One of the most interesting and promising bands in Australian music at the moment is set to be Sydney’s Cloud Control. Their charming and colorful pop sound has already won them the Triple J Album of the Week and a bunch of 5 star reviews in some national newspapers. They’ve been around a few years and are signed to the utterly uber-cool Ivy League label, but they only shot to national prominence after touring with Vampire Weekend earlier in the year. Their album Bliss Release is an impressive and harmonious record. It was all done on analogue tape and you can hear the warmth of the old tapes right through the album. Combined with hooks and beautiful vocal arrangements, this is a really good album.
By Ashira Bronner.
www.myspace.com/cloudcontrol
Perth boys Will Stoker and the Embers are set to release their debut self-titled LP. It’s frantic and furious punk rock. The King is a powerful track displaying Will Stoker’s veracious punk-rap lyrics and then lifting into an Oasis style anthem of a chorus. Tickets Please pays homage to Zeppelin’s more up tempo works – and as the album’s opener it also gets the old feet tapping. But it’s not all trashy punk rock from the four-piece, as His Waves Hiss and Burst shows off their lighter and cheekier side with an alluring woodwind intro and circus trumpets blaring like crazy throughout. Stoker never lets up his energetic routine. He spits and splatters like some kind of passionate late-70s punk rocker, while the band powers on like a frenzied and hysterical freight train. It’s exciting stuff all around. Good job!
www.myspace.com/willstokerandtheembers
By Ashira Bronner.
She’s quirky, she’s pop, she’s bi and she’s a superstar. Sia released her fifth album We Are Born last Friday. It’s been a long journey for the Adelaide born singer. She started out signing with a major label in 2000 and went on to make chilled out downtempo music in the vein of the Dido brigade and collaboratedwith a host of international acts such as MIA and Le Tigre. The new album is more upbeat than some of her previous stuff. Clap Your Hands and You’ve Changedare obvious radio singles. There’s lots of pop melodies and colourful electro mash ups and digital drum loops. It’s cool stuff. Sad news is that Sia just announced that she has Graves Disease. At present she is recuperating.
http://www.siamusic.net/
by Ashira Bronner
Just saw a hot little Melbourne act called Sons of Messengers at the Brunswick Hotel and boy oh boy did these guys put on a show. I’ve seen a lot of great local acts and let me tell you these boys were really something. They raced through a bunch of indie-rock tunes with mountains of energy and power. Just Because You’ve Showered was a frantic and punky opener, while Don’t Make Me Alone is an epic rock track which built to a gigantic crescendo of guitars and vocal harmonies. Right Side Of This Violence is a clever and witty social comment on Melbourne’s city violence. The song’s mean, menacing synth/rock riff perfectly sums up the city’s late night bar culture. Next, they moved into more ethereal territory with I Remember That Day. This tune displayed the band’s sense of melody and texture. And Suburban Dreams showed that these guys know how to pen a melodic ballad when they need to. The songs were catchy but cool – and very big sounding. Apparently they’re working on a new EP and they’ve just been doing some support slots around Melb in the meantime. I don’t like throwing around cliches but thanks to the energy and passion they showed i’d be inclined to say get ready for the next big thing - this band is going places. It was really honest stuff. That’s the only way I can describe it.
By Ashira Bronner.
(Uptade 09/10/10: these guys quoted me in their new video http://www.youtube.com/sonsofmessengers#p/a/u/0/HvLCBmWPAJs)
