Record Reviews

Record review: Best Coast – California Nights (2015, LP)

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best coast

IT might sound like the most predictably-named album of 2015, but Best Coast’s third record contains much more than the sunny, bubblegum indie-rock that might be expected from the Los Angeles duo. Singer, guitarist and songwriter Bethany Cosentino has called this the first record she’s been 100% happy with, and she’s right to feel proud of a piece of work that drags her band’s sound into a sonic territory more of its own.

Early-twenties stoner naiveté has made way for late-twenties reality confrontation for Cosentino since her 2010 debut, and while some of the themes remain the same as on previous work, here the hooks are heavier and more generously dispersed throughout an album of nineties alt-rock guitar distortion and big choruses.

Opener ‘Feeling Ok’ sees her less making a statement, more trying to convince herself that she is, in fact, feeling okay, in a shoegaze-cum-pop union that is perhaps as clean and professional-sounding as the band has ever been. ‘Fine Without You’ continues the self-denial set to indie-pop hooks and single ‘Heaven Sent’ is the most obviously radio-friendly, festival-set-closing rocker on the record.

Lines like “I stay high all the time, just to get by” provide darker moments on the title track, which, at over five minutes is the longest on any Best Coast album, and introspective closer ‘Wasted Time’ is a similar counterpoint to the surf and garage-rock riffs that fizz elsewhere.

The most appealing aspect of California Nights is Cosentino’s emotive delivery and believability, and although some of the bad/sad/glad rhyming is predictable, when everything’s bigger, brasher and built to bop like the figurative blitzkrieg, a lack of lyrical prowess can be forgiven. This is Best Coast’s best work to date.

CALIFORNIA NIGHTS IS OUT NOW.

Record review: Ella Thompson – Janus (2015, LP)

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ella thompson janus

Listen up, class: no talking at the back and spit out that gum. Today’s lesson incorporates history, music, a multi-talented Melburnian, and a debut album featuring one of the finest female voices in the country right now. Roman mythology 101 tells us Janus was the god of all beginnings, synonymous with doorways and the opportunities they present. He also had two faces to look towards both the past and present, and at times sported a hipster beard. All of these elements are relatable to the form and feel of Thompson’s excellent debut LP (besides the facial fuzz, obvs.); these songs build on her work with GL, Axolotl, the Bamboos and Dorsal Fins and allow her to flaunt her more-than considerable vocal talents in a solo setting. The two-headed depiction of a revered Roman is apt in that there are several styles and moods present throughout the ten tracks. New psychedelia, ‘80s synth-pop, sparse balladry, and layers of distorted, dreamy loveliness provide the backdrop to Thompson’s tuneful talents. Hazy opener ‘Drift’ and Spector-esque ‘Away Too Long’ seduce and spellbind, whereas first single ‘Arcade’ is a honey-drenched slice of synth-pop cherry pie that oozes contradiction, and things get weird on the six-minute ‘Taller’. However, it’s when Thompson gives her vocals some oomph that the song benefits most, as on second single ‘I Go Over’, much like Dorsal Fins’ excellent ‘Monday Tuesday’. This ain’t no sunny synth-pop record by any stretch, though; there’s misery in many of the lyrics (see closer ‘Losing You’), but despair has never sounded so good. With Janus, Thompson has kicked in the door of her solo career, and it’s open for business and for students of music to enjoy. Do your homework right and get on board.

JANUS IS OUT MAY 24 VIA HUB/CAROLINE

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Record review: All That Remains – The Order of Things (2015, LP)

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all that remains

Springfield, Massachusetts rockers All That Remains have been plying their trade for nigh on 15 years, and with over a million record sales and fingers in the pies of death metal, heavy metal and metalcore, the quintet have plenty to draw on for album number seven. However, the follow up to 2012’s A War You Cannot Win still manages to fall flat. Singer Phil Labonte has courted controversy in the past, but he’s in a more reflective mood here, albeit set to a series of tunes that, if listed in order, could almost write this review by themselves. ‘This Probably Won’t End Well’, ‘Pernicious’ and ‘Bite My Tongue’ describe the feelings these tunes produce at various points. “We have to get through this,” Labonte sings on gentler number ‘For You’, in a moment that makes a whole lot of sense, while he pleads “Don’t give up on me now” on ‘A Reason For Me To Fight’. Brooding closer ‘Criticism and Self-Realisation’ is all about “finding the strength to carry on” through a difficult seven minutes, and rounds off an overly bland and generic set of tracks. Founding guitarist Oli Herbert pulls off some nice melodic licks and drummer Jason Costa is a powerhouse throughout, but take these things away and all that remains is a firm feeling that this album is one for the hardcore fans only. (Cooking Vinyl)

