus was going to watch my little brother’s showcase at NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts) and thinking it looked like a lot of fun. What do you love about your day job? How many people get to come home smelling like seven other people, are so tired they can barely walk and have spent an entire evening throwing other 42 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I divided my writing time between a small town in Mexico called Troncones and Montreal, Quebec. One was inspiring because of its cultural electricity, whilst the other was brilliant for the feeling of complete isolation.
people around? Acrobats! That’s who. The other perks include being able to eat ridiculous amounts of food, training and performing around the world and doing something you love with a great group of people while simultaneously bringing something new and exciting to thousands of people. Why did you run away to the circus? It’s something I’ve always been passionate about but hadn’t had a chance to do professionally until I joined Circa. I wanted to look back on this time in my life with no regrets about missed opportunities, I wanted to see if I could do it and it’s fun. It’s also been fantastic performing for the same company as my little brother as it’s the most time I’ve got to spend with him in years. When and where for your show? Circa: S is running 27 – 29 May, Darebin Arts And Entertainment Centre. Website for more info? circa.org.au
Album title? Silence/Win
Will you do anything differently next time? Probably... My biggest fear is stagnation.
Website link for more info? kimchurchill.com
How long did it take to write/ record? About three months all up. Some songs I had from
FOR THE BENEFIT OF
SLEEP AT THE G Answered by: Josh Lane (Lurch & Chief ) Who/what is the benef it for? The Melbourne City Mission is raising vital funds to help in youth homelessness. Why do they need help? Melbourne City Mission provides much needed homelessness services to those experiencing disadvantage. We all have a responsibility to improve the lives of those experiencing disadvantage. What’s the current situation like? On any given night in Victoria over 6,000 young people aged 12-25 are homeless.
Who else is helping on the night? Adalita and Mark Seymour from Hunters & Collectors will each perform a solo set and Lurch & Chief (pictured)! There are so many event partners, volunteers and participants who sleep out in the elements at the MCG to raise the funds. When and where can we help out? Either sponsor a team sleeping out, donate to the cause or come watch live bands and Sleep At The G, 22 May. Website link for more info? sleepattheg.com.au
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 43
the guide vic.live@themusic.com.au
FRONTLASH
LIVE THIS WEEK
BEACHES FEATURE
Holy Fuck (or “Holy F”, which was how they referred to themselves throughout the program) selected Beaches’ Send Them Away video as guest programmers of Rage over the weekend. Now we love them even more.
WE ALL SCREAM… Have you tried Messina’s gelato flavour Breakfast Of Champions? It contains mashed up honey joys, milo and milk gelato. Major noms.
WELL TRAINED Last week, Hugh Jackman caught the train from Melbourne Central to South Yarra to get to The Project after he was done with his duties at the premiere of X-Men: Days Of Future Past. SUCH a regular dude!
MUSICAL HARMONY
TUGS AT THE HEART
MODEST MUSICIANS
After the release of their album Carpetbombing, Harmony (pictured) are returning to The Tote on 24 May, where they played their first Melbourne show; this time with Summer Flake, Bruff Superior and cowgirls Moon Rituals.
Brisbane brother and sister duo The Acfields (pictured) are on tour in support of their new single Grabbed Me By The Heart. Hear their heartfelt folk harmonies when they stop by Babushka Bar, Ballarat, 23 May.
Indie-rockers The Kilniks (pictured) are in the final week of their Evelyn Hotel residency. Hear their horns one last time (until the next gig, of course) on 26 May. Pensive Penguin and Culliver are supporting.
GRIND MY GEARS
TWIN PEAKS
GIVE ‘EM A NUDGE
Misguided punk rock outlaws Grindhouse will debut their album Sleeping At The Peeps at Yah Yah’s, 23 May. They’re on a mission to deliver dirty garage-rock action, non-stop set of riffs and the best porn soundtrack you’ve ever heard.
Treat yo’self midweek at Bar Open. Melbourne’s Twin Ages have certainly evolved from entertaining the posters in each other’s garages. Catch their blues/ rock blended tunes, 21 May.
Looking to move your feet this Sunday eve? The Nudgels have got your back. Blending Zydeco, Cajun, country, blues and ska, they will produce a cocktail of sonic joy. 25 May, The Drunken Poet.
CROSSING CULTURES
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
BRUTAL BEAUTY
Crossing Roper Bar (pictured) is a visionary exploration of jazz and the music traditions of Australia’s first people. Bringing together two diverse cultures, Crossing Roper Bar will bare their musical souls at Bennetts Lane, 27 May.
Mildlife (pictured), Parking Lot Experiments, The Ocean Party, Whipped Cream Chargers, The Pink Tiles, Lalic and Lazer Tits team up at Grace Darling Hotel, 24 May to raise money for neighbourhood house The Fitzroy Learning Network.
With a palatable brutality coupled with a strong focus on energising grooves, Decimatus (pictured) are proving to be a band teetering on the edge of acclaim. See why when they play at Evelyn Hotel, 24 May.
TEKNICAL SPACE
DIVE TO BALLROOM
HAND TO THE HEART
Psyberspace is back at Loop for all your psybreakage needs, with the biggest line-up yet. Perth’s Roboteknic will bring his brand of beats, along with Bizzle, Lanksta, Uranium Mind, Rayman, Forsure and Lomax Bangstar, 24 May.
Straylove’s modern industrial music collides with rock’n’roll and has dance floors bursting at the seams. Hear the identical twins play their new and first single Without A Woman’s Heart, 23 May, The B.East.
Since inception, Melbourne’s Second Hand Heart has worked hard to be everywhere at once. Their haunting sound has earned them more than a few audiences, but also a following. Catch them 24 May at Shebeen Bar.
HUGH JACKMAN TRAINSPOTTING
BACKLASH ILLEGITIMATE
Aus comedian Jim Jefferies had his US sitcom Legit axed. WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! It ended on a cliffhanger. Now we’ll never know if Jim is [SPOILER REDACTED] or not.
