Features
New Noise: Buzz Kull, Crepes, Mope City, Plum
By Mess+Noise
Moody, brooding pop rules this week’s Sydney-centric roundup of new music.
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– After touring America and dispensing singles at a steady rate over the past four years, Sydney dark wave duo Buzz Kull are finally gearing up for a debut album. It’s due out next year through Greek label Fabrika. The first taste is ‘Dreams’, recorded with New York producer Jonathan Schenke (Parquet Courts, Frankie Rose). It finds Buzz Kull’s Marcel Whyler and Rebecca Liston in the most glowering of moods (ditto Whyler’s goth-y cover art) while still leaning on burnished synth melodies. “The dreams keep coming,” Whyler sings, ominous to the last.
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– Tim Karmouche from Hollow Everdaze takes the lead in Crepes, a new Ballarat-via-Melbourne band who have debuted with the lackadaisically catchy single ‘Ain’t Horrible’. It’s shrugged-off guitar-pop that hews closer to atmospheric indie rock than to stereotypical slacker jangle, with some dank ’60s-style keyboard noodling in there too. It was mastered by the ubiquitous Mikey Young and features orange-tastic cover art by Danny Wild. Next stop is an EP, due sometime in the coming months.
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– One of the highlights of October’s very good Inhalation Compilation tape was Mope City’s two-minute noise-pop bauble ‘(They) Can’t Unglue You From Me’. It’s just one in a long line of under-the-radar successes from the band led by Day Ravies’ Matthew Neville, from their naggingly catchy live show to the previous EPs Boo Fukin Hoo and Disneybland. Now there’s a new three-song 7” EP called Halfway House, out through Brisbane label Tenth Court. It captures perfectly the band’s brooding pop gifts, which in turn evoke The Pastels and early Wire. Mope City are launching the 250-run vinyl release along the East Coast next month.
Thurs, Jan 8 – Liberty Social, Melbourne, VIC [w/Tam Vantage + Pure Moods]
Sat, Jan 10 – The Metro, Adelaide, SA [w/Wireheads + Men With Chips]
Fri, Jan 16 – The Haunt, Brisbane, QLD [w/Bent, W.D. Fordy & Shrapnel, Karl’s Dog + Falco]
Thurs, Jan 22 – The Union, Sydney, NSW [w/The Cathys + Avoid Island]
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– Also with ties to Day Ravies is Plum, the newfound bedroom project of Sydney’s Caleb Jacobs, who plays in Day Ravies offshoot The Cathys. His inaugural single as Plum is ‘Pavement’, a breathy, summery number that recalls a peppier Trembling Blue Stars while still indulging in a bit of shoegaze-y crunchiness. It forecasts next year’s debut EP Black Doris and fades out while we’re still humming along.
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