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Record review: Clowns – Bad Blood (2015, LP)

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clowns bad blood

Here’s a question you’d expect to hear at a football riot, not read in a music review: who’s ready to have their face ripped off? This second album from Melbourne punk quartet Clowns will not only do brutal things to your kisser, but it’ll have a go at putting your ears out of commission while it’s at it. Their 2013 debut album was a savage tribute to partying and punk rock, and while Bad Blood continues in a similar vein, it comes with a growing range and belief. Like a school bully who lets you think you’re off the hook before hitting you a slap, opener ‘Human Error’ takes a full minute to kick into gear; its scratchy riffs build anticipation for what’s to come. Single ‘Euthanise Me’ is an early highlight; its melodic elements and broken-down interludes are welcome additions to a powerful punk track. Next comes a trio of 90-second hammer blows in ‘Figure It Out’, ‘Infected’ and the title track, which is perhaps the most metal here. Closing anomaly ‘Human Terror’ is easily the most interesting; at 11 minutes it’s at least three times longer than anything else and isn’t a journey for the faint-hearted. While Clowns’ brand of punk is as ferocious as ever, it’s the longer songs that impress most, as the band have grown significantly in terms of musicianship since their debut. That isn’t going to do your face any good, all the same. (Poison City)

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Record review: Dorsal Fins – Mind Renovation (2015, LP)

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dorsal fins

Hey, did anyone see the Grammys this week? No, me neither. I was too busy listening to the debut album by Melbourne ten-piece Dorsal Fins, and FOMO can GTFO because this stuff is smokin’. Patched together by Liam McGorry (Eagle & the Worm, Saskwatch) and members of the Bamboos and New Gods, Dorsal Fins are a band on a genre-bending trip of sometimes dreamy, always layered alt-pop that twists, turns and captivates at every moment. Just about everything is a high point; Ella Thompson’s perfect pop vocals on the express train of a synth-pop track ‘Monday Tuesday’ are especially fine, while McGorry doesn’t hold back on his social commentary cuss-fest ‘Jacqueline’. The fact that the first few bars of ‘Heart on the Floor’ sound like the drum intro to Spinal Tap’s ‘Big Bottom’ before the song turns into an ‘80s Madonna-esque pop ballad reflects the wonderfully random tangents the album takes throughout. Elsewhere, the title track cranks the psych-rock guitars while ‘Cut the Wire’ is all dark electronica, and there are beautiful and melancholy ballads in ‘Escape Me’ and ‘Superstar’. Being a ten-piece means that Dorsal Fins have a multitude of tricks up their sleeves, so hopefully this won’t be simply a side project to the band members’ other more well-known ventures. With this album, Dorsal Fins have marked themselves as serious contenders; not even a Grammy win could make me dislike them. (Gripless/Remote Control)

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Record review: Peace – Happy People (2015, LP)

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peace happy people

English indie-rockers Peace are an infuriating bunch. Their 2013 debut was a promising affair; all early-90s influences and shiny approaches to love, life and happiness. On their Australian tour they proved themselves to be a powerful live act, capable of raining red-hot riffs on punters the length of the east coast. Why, then, is this second effort so excruciatingly dull? Is it the crippling sameness of the vast majority of the 18 tracks? The draining middle-class angst peppered heavily throughout the lyrics? Or just simply, the lack of a good tune or two? The combination of these things doesn’t leave much to be admired, except perhaps groovy single ‘Lost On Me’ and the rougher ‘I’m A Girl’; songs that provide hope that it’s only difficult-second-album syndrome that’s stuck its nose in here. Everything about the painfully atrocious ‘Someday’ and singer Harrison Koisser’s misguided suburban rapping on pseudo-funk sonic-fart ‘World Pleasure’ provide low points, while most of the rest blends into itself with nothing left but blandness. “Try to change the world you live in, oh you, try to make it better for your children, oh you,” he sings on opener ‘O You’ – and that, people, is your cue to dry retch, while closer ‘The Music Was To Blame’ pretty much sums up the whole album just by its title. Being a ‘big’ band is great and being a cult band is better, but unfortunately Peace are neither of these; for now they’re stuck somewhere in the murky middle, filed under “meh”. (Columbia)