MORE ‘ZILLA, LESS FILLER After the nail-biting shit that was Monsters, we expected more from director Gareth Edwards. Godzilla has some ‘wow’ moments but what’s with all the close-ups of kids? Leave that sentimental crap to Spielberg.
THE FINAL CURTAIN Palace Theatre’s last night has been and gone. Can. Not. Deal.
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 44 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
the guide vic.live@themusic.com.au
LIVE THIS WEEK
NEXT WAVE
UP IN ARMS
KEY PLAYERS
Layered and complex, shoegaze/ indie/dream-pop Lowtide’s (pictured) new eponymous album is simply, a straight-to-the-heart masterpiece. Head to the launch of their new single Blue Movie at The Workers Club, 23 May.
Sydney’s Arms Attraction (pictured) are no stranger to the hustle of the live stage and are gearing up for the most exciting stage of their musical journey yet. Hear their melodic pop-punk and powerhouse vocals at Bang, Royal Melbourne Hotel, 24 May.
Come 23 May, Wrangler Studios are about to get a whole lot more hardcore. Punk band Shitripper’s (pictured) brand is fast, angry and straight-to-thepoint. They’ll also tear up the stage at The Bendigo, 24 May.
SOLO TRANSLATIONS
GUARD THE FORT
RAISE THE BAR
Lead guitarist and songwriter from Australia’s Powderfinger Darren Middleton will drive the Caravan Music Club stage 24 May. He’ll be performing songs from his new, solo album Translations, and past bands.
Edinburgh Castle Hotel will be showcasing a new acoustic raw talent destined for musical royalty, Selki. The alternative folk sensation will mesmerise audiences alongside the angelic voice of Daniel Pinkerton, 23 May.
With their honest country/ pop/folk/rock music, Raised By Eagles are at the forefront of Melbourne’s alternative country scene. Raised By Eagles are set to enthrall and charm audiences at The Spotted Mallard, 23 May.
WORLDLY TUNES
RETURN OF THE WAIFS
DOCTORS ORDERS
With infectious rhythms, worldly lyrics and impassioned musicianship, Sol Nation (pictured) brings you a melting pot of reggae, samba, East Timorese folksong and African dance music to The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine, 23 May.
After three years of living in different countries, The Waifs (pictured) have got their mojo back. With a career beginning in 1992, their musical success is warranted by half a million record sales and multiple ARIA awards. See them 170 Russell, 27 May.
Artist and No Anchor drummer Alex Gillies (pictured) holds the launch of his first Melbourne art exhibition at Old Bar, 23 May, with help from acts High Tension and Greig. See a showcase of his woodcuts from the last year until 1 Jun.
GREEN MEADOWS
MUSICAL CHAMELEON
HEAVENLY ROSE
Green’s Dairy Angel Ensemble leads you to that mythical place amongst the rolling hills where alt-country music sounds just as nature intended. Come along to Wesley Anne, 23 May to graze on lush musical pastures.
In between albums with alt-country band Downhills Home and sombre, bluesy hues album with Western Union, singer-songwriter/ guitarist Sean McMahon and his band The Moonmen will play at The Catfish, 24 May.
Inaugural winner of Israel’s X-Factor, Rose “Osang” Fostanes has fast become a household name with her Cinderella story in the talent quest. She performs at The Thornbury Theatre, 25 May
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THIS WEEK’S RELEASES… SHARON VAN ETTEN Are We There Jagjaguwar/Inertia TRANS AM Volume X Thrill Jockey/Rocket POPSTRANGERS Fortuna Spunk EYEHATEGOD Eyehategod Century Media THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 45
opinion HOWZAT! LOCAL MUSIC BY JEFF JENKINS WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE? My favourite band ended abruptly. There was no closure. It was like a death. It happened 14 years ago this week. Horsehead did a gig at Armadale Hotel. The band was brilliant, as usual, but it was an otherwise unremarkable show, except bass player Mick Vallance packed up his gear backstage and quietly announced he’d had enough. After eight glorious years, three albums and an EP, the show was over. But there was no farewell gig or press release. Horsehead simply disappeared, with the band deciding that if one member was out, the band was finished. Like every music journalist, Howzat! likes to make lists. I saw Horsehead at 29 separate venues in Melbourne. I spent seven New Year’s Eves seeing Horsehead at The Espy. I took four
46 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
girlfriends to see them. None of them could truly understand my Horsehead obsession. I left a wedding reception in Daylesford to see Horsehead at The Espy. I tried to climb out of a bathroom window so I could see them at Station Hotel. Howzat! wrote the shortest live review in Inpress history: “If there’s a better band in this world, I’d love to see it.” But enough reminiscing. A year ago this week, Horsehead singer Andy McLean and guitarist Scotty Kingman launched a Pledge campaign to make a new album. That album, Fifteen To 50, has now landed. Andy and Scotty (with some help from Horsehead’s Cam McKenzie and Max Waugh) have turned the last 15 years into 50 minutes of music. When your favourite band reunites, you’re excited but nervous: Will it respect the rock or ruin it? It took just one listen to the opening cut, Let It Be Now, for all my fears to subside. “If there’s a moment in
THE ALTERNATIVE
my life everything changes,” Andy sings, “let it be now.” The old energy and intensity is there. Horsehead played their first gig at Station Hotel and their last at Armadale Hotel. Both venues are now gone, but the spirit of Horsehead lives on. As Scotty and Andy point out, this is not Horsehead, but it’s the next best thing – The Alternative. KEYES, LOCKED IN Perry Keyes – the Shakespeare of Sydney – is coming to Melbourne to play at Flying Saucer Club on 21 June. Perry will preview songs from his forthcoming fourth album, Sunnyholt.
SIGN UP If you’ve got some spare cash, show PBS love. Their Radio Festival runs until Sunday. SHAPE I’M IN Two Aussie legends were born in Europe 66 years ago today (21 May). The Maltese Falcon, Joe Camilleri, and Leo Sayer, who officially became an Australian citizen five years ago, were born on the same day in 1948. They’re celebrating their birthdays together in Darwin, on the Apia Good Times Tour. HOT LINE “It’s like a new day rising” – The Alternative, New Day.
