Features
New Noise: Gazar Strips, Heart Flew, Mark Barrage, Snowy Nasdaq
By Mess+Noise
Expect brooding post-punk and a lot of solo experimentation in this week’s roundup of new music.
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– London-formed Brisbane trio Gazar Strips take a fairly dark and brooding approach to psych-rock. At least, that’s how their debut EP Happy Valley played out, with a ’90s grunge thing to it as well. But the new single ‘Oversight’ goes more for overcast post-punk a la Joy Division or Bauhaus – except with brighter guitar melodies peeking out at the end – and heralds a shift in direction for the upcoming second EP Sparkling. It’s one of the first releases from blog-turned-label Sonic Masala, recorded by Branko Cosic at The Hangar in Brisbane. Get your hands dirty with it below.
– There’s only eight copies left of Heart Flew’s undersung Works Fine, Free tape. Granted, it was just a run of 30 total, but snap it up while you still can. The work of LA-born Melburnian Adam Rogers, Heart Flew has been quite accurately described as “crackly, wonky and warm.” The ramshackle and sporadically noisy bedroom songwriting and recording recalls the best moments of ’90s tape labels Shrimper et al, and the tape succeeds two self-released albums from Rogers, who plays live as a four-piece. The sooner he follows up this gem, the better.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.]– When was the last time we heard from Mark Barrage? The once-ubiquitous electronic whiz has been nestled under the radar for a while now, sharing Glipses last year and the Rubicon Drive EP back in 2010. Now comes the free mixtape Pleasure in Labour, a creepy march through Barrage’s pet motifs – not to mention evocative titles like ‘Floral POV’ and ‘Cryptozoic’. It’s not showy stuff by any means, but rather cool little microcosms that ping with detail.
– Your 2014 calendar totally belongs to Snowy Nasdaq. The Ocean Party member and solo maestro is releasing a single a month through Why Don’t You Believe Me? all year long, starting with this week’s ‘Physical Parts’. The inaugural tune is snappy pop (no surprise there) that rides along on prominent bass and synths until getting all cosmic and funky in the bridge. Grab it for any price now and be quick about it, because each new single replaces the previous one.
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