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Record review: Belle and Sebastian – Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance (2015, LP)

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belle and sebastian girls

Belle and Sebastian have always been somewhat of a perplexing quantity. At times brilliant, horrifically twee and infuriatingly vague all in the space of one album, the Scottish sextet has generally always been critically acclaimed during their near 20-year history, but have never translated that into commercial success. Will this ninth record change their fortunes? The answer is probably not, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a fine effort nonetheless. Wonderfully slick and soulful opener ‘Nobody’s Empire’ recalls the best poppy parts of 1998 classic The Boy With The Arab Strap while dealing with some pretty dark lyrics about singer Stuart Murdoch’s struggles with chronic fatigue syndrome. ‘Allie’ veers a little too closely to being Beach Boys-lite before exploding into life, and lead single ‘The Party Line’ is a surprisingly groovy disco number that makes you want to dance like John Travolta circa 1977. It becomes clear that eclecticism is still very much part of the band, as the indie misery of ‘The Cat with the Cream’ bleeds into club banger ‘Enter Sylvia Plath’. It’s a mixed bag up to this point, but one that’s fun and engaging, although the quality tails off a little towards the end, with the exception of the faux-calypso duet with Dum Dum Girls’ Dee Dee Penny on ‘Play For Today’. Ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your hats: Belle and Sebastian have relocated their mojo. (Matador)

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Record review: Fences – Lesser Oceans (2015, LP)

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fences lesser oceans

Fences is a Seattle-based musical project centred on the songs of vocalist and guitarist Christopher Mansfield. His approach to song-writing is different to many Seattle natives before him; you won’t find any of the grunge stylings of Nirvana or earthy folk of Fleet Foxes here. Indie-rock lite is the cornerstone of this particular album – the band’s second in five years – and while the general feeling of pleasantness can be a little tiring after ten songs, it’s perfect for Sunday mornings or polite company. Opener ‘Songs About Angels’ sounds sweet but has some fairly dark lyrics, possibly based on Mansfield’s past struggles with alcohol and a stint in rehab. Most well-known to Australian audiences would be sprightly single ‘Arrows’, which has had a decent share of radio play here, undoubtedly aided by an appearance by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to add some big-name glamour as well as some well-placed cuss words in a pop setting. ‘My Mountain Is Cold’ features some nice mandolin touches and the title track references the band’s hometown with the words “it’s okay, it’s mostly grey,” before confirming that their biggest strength is their vocal interplay between Mansfield and bassist Lindsey Starr. This is a nice enough album, but the difference in quality between the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis tracks and everything else makes it a little disjointed, fostering a feeling that the album isn’t far off being a single with eight B-sides. (Elektra)

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Record review: Human Nature – The Christmas Album (2014, LP)

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human nature

Human nature is roughly defined as the qualities which are common to humanity, so it comes as no surprise that this attempt at a Christmas album is the most vacuous form of crowd-pleaser. The Sydney vocal quartet’s pseudo-Motown shtick may be big in Vegas, but then so are gun crime and gambling away your kids’ inheritances, so don’t expect anything other than bitter disappointment from this album. All the obvious choices are here – ‘White Christmas’, ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ and a particularly cringeworthy rendition of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’. It has to be assumed the regularly-excellent Jessica Mauboy’s appearance on ‘Sleigh Ride’ is a record company obligation, while the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra’s choice to be a part of ‘Amazing Grace’ could be described as foolish at best. The rest just sounds like a rejected boy band at an especially bad office party. Smokey Robinson provides the only touch of class on ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’, but it’s nowhere near enough to save this album from being re-gifted. In the end, it’s the contrivance that rankles most; nothing says Christmas like a bunch of soulless, insincere crooners flaccidly warbling their way through such an obvious attempt at lining their pockets. My IQ is lower, I feel like a lesser person and I may have nightmares after listening to this album. For the love of Santa’s sack, don’t let the same thing happen to you. (Sony)