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 47
opinion OG FLAVAS
ADAMANTIUM WOLF
WAKE THE DEAD
URBAN AND R&B NEWS WITH CYCLONE
METAL, HARDCORE AND PUNK WITH LOCHLAN WATT
PUNK AND HARDCORE WITH SARAH PETCHELL
Is Atlanta’s Future (aka Nayvadius Wilburn) really all that? Or does he just have good connections? The HaitianAmerican Renaissance MC belongs to The Dungeon Family together with OutKast and his cuz, Organized Noize’s Rico Wade. Wilburn premiered with 2012’s US crossover (and critical) coup Pluto. Now he’s finally followed with Honest. However, its first single, the Lil Wayne-featuring Karate Chop, materialised in early 2013. Wilburn isn’t doing anything new, but what he does, he does well. In the tradition of T-Pain, he raps and, in a disembodied manner, sings, liberally deploying AutoTune. Wilburn originally spoke of presenting an “R&B” album entitled Future Hendrix. Honest, executive produced by Mike WiLL Made-It, ain’t it. Wilburn does venture out a little. The Runners’ intro, Look Ahead, verges on alt-rock, sampling Amadou & Mariam’s Mali blues Dougou Badia with Santigold. Wilburn then reverts to trap tunes such as Move That Dope – a posse-hit with his Freebandz signing Casino, Pusha T and Pharrell (rapping!). But André 3000 materialises on Honest’s incongruously ATlien Benz Friendz (Whatchutola). The balladic I Won sounds like it’s about trophy wives but is meant to promote women’s empowerment; Wilburn, engaged to Body Party singer Ciara, joined by Kanye West. Honest is as emo as it is street. Wilburn expresses a peculiar emptiness on Never Satisfied alongside Drake – and goes after an ex on the utterly despondent (and a bit shady) Special. Trouble in paradise? @therealcyclone
FUTURE
48 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
Anberlin were a gateway band for me. In my early years as a fan of heavy music, this band bridged the gap between the indie I was listening to and the harder and heavier music that I would eventually find my passion in. ORIGIN TOUR
Following up from last week’s column, I was lucky enough to spend a week on tour around the country with technical death metal lords Origin, either from “Americatownland, USA” or “fucking everywhere”, depending on whatever their vocalist decided to say that night. Melbourne’s A Million Dead Birds Laughing were also part of the package, while I was filling in on vocals for Brisbane group Eternal Rest. After non-stop travelling through Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne, that brings us to… Sydney. It was a Friday night and we were all starting to feel the financial burden so a lovely $12 cask of wine mixed with 90c bottles of soft drink sorted us out in the car park of The Bald Faced Stag. Bastardizer ripped the show open with their black thrash, and once more King Parrot were on the line-up to basically steal the show. Truth is, that goon sorted me out a little too much. Feeling footloose and fancy free, Origin whipped me into a frenzy and I was defiant of the strict anti-stage diving policy of the venue, soon pushing metalheads all across the pit. It was all well and good until I woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar house not knowing where I was for a minute, with some massive bruises and a really sore spine. Separated from my boys in Eternal Rest once more, I got in the van with Origin for the drive to the next show. Newcastle was always going to be the dark horse (shittest show) of the tour. There wasn’t a huge amount of people there for local openers Grim Demise and the effortlessly professional The Seer – and that didn’t really change for the touring bands.
It was a night of interesting contrasts, however. Eternal Rest sold about five times as much merch as we had any other night. While the venue didn’t give us any free beers, it was the first show where locals were giving us weed, with one guy even calling up his drug dealer Mum to bring by some more. The final slog to Brisbane was rough. With two hours sleep under my belt I jumped in the van with Origin once more while Eternal Rest and AMDBL got on their cushy flights. The crappy engine and huge trailer made for a struggle of a drive, without much conversation from the exhausted tour party. Once arriving we went straight to Lone Pine koala sanctuary, a first time experience for the Origin dudes, and rushed them through for koala photos, kangaroo hangs, and platypus observation before the park closed. Defamer and Disentomb provided some suitably brutal support on the evening’s gig at The Brightside. Origin once again managed to get a sleepy crowd moving, and made sure they enjoyed their final show on the Entity touring cycle. Drummer John Longstreth even donned various pieces of headgear brought along by The Curator of Portal, whom he had made friends with on a previous US tour. All in all it was a fantastic week. It’s rare for me to tour without any responsibilities except getting up and playing, so I lapped it up while I could. Origin have just released the first track off their Omnipresent album, and it of course destroys. I can only hope it brings them back sooner than the last time!
I still hold a soft spot for this band and even if I no longer follow their career as I used to, if I haven’t listened to a new release by them since 2007’s Cities, it still took me a little by surprise when I felt a pang of sadness when I read the news back in January that they would be a band no longer. Despite their Christian leanings (something I definitely don’t subscribe to), they were a band whose lyrics I identified with. They helped me through my awkward late teens when I struggled with who I was and the person I wanted to be. Never Take Friendship Personal, the band’s second album, I associate with so many good memories tied up with friendships, some of which have survived and some of which haven’t. The thing I always loved about this band, aside from the great music, catchy melodies and totally identifiable lyrics, was how great a live band they are. Every time I’ve seen them has been a fun, upbeat and totally entertaining experience. I will miss having the opportunity to revel in that kind of an atmosphere, which is why you will definitely catch me at one of their farewell shows when they tour this September. In the meantime, Anberlin, I salute you! wakethedead@themusic.com.au
ANBERLIN
opinion FRAGMENTED FREQUENCIES OTHER MUSIC FROM THE OTHER SIDE WITH BOB BAKER FISH
WILLIAM ONYEABOR
Who is William Onyeabor? If you don’t know, then you’re about to receive the greatest musical gift one person can give another. Total unrepentant genius. The white buffalo. It doesn’t get better than this. It’s 1977 Nigeria and there’s this mysterious guy who’s managed to fuse electronic music, Afro funk and Afrobeat in an incredibly distinctive manner. He’s doing it alone on synthesisers and no one outside Nigeria knows about it. Suddenly it’s 2014 and, although the guy has moved on, the world has only just caught up. We’ve tracked him down, but he refuses to talk about it. He released eight albums between 1977 and 1985 on his own label, ultimately leaving the music industry for Christianity. Now he likes to watch TV all day. There are rumours he studied film in Russia and later owned a flourmill. But it’s all unsubstantiated because he won’t talk about it. This is the myth of William Onyeabor. David Byrne has just released a compilation of Onyeabor’s work on his Luaka Bop label as part of his world psychedelics series and it’s totally remarkable, a pinnacle of African electronic funk: synth-based electro grooves with call-and-response vocals and extended, trippedout instrumental passages. In fact Byrne – backed by the likes of Money Mark, Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem) and Nigeria’s incredible Lijadu Sisters – celebrated Onyeabor’s music with a live show in New York this month, even appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with an incendiary version of Fantastic Man. Find this. And you’re welcome.
