New Noise: The Horrortones, Waterford, Halfshark, White Caves

Party rock, dream-pop, foreboding debuts and election-inspired lyrics all surface this week’s roundup of new music.

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– Brisbane’s overstuffed ensemble The Horrortones are a self-described “rock ‘n’ roll soul party” likened to “The Dirtbombs crossed with The Party Boys.” But with their fondness for covers on their new self-titled 10”, you could also call them The Detroit Cobras crossed with Velociraptor. Whatever way, they embrace the horn-section side of the rock canon while digging into spirited versions of ‘River Deep, Mountain High’, ‘Whole Lotta Woman’, ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man’ and other road-ready standards. Pulling together members from many other Brisbane bands, The Horrortones are launching the 10” tomorrow (May 16) at The Underdog with Brat Farrar, Mad Macka & Panhandler and Thee Hugs. More info here. The EP is out on French label Pitshark but you can grab limited copies through that first link from Brisbane label Mere Noise.

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– Waterford jump right into crunchy power-pop territory with new single ‘All That Gold’, which you can grab for free. The first taste of their upcoming second album Prior Works, it follows the Canberra band’s 2011 debut and support slots with everyone from Stephen Malkmus to Stephen Cummings. It’s a tidy single, squeezing a lot of charisma, some election-inspired lyrics and a doozy of a guitar solo into less than three minutes before the song makes the perfect abrupt exit. Waterford play tonight (May 15) at The Front Gallery in Canberra, supporting Melbourne folkie Isaac De Heer. They’re recording in the studio this month to finish up the album in time for a late-2014 release through Birds Love Fighting.

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– Having retired her previous guise of Carry Nation, Melbourne’s Jessie Warren has just returned as Halfshark. Her debut single ‘Breath of Man’ is a stark, foreboding affair only made more so by its disorienting video. It’s the first half of a double A-side single produced by Hot Little Hands’ Tim Harvey (Ella Hooper, Clare Bowditch, Spiderbait), with Lawrence Greenwood (a.k.a. Whitley) contributing some production help before Casey Rice mixed and mastered the two songs. Expanded from a solo outlet to a seven-piece live band, Warren will launch the singles with a two-week “mini residency” at North Fitzroy’s Longplay Cinema & Bar. Both nights are $10 at the door, while Rose Wintergreen will support tomorrow (May 16) and Ultra Material will do the same on Friday, May 23. Both songs will be sold as a limited cassette at the gigs, with ‘Open Your Eyes’ hitting Bandcamp on June 6.

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– Another solo venture turned band, White Caves sprang from Melbourne’s Darren Cordeux and still sees him self-producing the debut 7” Dig. They call themselves dream-pop but sound pretty close to prime 1990s Britpop too. (For what it’s worth, they cite Spiritualized, Ride and My Bloody Valentine as influences.) The white vinyl single follows last October’s debut EP and launches tomorrow (May 16) at Victoria Hotel in Brunswick with Monnone Alone and Zone Out. More info here. They’re also playing tonight (May 15) at The Grace Darling, supporting Arrester.

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