Record review: The Grates – Dream Team (2014, LP)

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the grates dream team

The Grates duo of Patience Hodgson and John Patterson may have been heavily focussed on baking scones at their Brisbane tea rooms over the last couple of years, but don’t expect them to go all buttery and lose bite just because they’ve had their hands on more cupcakes than guitar strings of late. Written, recorded and produced within a week, and released on the band’s own label, Dream Team sees the pair, joined by beat-keeping barista Ritchie Daniels on drums, return to the frantic pop-punk of their formative years in the mid-noughties. The result is an album which gains much from the band’s sound losing its pop sheen, and is all the more exciting for it. Hodgson is in her finest shout-y form throughout, especially on opener ‘Call Me’ and the deceptively brutal ‘Dirty Hands’, and Patterson provides the chunky pop chords at all the right moments. Just when the assault doesn’t appear to be letting up, ‘It Won’t Hurt Anymore’ throws a sensitively-aimed curve ball as an unexpected highlight. While ‘Friends With Scum’ recalls X-Ray Spex, ‘I Wish I Was Alone’ owes a debt to every coming-of-age teen comedy film made in the late nineties. A streak of assured independence seems to have been the ingredient which has made the band rattle and roll once more, although it’s unlikely that a future holding album release parties would be more profitable than one involving bake-offs. One thing is for sure: Dream Team is as exciting as it is explosive. Welcome to The Grates’ finest moment. (Death Valley)

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Record review: Illy – Cinematic: Uncut (2014, LP)

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illy cinematic uncut

Putting Melbourne rapper Illy’s latest album into some sort of frame of reference as a new release isn’t easy, as it’s not a new album at all. Cinematic: Uncut is simply a re-release of his successful 2013 Cinematic album, with six new tracks tacked onto the end to make it more tempting for the record-buying public to shell out their hard-earned dollars in these twisted times of rampant online thievery. The original album featured collaborations with the likes of Hilltop Hoods, Drapht and Daniel Merriweather, and peaked at number four on the ARIA charts, but does the new material make giving it another shot worthwhile? The answer is probably not, unless you’re a diehard fan, although the 28 year-old has plenty of those. New collaborations with Spit Syndicate and Way Of The Eagle and a re-record of his triple j ‘Like A Version’ are laudable enough efforts, but each of these doth not a new album make, while adding another mix of ‘Am Yours’ is pretty damn lazy. While ‘Tightrope’ remains one of the most annoyingly-catchy Australian songs released in the last twelve months, and there is plenty of decent material spread over the album, the addition of a feeble six new tracks leaves a bad taste in the mouth. There are plenty of re-releases which are as welcome as they are fascinating; offering previously unheard studio cuts or alternative versions which breathe new life into old songs. This isn’t one of them. (ONETWO)

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Record review: Food Court – Big Weak (2014, EP)

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food court

Some garage bands should probably stay in the garage, and others have a duty to kick the door down and explode into the street with a furious blast of colour and imagination. Sydney’s Food Court is most certainly of the latter variety; this gang of jangly fuzzmeisters is exactly the type of shot in the arm Australian guitar-rock could do with right now. Recorded by Straight Arrows’ Owen Penglis and mastered by the always-excellent Mikey Young of Total Control/Eddy Current Suppression Ring, this seven-track EP takes more from ‘90s garage than it does from the original ‘60s wave, with hints of Weezer and early Green Day, and the results are all good. Single and opener ’14 Years Young’ is the obvious high point; its shouty chorus and brash guitars set the quartet’s stall out in no uncertain fashion. ‘Red Wine Teething’ is more measured, even if it reeks of hangovers and walks of shame, while ‘Dripping’ is rougher around the edges and points to what ought to be a pleasingly destructive live show. The cocky swagger of ‘On The River’ is a fitting climax to an EP that sits well beside anything from Palms to The Frowning Clouds, and a lot more besides. Building from here is what will make or break the band, but with only one song out of seven finishing up anywhere near the four-minute mark, this is urgent and necessary stuff from a promising addition to garage-rock goodness. (Independent)