BEYOND THE SPEAKERS
GOOD TIMING
FILLING THE DEAD AIR WITH RACHEL CORBETT
A COMICS GUIDE TO COMEDY WITH KIRSTEN LAW
During last week’s Paul & Rach podcast, a new character, Regional Radio Man, emerged and if you’ve ever lived anywhere outside the big smoke in Australia you’ll know the type: overly excited, with a penchant for laughing at their own jokes and a voice that sounds so ‘put on’, you wonder how they’re not cracking up every time they draw breath. As someone who spent their entire early 20s engaging in the regional radio rite of passage, I can tell you that these men do not exist purely during on-air hours. Oh, no! They are flying that chauvinistic, over-pronunciation flag 24/7 and, when you share an office with them, it is both amusing and nauseating. At one of my early regional postings, we had one such guy. His little patch of grass was the local ‘Real Estate Show’. This guy had a tendency to look at me not as the resident breakfast talent but as the woman who would occasionally make him a cup of tea, which was always validating. Nowhere else in the world has anyone uttered the words, “Would you put the jug on, sweetheart?” like they should have followed it up with, ‘It’s five minutes to seven, you’re listening to [insert radio call sign here]’. This guy sounded ridiculous 24 hours a day, but when I thought back to my experiences, I realised that a man like Regional Radio Man does not get to that place alone. His special brand of unjustified arrogance comes from the fact that if you’re on the radio in a small town, that’s just about as big as it gets for the local community. Lady Gaga’s tour T-shirts don’t usually include Warrnambool on the back of
them so when it comes to local businesses throwing down the red carpet, radio personalities have their pick of the bunch. Of course the ‘bunch’ usually consists of a chicken shack, a local motel and a Daihatsu dealership; so if your great dream has always been to smash a bucket of chicken while watching free-toair television in a Best Western that you drove to in your free Charade, you’ll be in heaven. If not, you’ll think it’s ridiculous. Not every bit of cream on top comes without a price however and there is no greater selfrespect price than the client funded ‘outside broadcast’. The set-up is pretty simple – a business pays for the breakfast radio hosts to come out, set up a couple of mics and a bit of signage, bring along the promotional vehicles and your attractive staff and start handing out the free stuff. For the other five days of the week, the responsibility of all on-air material is yours but, at the outside broadcast, the ‘entertainment’ is left in the hands of the store manager. As you can imagine, this is usually the kind of bloke who thinks, “Working hard or hardly working?” is unique office comedy and when he hands you a piece of paper filled with the day’s ‘specials’, it is your job to make discounts sound like entertainment. There really is no greater realisation of the media dream than sitting at a trestle table on a fold-up picnic chair, the faint waft of sausage sizzle dancing in your nose as you try to find a way to say the words, “Half price tiles including sandstone pavers all day,” without wanting to top yourself.
ALAN PARTRIDGE
JONAH FROM TONGA
In news from Amerrrica this week, we learned that the 30-year-old institution known as the NBC ‘comedy block’ – which brought us Parks And Rec, 30 Rock and The Office in recent times and Seinfeld, Family Ties and The Cosby Show in not-so-recent-times – is dead. D.E.A.D. In its place, the giant corporate network that’s given us so much to live for is programming reality TV. Are things looking any better at home? For now, yes. If you thought Chris Lilley was super observant about teenage female relationships in Ja’mie: Private School Girl, Jonah From Tonga is even more nuanced and well drawn – so much picking apart of the teenage bravado and the male relationship dynamics! Oy vey! C Lills, I love you. But… Screen Australia is set to lose $38 million over the next four years, thanks to Prime Minister Joffrey Voldemort’s neoliberal fanboy Budget, and I’m betting the ABC won’t be taking many risks in developing new comedy over that time. Grassroots theatre is also at risk, with the Budget protecting the ‘big 28’ large cultural institutions in Australia at their expense. Well, I’m glad the baby boomers get to keep their MTC, but what about the rest of us? Any performer under 30 who’s ever claimed Newstart to support their fledgling creative career/shitty casual job knows how bolstering that payment can be in hard times. Sorry emerging creatives – not only will you have fewer grants available to you, you’ll also have to scale back your lavish spending on mi goreng noodles, unless you want to move back in with your parents. FML. THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 49
the guide vic.gigguide@themusic.com.au East Of Ely + Big Creature + Sans + Colour Bomb: The Espy (Front Bar), St Kilda
THE MUSIC PRESENTS The Disappointed: 22 May The Tote
Theatre; 18 Williamstown RSL; 20 Beav’s Bar Geelong
Frente: 22 & 23 May Arts Centre; 24 Theatre Royal Castlemaine
Remi: 10 Jul Karova Lounge Ballarat; 11 Corner Hotel
Kingswood: 24 May The Hi-Fi Free Your Mind ft Northlane: 31 May, 1 Jun The Hi-Fi Yeo: 6 Jun Northcote Social Club In Hearts Wake: 7 Jun Corner Hotel; 8 Jun Arrow On Swanston Our Man In Berlin: 7 Jun Rochester Castle Hotel
The Gun Barrel Straights + Michael Crowe: The Pinnacle, Fitzroy North Thursday Night Live + Various Artists: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda
The Beards: 16 Jul Karova Lounge Ballarat; 17 Barwon Club Geelong; 18 170 Russell; 19 Theatre Royal Castlemaine; 20 Spirit Bar & Lounge Traralgon
Fever Seeds + Hideous Towns + Dayrigs: The Public Bar, North Melbourne Arthur Penn & The Funky Ten + Freedom + Big Words: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
