record reviews

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    Ghosts of Television – FORSAKEN EMPIRE

    First Published in Mess+Noise, February, 2010

    You don’t get the feeling Sydney band Ghosts of Television arrive at rehearsals shrugging. Ideas squirm forth from Forsaken Empire like maggots on month-old meat. But are they having us all on? Why, this is sunny Sydney – from what deep, dank pit does this darkness emerge? I wonder what kind of costumes they wear on stage? Leather? Capes? Neither of these, as it happens, ...

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    The Dodgy World – Burn the Archives

    First Published in Mess+Noise, 2010

    Wollongong songwriter Adam Buckland gets bonus points for balls. He opens a track on his new release Burn the Archives with the drums from that colossus of garage-rock dance floor anthems, Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life’. Indeed, for the first six seconds, the two songs are the same. Fuck up what comes next and in some quarters that’s a bashing offence. Miraculously, when Buckland breaks ...

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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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    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 ...