New Noise: Lovely Head, No Action, The Twoks, Jasper Clifford Smith

This week’s roundup of new music embraces solo experimentation, noisy four-piece rock and the unlikely pairing of violin and drums.

– Lovely Head is the solo outlet for Vivian Huynh of Pants and the recently departed No Art. Having just played the final Camp A Low Hum and performed live on FBi, Huynh has debuted the project with the free three-song EP Motion, written and self-recorded just last month. It’s very sparse stuff, with diaphanous vocals and repetitive guitar lines over tentative drum machine. That just those few thin elements (plus some bass and synth) can hold our attention so wholly is testament to Huynh’s prowling delivery, which mingles shades of post-punk and shoegaze with a certain slow-burn pop mystique.

– Adelaide quartet No Action caught our eye by citing the supremely underrated bands Silkworm and Comet Gain in the presser for their new 7” on Tenzenmen. The single doesn’t sound heaps like either of those bands – ‘Neverclose’ is gnarled and noisy ’90s rock but not exactly Silkworm-esque, while the acoustic and poppy B-side ‘Ride in the Whirlwind’ actually recalls The Lucksmiths and does sneaks in some Comet Gain-style spoken-word – but it’s got us warming right up to No Action nonetheless. Out now for $10, the 7” is a one-time pressing limited to 100 copies. The A-side will appear on the band’s in-the-works debut album, while the flip is exclusive to this release.

– While the description “like Haim on a violin” might evoke a very particular version of hell, the new single from Melbourne violin/drums duo The Twoks is better in reality than on paper. As earnest as it is pure pop, it sounds like a lost track from Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual given a DayGlo modern makeover. Out now, ‘First Light’ was produced, recorded and mixed by Tony Buchen (The Preatures, Andy Bull). It shows off not just Xani Kolac’s chirpy vocals but the duo’s unique setup, which – again – is much more tolerable on record than in theory.

– Best cover art in the history of civilisation? Could be. But there’s more to Jasper Clifford Smith than stylish balls of feline fluff. He writes songs and stuff too. The Sydney “industrial/psych rapper/crooner” weirds it up on his new $5 EP Polybel, which starts off sounding like doom-twee and only gets more askew from there. Catch the man in the flesh at Martini Café’s No Good Monthly night in Newtown next Friday (Feb 28), alongside Buzz Kull and b00bjob with DJ sets by Tees and Leroy Madrid. More info here. He’s also playing at the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday, March 8 with The Laurels offshoot Phonographics plus Big Dingo, Baby.Face.Thrilla and Slurs. It’s a launch for his upcoming single ‘Fight’, co-produced by Jasper Fenton (Decoder Ring, Dead China Doll) and soon getting a video directed by Daniel Havas. He’s going places.

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