The White Album Concert: 15 & 16 Jul Hamer Hall
The Disappointed + Greenthief + The Naysayers + Neon Queen: The Tote (9pm), Collingwood
Something For Kate: 18–20 Jul Forum Theatre
Slow Club feat. Reykjavictim + Lost Soul Destroyer + Zokes: The Tote, Collingwood
Sky Ferreira: 23 Jul The Prince
Hard-Ons: 12 Jun Karova Lounge Ballarat; 13 The Wool Exchange Geelong; 14 Corner Hotel; 15 The Bridge Hotel Castlemaine
Tune-Yards: 24 Jul Howler
The Bronx: 17 Jun 170 Russells
Skaters: 26 Jul Corner Hotel
New Empire: 19 Jun Northcote Social Club; 21 Sub
Foster The People: 28 Jul Palais Theatre
Usurper Of Modern Medicine: 27 Jun Grace Darling Hotel; 30 Northcote Social Club
Jungle: 29 Jul Corner Hotel
Grouplove: 25 Jul 170 Russell
The Black Alleys + Burn In Hell + Dumb Punts: The Vineyard (11pm), St Kilda
Metronomy, Circa Waves: 25 Jul Forum Theatre
The Gin Club Two + Split Seconds: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick Anna’s Go-Go Academy: Victoria Hotel (6.30pm), Brunswick Danny Stain: Wesley Anne (Front Bar / 6pm), Northcote
Sleepmakeswaves: 1 Aug Corner Hotel
Gorsha + McBain + The Inches: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Bonjah: 4 Jul Cherry Bar; 5 Yah Yah’s; 4 Oct The Hi-Fi
GIG OF THE WEEK JANELLE MONAE & KIMBRA: 26 MAY THE PLENARY
Jeff Lang: 4 Jul Caravan Music Club Oakleigh; 5 Thornbury
WED 21
Lo-Res + Bohjass: 303, Northcote Twin Ages + Nikhail + Stone Desert: Bar Open, Fitzroy Trivia: Bayswater Hotel, Bayswater Melbourne Folk Club + Grand Salvo + Sal Kimber + Brendan Welch: Bella Union, Carlton South The You Yangs + Revenge Therapy + Garden Party: Boney, Melbourne Harvey Cartel: Catfish, Fitzroy Bob Sedergreen + Friends + The Stonnington Youth Jazz Initiative: Chapel Off Chapel, Prahran
Lauryn Hill + Special Guests: Palais Theatre, St Kilda
Besar Bosoh + Sunset Blush + Monsteria: 303, Northcote
Chris Wilson: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Frente + Maples: Arts Centre (Playhouse), Melbourne
The Acoustic Sessions feat. The Bean Project + Dan Woodhouse: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran
Mike Epps: Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
Morning Melodies + Col Perkins: Sandbelt Hotel, Moorabbin
Open Mic + Various Artists: Balaclava Hotel, St Kilda East
Morning Melodies + Kim Montalto: Seaford Hotel, Seaford
Naps + Huntly + Lomax + Lackluster Thunder: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Good Beer Week feat. Luke Plum + Peter Daffy: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill
Christopher Coleman Collective + Marlon Williams + Alister Turrill: Beav’s Bar, Geelong
Open Mic Night + Various Artists: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Humpday Project+Various DJs: Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights
Wine, Whiskey, Women feat. Cookie Baker + Emilee South: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne
Major Tom & The Atoms + The Black Alleys: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Collage with Since We Kissed + Copse + Mary Webb: The Espy (Front Bar), St Kilda
Beginners’ Class with Klub MUK: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (6pm), Brunswick
Conor Hutchison: The Pinnacle, Fitzroy North
Mrs Smith’s Trivia: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (8pm), Brunswick
THU 22
Trivia: Pascoe Vale Hotel, Pascoe Vale
Public Bar Comedy + Various Artists: The Public Bar, North Melbourne
Cosmic Kahuna + A Basket Of Mammoths + Cotangent + Tsugnarly: Laundry Bar, Fitzroy Bonney Read + Oceans To Athena + Three Time Thrill: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford The Australian Kingswood Factory + The Balls + Renegade Peacock: Old Bar, Fitzroy
Footy Singalong with Greg Champion + Special Guests: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh
Bedrock + DJ Ontime: Pier Live (Flanagans), Frankston
Al James & The Jimson Line: Catfish, Fitzroy Kingston Crown + Vince Peach + Pierre Baroni: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Next feat. Elektrik Dynamite + Glass Empire + Cryptic Abyss: Colonial Hotel, Melbourne Karaoke: Commercial Hotel, Werribee
Rich Davies: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy
Hiatus Kaiyote + Ainslie Wills: Howler, Brunswick
Andy Stott + Julien Love + Move Your Feet DJs: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Chris Watts + Gena Rose Bruce: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Love & Death in Buenos Aires Part 1+ Cosmo Cosmolino: Melbourne Recital Centre (Salon / 6pm), Southbank
Jazz-aoke Night + Mojo: Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond
Slow Club feat. Sheek Stain & The Creep + Toyota War + The Ol Faithfuls: The Tote, Collingwood
Homes + When We Were Small + Lift Off: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room), Collingwood
Lunaire + Guests: Old Bar, Fitzroy
Guy Kable: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Mudlark + Wooshie + Electric Sea Spider: Boney, Melbourne
Brunswick Brown Owls: The Sporting Club, Brunswick
The Bowers: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick
Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Kindred Studios (Bar of Bengal), Yarraville
Back to the Local + Gary Eastwood + Various DJs: Palace Hotel, Camberwell
Phantom Panda Power Wizard Smasher + The Ivory Elephant + Spider Goat Canyon: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Trivia: Morwell Hotel, Morwell
St Vincent + DD Dumbo: Howler, Brunswick
Project Broczewski + Chanel Coquet + Benny Boi: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood
Trivia: Powell Hotel, Footscray The Strange + The Mountains + Ben Whiting: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Sunday Chairs + Marcus Blacke + Matt Glass: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray Animaux + The Sand Dollars: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Alison Wonderland + Wave Racer + Young Franco: Secret Location, Melbourne Movement + Guests: Shebeen Bar, Melbourne Good Beer Week feat. Dirt Land + Guests: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill Suzie Stapleton: The Drunken Poet (8pm), Melbourne Spencer P Jones: The Drunken Poet (9.30pm), Melbourne
