Features
New Noise: Cull, Luke Brennan, Thigh Master, Community Radio
By Mess+Noise
Although tilting towards garage, country, past decades and whole other worlds, it’s all still pop in this week’s roundup of new music.
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– Maybe not the first band you’d pick to cover Pavement, ultra-dreamy Sydney quartet Cull have just released a free-download version of the 1997 single ‘Shady Lane’. It runs almost twice as long as the original, and you wouldn’t even guess it as ‘Shady Lane’ until the lyrics start up after half a minute of groggy, storm-swept instrumental introduction. It’s to Cull’s credit that the end results sound much more like them than like the source material: they make it their own and then some, transforming a snappy indie rock staple into a crusted-over dream world along the lines of their breakout single ‘World Inside Your Head’, which came in at #9 in our top tracks of 2013. What’s more, they jam it out and crank the noise up until it’s totally immersive. Cull play two shows in Sydney next weekend, including a free seven-band blow-out celebrating the second birthday of Brighton Up Bar.
Fri, July 4 – Petersham Bowling Club, Sydney, NSW [w/Parading, Day Ravies + Black Springs]
Sat, July 5 – Brighton Up Bar, Sydney, NSW [free, 7pm, w/Mesa Cosa, The Hollow Bones, Spirit Valley, The Ocean Party, High-tails, The Lulu Raes + DJ Thee Sonic Assassin]
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– “I feel like a dick in this business shirt,” laments Melbourne’s Luke Brennan in the very opening line of his debut album, Guilt Curriculum. His dayjob blues define that short and relatable first song, ‘Business Shirt’, and from there ‘Monselice’ steps up the country angle. Brennan’s been compared to Cass McCombs, which comes through in the start of ‘All Roads Lead To’, but these songs showcase something unique to Brennan. He tangles familiar strands of country, pop, folk and indie rock into sweetly self-aware songwriting all his own. Written partly in Dublin and recorded mostly in the garage, the album follows 2011’s Kinship EP. It’s out now digitally and as a limited CD, and new Melbourne label Healthy Tapes are releasing it on cassette next Tuesday (July 2) in a run of just 15. The tape launches the same night at Bar Open, with free entry and support from Pencil and Lil’ Leonie Lionheart.
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– Brisbane quartet Thigh Master mingle tingling guitar-pop and tousled garage quite nicely on ‘Head of the Witch’, the first song on their new three-song 7”. An offshoot of brothers Matthew and Daniel Ford from Black Vacation, the band are completed by drummer Patrick Byron and guitarist Dusty Anastassiou. Their two-guitar interplay has seen them likened to everyone from Mad Nanna to The 3Ds and Cap’n Jazz, which is a quite varied net to cast. Some will simply dismiss it as more dolewave, but for everyone else these are three punchy pop songs that teem with nervous catchiness. You can hear that first song below, and pre-order the 7” here. It comes out July 11 through Tenth Court, with an East Coast launch tour kicking off the same day.
Fri, July 11 – The Metro, Adelaide, SA [w/Bruff Superior, Rule of Thirds + Wireheads]
Sat, July 12 – The Catfish, Melbourne, VIC [w/Go Genre Everything, Gold Class, School Damage + Cold Life]
Mon, July 14 – Monday Night Mass @ Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC [free, w/Gloss, Vacuum + Secret Valley]
Sat, July 19 – 107 Projects, Sydney, NSW [w/Shrapnel, Orion + Seating Plan]
Fri, July 25 – The Pound, Brisbane, QLD [w/Cannon, Ciggie Witch, Upclock, Police Force + White King]
Sun, July 27 – The Time Machine, Nambour, QLD
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– Since 2012’s winsome debut album Serious Magic, Sydney’s Community Radio have laid pretty low, chiming in last year with a 7” for Spanish label Tenorio Cotobade and now with a new two-song digital missive. Following previous nods to Flying Nun, The Go-Betweens and Guided by Voices, ‘Real Transformation’ is happily Byrds-y and brings with it a sweetly simple video. The B-side (so to speak) is ‘Puff of Smoke’, which is tenser but just as pretty. Led by former Songs and Youth Group member Cameron Emerson-Elliott, and also featuring past M+N contributor Patrick Matthews (Youth Group, The Vines), Community Radio are planning to launch the single and that earlier 7” in September, but don’t have any shows booked before then. ‘Real Transformation’ and ‘Puff of Smoke’ can be bought for $2 total via Bandcamp, and sometime next week on iTunes.
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