Features
New Noise: The Murlocs, The Universal Thump, Velcro, Community Radio
By Doug Wallen
This week's plundering of Soundcloud takes us from the gently jangling to the hugely orchestral to the darkly garage-y.
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– Another garage band from Geelong? Yep. Although formed less than a year ago, The Murlocs have already played Dig It Up! and toured with fellow harmonica enthusiasts King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. They have two EPs under their belts too, including a new one recorded by some guy named Mikey Young. The four-song Tee Pee is by no means straight garage, though, veering into sinister country rumblings and vintage surf twang on ‘Gutless’ and ‘Manny’s Bar’. There’s also an addled video for the title track. The band will launch the EP on Aug. 31 at the Tote.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] Manny's Bar by The Murlocs
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– Brooklyn-based expat Greta Gertler may have co-penned The Whitlams’ ‘Blow Up the Pokies’ and ‘Charlie No. 3’, but the tune ‘Swimming’ by her current band The Universal Thump sounds more like the chirpy orchestral pop of Sally Seltmann’s latest work. Funded with part of a stunning $15,000 raised on Kickstarter, their ultra-ambitious self-titled double album features more than 60 musicians and collaborators. Led by singer-pianist Gertler and multi-instrumentalist Adam D. Gold, the band will perform two sets tonight (Aug. 16) at Melbourne’s Workers Club before launching the album in Sydney, playing the first half at Blue Beat on Aug. 29 and the second half at Camelot on Sept. 1.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] 01 Swimming by theuniversalthump
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– Melbourne’s Curtis Wakeling is Velcro, not to mention a member of The Ocean Party. He just launched his Wagga Wagga EP, on local label Why Don't You Believe Me?, before he heads off to New York for a spell soon. Named for Wakeling’s native NSW city, the EP recruits his Ocean Party bandmates Liam Halliwell and Lachlan Denton and adheres to a homespun jangle-pop drawl quite close to his other outfit. Check out the congenial clip for the autobiographical gem ‘G&T’.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] Velcro - Awkward Mornings by Mess+Noise
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– Speaking of jangle, Community Radio have it in spades, with the press kit citing R.E.M., The Feelies and The Go-Betweens in bold print. The Sydney quartet include Cameron Emerson-Elliott (Songs, Youth Group), occasional M+N writer Patrick Matthews (Youth Group, The Vines), Mal McKernan (La Huva) and Jen Kevin. Their forthcoming first album was recorded live in Emerson-Elliott’s parents’ house in Canberra in a single weekend, albeit later mixed by Wayne Connolly. And guess what? It’s all as warmly catchy as the new single ‘Terrible History’. Serious Magic comes out Sept. 21 on the band’s own Novella imprint.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.] Terrible History by Community Radio
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