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 50 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
FRI 23
Architecture In Helsinki + Worlds End Press + Andras Fox: 170 Russell, Melbourne Soul Enikoes + Shadows Of Hyenas + Vitruvian Man + Two Quirks: 303, Northcote Wayward Sounds feat. Ouch My Face + The Perfections + Manglewurzle: Abbotsford Convent (Magdalen Laundry), Abbotsford Frente + Maples: Arts Centre, Melbourne The Acfields: Babushka Bar, North Ballarat Purple Tusks + Riot City: Bar Open, Fitzroy The Black Sorrows: Basement Discs (In-Store / 12.45pm), Melbourne Casey & Adam: Berwick Inn Hotel (Club Lounge), Berwick Belmar Records Top 10 Vol. 2 CD Launch + Various Artists: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh King Wolf: Catfish, Fitzroy Karaoke: Chelsea Heights Hotel (Sports Bar), Chelsea Heights Spencer P Jones: Cherry Bar (5.30pm), Melbourne Beastwars + Fuck The Fitzroy Doom Scene + Horsehunter: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Trivia: Commercial Hotel, Werribee Frenzal Rhomb + Front End Loader + Clowns: Corner Hotel, Richmond Rewind Back to the 80s+Rewind 80s + DJ Lou: Croxton Park Hotel, Thornbury Rav Thomas: Doncaster Hotel, Doncaster Audemia + The Elliotts: Elsternwick Hotel, Elwood
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 51
the guide vic.gigguide@themusic.com.au The Resignators + The Furrows + Someone Else’s Wedding Party + more: Eureka Hotel, Richmond Tom E Lewis + Song Men + Djilpin Dancers: Federation Square (Deakin Edge Amphitheatre), Melbourne
Ultimate 90s Experience: Somerville Hotel, Somerville Sol Nation + Exit Crowd: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine Full Ugly + Bitch Prefect + Totally Mild + Moon Dice: The Curtin, Carlton
The Wash + The Alfies + Like Fools: Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully
Traditional Irish Music Session with Dan Bourke & Friends: The Drunken Poet (6pm), Melbourne
Million Dollar Riff presented by Bob Starkie: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
Cat & Clint: The Drunken Poet (8.30pm), Melbourne
Vance Joy + Gossling + Teeth & Tongue: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Salad Days + Kalacoma + Kovo + The Ambience of Rain + Yoshitoro: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room), Collingwood Superholic Frozen Ponies + Breves + Sugar Ghouls: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood Various Artists: Hallam Hotel, Hallam St Vincent + DD Dumbo: Howler, Brunswick Various Artists: Mac’s Hotel (Bistro), Melton Various Artists: Manhattan Hotel, Ringwood Red Fish Blue: Melbourne Recital Centre (Salon / 6pm), Southbank Various Artists: Mountain View Hotel, Glen Waverley Kim Churchill + Special Guests: Northcote Social Club, Northcote High Tension + Grieg + Secret Acts + DJ Whale: Old Bar, Fitzroy Gary Eastwood + Various Artists: Palace Hotel, Camberwell Karaoke: Pier Live (Flanagans), Frankston Heavy Judy feat. Digger & The Pussycats + The Interceptors + DJ Johnny Two Decks: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Cosa Nostra + The Maydayz + The Try Hardz: Reverence Hotel (Band Room), Footscray Big Words + Special Guests: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Big Words + Guests: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran
The Caning + Cold Red Mute + Two Headed Dog: The Espy (Basement), St Kilda Miss Ink Australia 2014 Competition - Melbourne Heat + Various Artists: The Espy (Gershwin Room), St Kilda Le Bastard + Midnight Woolf + The Hybernators + The Dunhill Blues: The Espy (Front Bar), St Kilda K-Mart Warriors + Strawberry Fist Cake + The Mercy Kills + Speed Demons + Vadge Dagger + Dixon Cider: The Hi-Fi, Melbourne The Death Rattles + Dirty Hearts + The Wild Comforts: The Public Bar, North Melbourne 2AM Slot with DD & The Damaged Goods: The Public Bar, North Melbourne May Metal Massacre feat. Harlott + Abraxxas + Maniaxe + Sarfaust + Deathtripper: The Tote (9pm), Collingwood Columbia: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick
Papa G & The Starcats + The Fabric: Bar Open, Fitzroy
St Vincent + DD Dumbo: Howler, Brunswick
Fudge + DJ Craig: Pier Live (Flanagans), Frankston
Frenzal Rhomb + Front End Loader + Clowns: Barwon Club, South Geelong
Drunk Mums + Special Guests: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Stephen Bowtell Band: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Various Artists: Keysborough Hotel, Keysborough
The Dunhill Blues + Patrick Wilson & The Bare River Queens + Famous Will + David Cosma: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Lakes + Dribble + Lucid Castration + Stations: Boney, Melbourne Darren Middleton + Gena Rose Bruce: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Sean McMahon & The Moon Men: Catfish, Fitzroy
Village Sounds + Chris G: Village Green Hotel, Mulgrave
The Solicitors + The Cherry Dolls + The Braves: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Band-aoke: Waltzing Matilda Hotel, Springvale
Midlake + Special Guests: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Andy White + Peter Farnan: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote
Who Said What: Cramers Hotel, Preston
Green’s Dairy Angel Ensemble: Wesley Anne (Front Bar / 6pm), Northcote Shitripper + Caged Grave + Hailgun + Diploid + Stuck Below: Wrangler Studios (All Ages), West Footscray
Planet X: Royal Hotel, Sunbury
Grindhouse + Sun God Replica + Drifter + Captives: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Astro Boys: Royal Hotel, Essendon
Kristen vs The Spider: Young and Jacksons (Chloe’s Bar), Melbourne