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Record review: Damien Rice – My Favourite Faded Fantasy (2014, LP)

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damien rice

Damien Rice has never seemed like one to chase commercial success, but he found it nevertheless with his 2002 debut O; an album which broke a thousand hearts and made the Irishman a reluctant star. It says a lot that he waited four years to release a follow up, and it’s taken a further nine for this third album to appear, but his lack of commercial ambition remains steadfast, if his inclusion of the letter ‘u’ in ‘favourite’ is anything to go by. The recent disturbing trend of middle-class whiners posing as earthy folkies and finding success is not one Rice could ever be associated with, as he gets straight into showing off his vocal range with the opener and title track. The nine-minute soaring ballad that is second track ‘It Takes A Lot To Know A Man’ could be a mini-album in itself and is worth the price tag alone, whereas ‘The Greatest Bastard’ comes straight from the school of Nick Drake. ‘I Don’t Want To Change You’ will have global audiences singing along while shedding a sea of single tears, and there’s the expected healthy dose of melancholy spread over ‘Long Long Way’ and ‘Trusty And True’. Rice has never sought fame, but when you’re this good a songwriter, it’s going to find you all by itself, and even an album of only eight songs like this seems like an embarrassment of riches. (Atlantic)

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Record review: Bush – Man On The Run (2014, LP)

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bush man on the run

After listening to this sixth studio album by alt-rock quartet Bush, it’s tempting to pull out a clichéd phrase or two – “how the mighty have fallen” being the most obvious. But, were the British band, formed in 1992, ever that mighty in the first place? Grunge kids knocking around in the ’90s will remember being weaned on Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, while Bush’s 1996 album Razorblade Suitcase may have registered as their most noticeable, but ultimately fairly forgetful, effort. And so, having split and reformed in 2010, Gavin Rossdale and co. are sticking to the formula: pushing formulaic, lacklustre rock dirge with laughably cringe-worthy lyrics and an utter lack of soul. Lead single ‘The Only Way Out’ is as good as it gets, and that ain’t good at all; “Follow me down to the water, through the trip wires in your head” being the opening line. Good one Gav, old chum; get all that repressed high school poetry out of you in one fell swoop. The turgid electro-rock of ‘Loneliness Is A Killer’ is another low point; it’s less a song, more an excruciatingly obvious attempt to make noise big enough to fill arenas. Bush have always been much more successful in America than anywhere else in the Western world, and this album will probably keep their bore-rock train a-rollin’ there. I can’t even begin to think of a reason why. (Zuma Rock Records)

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Record review: The Frowning Clouds – Legalize Everything (2014, LP)

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the frowning clouds

Let’s get this straight from the off – legalizing everything probably isn’t a good idea, and it’s safe to say Geelong retro garage-rockers The Frowning Clouds know that. That aside, this is a band with some serious pop-writing chops, as this third album from the quintet shows. Plenty of sixties-inspired jangly pop with more than a few welcome psych-rock touches is the modus operandi that long-term fans of the band will recognise, although there are a few neat new tricks slotted into a series of two to three-minute tracks to keep things interesting. Indeed, it’s the lack of extended King Gizzard-esque psych-rock wig-outs that make Legalize Everything bounce along so nicely, although at no point does the mood get beyond incredibly laid-back. Opener ‘Carrier Drone’ sets the tone with a chilled and distorted chorus of “take me, take me anywhere you want”, while ‘Sun Particle Mind Body Experience’ carries on the relaxed vibe with some shiny guitar moments. Tracks like ‘Move It’ and ‘No Blues’ display an intriguing diversity to the band’s sound that points to a more eclectic future, while space-rock instrumental ‘Radio Telescope’ sounds like a group of guys making ear-searing noise just for the sheer pleasure of it. All in all, it’s this mix of elements that combine to make an album that’s catchy, crackly and a whole lot of fun.

Best track: Sun Particle Mind Body Experience
If you like this, you’ll like these: The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Byrds
In a word: Swingin’

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