New Noise: The Creases, Shaky Handz, Division Four, Glaciers

There’s guitar-pop and post-punk – both new and old – from Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne in this week’s roundup.

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– It’s not every day that an Aussie band signs to Rough Trade, the iconic London label that’s boasted everyone from The Smiths to The Strokes. So give a warm round of applause to Brisbane band The Creases, sprung from “a drunken rainy Friday night” between housemates Joe Agius and Jarrod Mahon. Plying an easy-going guitar-pop sound that’s at least cousinly with folks like Mac DeMarco and Twerps, The Creases wring a lot of classic pop charisma out of their new single ‘I Won’t Wait’. Their debut release for Rough Trade, it’ll appear on a 7” that comes out November 1 with distribution here from Remote Control. Now a quartet with the recruitment of bassist Aimon Clark and drummer Bridie McQueenie, The Creases are about to go along with The Jungle Giants on their extensive national tour, starting next week with fellow supports Northeast Party House. That may sound like a quick jump ahead considering they’d never played live before being contacted by Rough Trade, but give a couple listens to ‘I Won’t Wait’ and it’ll all make sense.

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– Since surfacing in just around July, lo-fi Sydney garage-punks Shaky Handz have already released a single and appeared on a compilation. Now they’ve released a debut 3” CD, Less Bored, More Poor, also available as a free download. And that’s before even playing their first gig, which happens next Wednesday (Oct 2) at pop-up bar Hotel Street in Kings Cross with The Jones Rival and Pilots. Cramming four-ish tunes into six-ish minutes, the EP brims with distorted, whiny vocals and catchy, overdriven hooks. Fun stuff.

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– Described by Tim Scott as “new wave oi” in our mid-year wrap, Division Four were a short-lived Perth band whose only legacy is a six-song demo tape from 1983. But with that tape now reissued on 12” vinyl through SmartGuy Records – and mastered by Mikey Young – subsequent generations can now enjoy their ribald, bent strain of post-punk. Less concerned with predictable guitar menace than with murky synth and two bassists (!), Division Four come off like Devo’s ne’er-do-well siblings, at once spikily subversive and undeniably poppy. Smack and hollow sex pervades ‘Blank Prostitutes’, while the singer sounds a bit like Television Personalities’ Dan Treacy on ‘Kamikarzi’ [sic], for what it’s worth. The 12” is limited to 500 copies, so scoop it up quick through Distort.

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– Last we checked in with Glaciers, the Melbourne quartet were airing their first three demos. Now come two proper songs in ‘Northwest’ and ‘Wolves’, again free of charge. Recorded, mixed and mastered by The Zebras’ Jeremy Cole, the tunes continue with reverbed dream-pop and harken back to the wistful penchants of the Sarah Records catalogue while they’re at it. (Or Wild Nothing, for our younger readers.) From the naggingly melodic bass lines to the snappy guitar ribbons, it’s likeable and well-crafted in equal measure. Of the two tunes, ‘Wolves’ seems like the proverbial “hit.”

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To nominate new music for this column email us at news@messandnoise.com.