Christopher Coleman Collective + Grim Faulkner + Connor Sheedy + Rach Brennan: Saints & Sailors, Portarlington
Adam 12 + Scott-E: Young and Jacksons (Main Bar), Melbourne
Bedrock feat. Lee Harding + Superfly DJs: Sandbelt Hotel, Moorabbin
DMA’S: 23 MAY SHEBEEN BAR
SAT 24
DMA’s + Special Guests: Shebeen Bar, Melbourne
Civil War + HurtXUnit + Right Mind + Impact Zone + Higher Power + Hornetz Nest: 303, Northcote
Good Beer Week feat. Steel Birds + Guests: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill
David Campbell + John Bucchino: Arts Centre (Playhouse Theatre), Melbourne
Ice on Mercury: Elsternwick Hotel, Elwood
The JVG Guitar Method + Mark Ferrie + Ash Davies + Dale Lindrea: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Threezzacrowd: Lincolnshire Arms Hotel (The Linc), Essendon Christopher Coleman Collective + Candice McLeod: Livefast Cafe, Halls Gap Reflejos: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Lucy Roleff + Comfort Creatures: Long Play, Fitzroy North Soapbox Saturdays + Various DJs: Mac’s Hotel, Melton
Decimatus + Orpheus Omega + Hybrid Nightmares + Catacombs: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
American Brass Quintet: Melbourne Recital Centre (Elisabeth Murdoch Hall / 8pm), Southbank
Sons Of Sun: The Sam Phillips Story: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
Jardens de Melodies + La Compania: Melbourne Recital Centre (Salon / 5pm), Southbank
Mango Groove: Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Various Artists: Mountain View Hotel, Glen Waverley
Annie & Bern + Suzie Dickinson: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood
Things Of Stone & Wood + Gentle Persuasion + Carus Thompson: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Wavey Borders Fundraiser with Mildlife + Parking Lot Experiments + The Ocean Party + Whipped Cream Chargers + The Pink Tiles + Lalic + Lazer Tits: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room), Collingwood Sound City - Over 28s Saturdays + Stand And Deliver: Hallam Hotel, Hallam
Jamie Hay + Liam White + Jess Locke: Old Bar (3pm), Fitzroy Anti East-West Tunnel Benefit with The Baseballs + The Infants + Whitewash + Cabin Inn: Old Bar, Fitzroy Karaoke: Pascoe Vale Hotel, Pascoe Vale
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU
52 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
The Firing Line + Rumour Control + The Dandans: Reverence Hotel (Band Room), Footscray Sex On Toast + The Putbacks + Blair Stafford: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Black Night Crash feat. +Fox & Fowl + Young Mavericks: Rochester Castle Hotel, Fitzroy Electric Circus: Royal Hotel, Sunbury Radio Kaos: Royal Hotel, Essendon Bang feat. Cartel + Arms Attraction: Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Band-aoke: Sandringham Hotel, Sandringham Good Beer Week feat. Amarillo + Guests: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill Shitripper + Party Vibez + Hailgun + Removalist + Ads: The Bendigo, Collingwood Sun God Replica + Grindhouse: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine Amaya Laucirica + Early Woman + more: The Curtin, Carlton Moosejaw Rifle Club: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne Panda Food + The Seven Ups + Hellhounds + Phil Para Band + DJ Manchild: The Espy (Front Bar / 6pm), St Kilda
THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014 • 53
the guide vic.gigguide@themusic.com.au Kingswood + The Bennies + Them Bruins: The Hi-Fi, Melbourne
Monday’s Covered + Trent Hamilton + The Simon Wright Band + Brent ( Jericco) + Citrus Jam: The Espy (Front Bar ), St Kilda
Moreland City Soul Revue: The Pinnacle, Fitzroy North
Janelle Monae + Kimbra: The Plenary, South Wharf
Tsun + Guests: The Prince, St Kilda
The Black Molls: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda
Lizard Punch + Summer Blood + Gunslingers: The Public Bar, North Melbourne
TUE 27
2AM Slot with Various Artists: The Public Bar, North Melbourne
The Waifs + Special Guests: 170 Russell, Melbourne
The Local Turns 10! + Michael Meehan & The Ladies In Waiting + Deranged Cowboy: The Thornbury Local, Thornbury
Mista Savona + Friends: 303, Northcote Cash For Gold + JP Klipspringer: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Fox & Fowl + Young Mavericks + Louis Spoils: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Meat Puppets: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne
The Frowning Clouds + Guests: The Tote (Front Bar / 4pm), Collingwood
Crooks & Queens: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy James Vincent McMorrow + Airling: Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Lowlakes + Special Guests: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Frente + Maples: Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
Old Timey Music Jam with + Craig Woodward: Victoria Hotel (5pm), Brunswick Melbourne Cans: Victoria Hotel (9pm), Brunswick Dave O’Connor + Congratulations Everybody + Go Away, Everyone: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote Rio Knights: Wesley Anne (Front Bar / 6pm), Northcote Various Artists: Westside Hotel, Laverton Tender Bones + The Electric Guitars + The Broken Needles + Hot Palms + Leo Mullins: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy Unlimited: Young and Jacksons (Chloe’s Bar), Melbourne No Drama with Scott-E: Young and Jacksons, Melbourne
SUN 25
Formidable Vegetable Sound System + Mal Webb + Kylie Morrigan: 303 (3pm), Northcote Bat Country: 303 (7.30pm), Northcote Mayfair Kytes + Owen Rabbit + Jaala: Bar Open, Fitzroy CherryRock 014 feat. Meat Puppets + Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk + King Of The North + Beastwars + Child + Drunk Mums + Bitter Sweet Kicks + The Harlots + Don Fernando + more: Cherry Bar (12 noon), Melbourne The Burning Roaches + Tomb Hanx + Secrets Of The Venus Horse + The Creeping Bam + Congratulations Everybody: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room), Collingwood A Very Special Sunday Session + Nia Robertson + Hank’s Jalopy Demons + Andrew Swift & The Rattlesnake Choir + The Prairie Oysters: Hallam Hotel, Hallam
