MUSIC

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    Wolf and Cub (Oxford Art Factory)

    First Published in Mess+Noise, June 24, 2009

    Sometimes, nothing can sum it up better than commentary from the random pissed guy, lurching through the crowd with his schooner. Wolf & Cub are playing their hearts out to a capacity Sydney crowd who all appear to be aged between 18 and 18-and-a-quarter. A casual poll in my immediate vicinity reveals many are primarily here to see tour support act The Scare. From opener ...

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    Grey Daturas (The Ding Dong)

    First Published in Mess+Noise, June 11, 2009

    You know a band’s got volume when you keep your earplugs in for a mid-gig toilet break. It’s the first leg of Grey Daturas’ June/July Australian tour. They’ve recently returned from yet another European tour where – among 20 other dates – they played with Neurosis, Om, Earth and other revered instrumental doom-drone acts. Ding Dong hosts a sparse yet devoted crowd. There’s a good ...

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    Archie Bronson Outfit – Coconut

    First Published in The Brag, May, 2010

    Is UK three-piece Archie Bronson Outfit making a dash for mainstream success? Their third LP Coconut is lighter, catchier and more diverse than the urgent, ragged blues-rock of 2006’s Derdang Derdang. Anthemic single ‘Shark’s Tooth’ and tremelo-drenched ‘Bite it and Believe it’ hover on 3 minutes and ooze radio single. Furthermore, the disaffected misogyny of Derdang Derdang is gone. One could actually contemplate liking the ...

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    Witch Hats (The Metro Theatre)

    First Published in Mess+Noise, May, 2009

    What do you get when you combine an SMS command, a dogged sound dude, and a set played to a sparsely filled Metro Theatre? Echoey, damn echoey, that’s what. Just how Melbourne four-piece Witch Hats like it. Here as support for The Drones, Witch Hats are onstage at 8.30pm. One song in (I don’t recognise it from their debut LP Cellulite Soul) I retreat from ...

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    Wooden Shjips – Vol 2

    First Published in The Brag, April, 2010

    Vol 2 doesn’t deviate from the Wooden Shjips formula. Mainly, because it’s not a new release. Instead, the psyche-rock San Francisco four piece have selected a fist of five hard-to-find tracks and released it as Vol 2. “Hard-to-find” is, of course, subjective. But somehow, with this band, it flies. Committed Wooden Shjips fans probably find finding their shoes hard. Yep, their songs are that tripped ...

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    The Dead Sea (The Hopetoun)

    First Published in Mess+Noise, March, 2009

    Half-way through The Dead Sea’s set at The Hopetoun on Saturday night, distraction begins to creep over me. How, I wonder, am I possibly going to review this band and avoid the words “cinematic”, “soundscape” or “builds into a mesmerising wall of sound”? They’re all apt handles for The Dead Sea’s atmospheric, and frequently ambient, sound. But this is an era when Sigur Ros and ...

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    Eddy Current Suppression Ring (Goodgod Small Club)

    First Published in Mess+Noise, March 18, 2009

    The first time I lost a shoe in a moshpit was in the summer of 2002. Reverend Horton Heat, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. The second time was at Eddy Current Suppression Ring on Friday night. Losing a shoe to a pit is one of life’s nobler milestones. It’s an act of character. It also generally means the band is really fucking good. On ...

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    Turn up the tiny guitar

    First published in The Brag, December 2008

    Attach it to a distortion pedal and it sounds like a wobbly, out-of-tune bass. Pitchshift it up with a delay effect and you’ve got steel drums. The humble ukulele played by electric ukulele lady, Rose Turtle Ertler, sounds nothing like Tiny Tim. ...