Morning Melodies+Anastasios Dimtsis: Manningham Hotel & Club, Bulleen
THE ELECTRIC I: 25 MAY EVELYN HOTEL
The Carnival of Dreams+Various Artists: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury Good Beer Week feat. Banoffee + Martin King + Speed Painters + Total Giovanni + more: Howler, Brunswick
Kim Salmon: The Bridge Hotel (4pm), Castlemaine
Amarillo: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick
The Let Your Hair Down Girls: The Curtin (4pm), Carlton
Sunday Sessions + Various Artists: Keysborough Hotel, Keysborough
Anne Of The Wolves: The Drunken Poet (4pm), Melbourne
JMS Harrison + Pete Azzopardi + Sui Zhen + JP Klipspringer: Wesley Anne (Band Room / 2.30pm), Northcote
The JVG Guitar Method + Mark Ferrie + Ash Davies + Dale Lindrea: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Sunday Sessions with Matt Dwyer: Lucky Coq (4pm), Windsor Chamber Masterworks + Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Melbourne Recital Centre (Elisabeth Murdoch Hall / 2.30pm), Southbank Jazz Sunday + Various Artists: Monash Hotel, Clayton Things Of Stone & Wood + Gentle Persuasion + Carus Thompson: Northcote Social Club (1pm), Northcote
The Nudgels: The Drunken Poet (6.30pm), Melbourne Dale Ryder Band + Gary Eastwood Express + DJ Roc Landers: The Espy (Front Bar / 5.30pm), St Kilda Masters of Rock feat. Jim Keays + Madder Lake + Spectrum + Blackfeather + Pseudo Echo + Painters & Dockers Trio + Ashley Naylor + Davey Lane + Wendy Stapleton + Paul Norton + Darren Percival + Brian Nankervis: The Palms (6.30pm), Southbank Margie Lou Dyer & Her Sisters of Revival: The Pinnacle, Fitzroy North
Tom E Lewis + Sietta: Northcote Social Club (7.30pm), Northcote
Matt Walker & The Lost Ragas: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Various Artists: Oakleigh Junction Hotel, Oakleigh
Sunday School + Exek + Bum Creek + Italians + DJ Conrad Standish: The Public Bar (4pm), North Melbourne
Richie 1250 & The Brides of Christ + Steve Miller Band + Tim Durkin: Old Bar, Fitzroy Chris Wilson: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Gallie: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy
Coral Lee & The Silver Scream + Kieron McDonald Combo + Adrian Stoyles: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
The Summer of ABC Burns Fundraiser with Singles + The Rolling Perpetual Groove Show + Keith Parsons: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Andrew Swift & The Rattlesnake Choir + Donnie Dureau + Marcus Blacke: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar / 3.30pm), Footscray
The Electric Guitars + The Grand Rapids + Trade + Mick Turner + Touching The Bees: The Tote, Collingwood
Backwood Creatures: Royal Oak Hotel (4pm), Fitzroy North
The Acfields: The Westernport Hotel, San Remo
Club DeDiddy: Seaford Hotel, Seaford
Gareth Liddiard + BJ Morriszonkle: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Boy & Bear + Patrick James: Shepparton Eastbank Centre, Shepparton Alexandra Pye + Guests: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill
Rose “Osang” Fostanes + Lillian de los Reyes + Jerson Trinidad: Thornbury Theatre (Ballroom / 2pm), Thornbury
Shelley Short + Laura Jean: Wesley Anne (Band Room / 8pm), Northcote Kain Borlase Trio: Wesley Anne (Front Bar / 6pm), Northcote Tsun: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East Williamstown Jazz Club with Cairo Club Orchestra: Williamstown RSL (4pm), Williamstown
MON 26
Future Perfect Continuous + Madeline Johanna Turewicz: 303, Northcote Trivia: Balaclava Hotel, St Kilda East Cherry Jam: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Roo & Wine $11.99: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick The Kilniks + Pensive Penguin + Culliver: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Trivia: Excelsior Hotel, Thomastown Monday Night Mass feat. Batpiss + Kids Of Zoo + Heads Of Charm + Larry: Northcote Social Club, Northcote I Do Like Mondays feat. Cool Drinks + Solaires + Halogen Lake: Old Bar, Fitzroy Paul Williamson’s Hammond Combo: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Dear Monday feat. Georgie Darvidis + Alastair Burns + Michael Gambino + Tracey Hogue: Retreat Hotel (7pm), Brunswick Darren Percival + The Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra: The Apartment, Melbourne
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 54 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014
Speechless + Australian String Quartet: Melbourne Recital Centre (Elisabeth Murdoch Hall / 7pm), Southbank Old Bar-Toons: Old Bar (6pm), Fitzroy The Man Who Wasn’t There + George Hyde + Andre Hooke: Old Bar (8pm), Fitzroy Georgia Fields + JD Love Band: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Never Cheer Before You Know Whos Winning: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Fresh Industry Showcases + Various Artists: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Piano Karaoke: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill Trivia: The B.East, Brunswick East Trivia: The Club Hotel, Ferntree Gully Trivia: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne Brightside Live Music Showcase + Various Artists: The Espy, St Kilda Open Mic Night with Nicolette Forte & Friends: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda Trivia: The Public Bar, North Melbourne Trivia: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy Christopher Coleman Collective + Buffalo Nickel + Playwrite: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Big Smoke + Twin Haus + Ben Whiting: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
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56 • THE MUSIC • 21ST MAY 2014