4 posts tagged “perth”
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I must admit, that I fell off the Tucker B's bandwagon quite a while ago; not a clue where they had gone. They may not have gone anywhere.... but all the same.... they're back! Nightmares In The Key Of (((((WOW))))) is the fifth album of this Perth band, now based in Sydney.
On paper the album looks excellent: a new drummer - none other than Mr Matt Blackman of Purplene, Charge Group and Palace Of Fire fame; recorded with Burke Reid (The Drones, Gerling); and the inclusion of a saxophone and the vocal stylings of what I can only assume is a real cockatiel...
If you look at their website (http://www.tuckerbs.com/) you'll understand when it's said that these guys are a bit special. This is very much reflected in Nightmares In The Key Of (((((WOW))))). It's quirky and strange. It's carries the vibe... like that movie... you know... about the leprechaun in space? Don't listen to it in the dark. At the same time it swings from creepy (WOW) to tuneful and pretty (No Lazy Death) and catchy (Jungle).
Tucker B's are very much about the lyrics. Nothing mushy or heartwarming here. No sweet voices or beautiful harmonies. Not even a great deal of singing in tune. All wrapped up in some kind of bizzaro mixture of genres.... synthesizers, loud guitars, soft guitars, that weird voice altering contraption, odd wails, rock, indie, country, who can tell? That key of (((((WOW))))).... ooh err.
All up, an exciting album, highly recommended, but not for the faint hearted. So.... May 30th (album release date - not just throwing random dates about)... get
Also... http://www.myspace.com/tuckerbs
Sally
sally@weheartmusic.com
For starters I like the name of the album. Pantomime Hearse... it's like pantomime horse.... but not quite! ha ha!..... yes well.... i like it, so shush.
The next thing I like about the album.... are all of the songs. It's such a cute album. Cute, poppy... and short (that is, kind to a girl with next to no attention span whatsoever). The type of tunes that just can't help put a smile on your face. The songs are simple and the vocals are nothing complicated either.
The tunes sort of remind me of something. It's not the mainstream indiepop style that so many bands are replicating today. Dare I say... this album takes me back to the early 90's style-wise... not britpop in the Blur, Oasis, Pulp sense of the word, but potentially similar to various other bands who was bounding around in the same-ish realm. I was going to tentatively say Pavement.... and then delete it, but i've just opened their MySpace page and had a look at thier influences... and bonanza! I hit the jackpot.
Anyway.... if this interests you in any way... go here: http://www.mascotfight.com
This will enable you to listen to them, then begin stalking them (politely, of course) via any medium you so choose.
That's a photocopier (not a chair)..... something i'm glad we've cleared up now.
One thing i need to say about this band first, it that it was such a relief to find out they weren't the other band named Steps who were a questionably popular with english people (with bad taste) back in the late 90's.
The Steps are, in fact, a four piece indierock band out of Austin, Texas. I wouldn't call it pop at all. Although there are a couple of tracks on their debut self-titled album, which are borderline.
Pull the Cord and Townes Lane are two tracks which stand out in (or more probably stick in) my mind. You may have noticed i'm more of a girl who likes tunes more than meaningful lyrics? Well yeah, that's me to a tea.
There is one song on the album.... that caught me by surprise. Here was me sitting happily on the train to work, listening obliviously to my earPod and on comes a song that i thought was Jet (Loose Mind). You can imagine my disgust. I had to use all my might to remind myself that it wasn't Jet and it was ok to not hate them. Luckily most of the songs don't sound like Jet as much. (The start of Belle also sounds just like a Stereophonics song... hmm).
I reckon these guys would be great live and this album would be most suited to being played loudly during either a car-trip or a really intense session of carpet vacuuming. It's not reeeally my thing. but i would dance to it and sing along if i had a beer in my hand (and i knew the words).
For ease of stalking, here are some relevant links:
Offical website: http://www.wearethesteps.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thesteps
Just the new single from the brilliant Perth band, Little Birdy. I'm not sure if we've covered Little Birdy here before (I'm sure I'll find out pretty soon one way or another)... but they are one of a great number of brilliant bands to come out of Perth. I'm sure there's something in the water over there or maybe it's just because there's not a lot to do other than spend hours perfecting musical skills and recorded some of the best tunes there could be.
Brother is the first single from their yet to be released 5th album, Confetti.
It's quiet, but has both a catchy tune and beautiful lyrics. It gets almost to the dance-around-the-room level during the hand-clap portions of the song. However, in my opinion, the best thing about Little Birdy, by far, is the awesome vocals provided by Katy Steele (brother of Luke Steele, frontman of the Sleepy Jackson and half of the duo Empire of the Sun, who have been having quite a bit of recent success all over the shop). I wont admit to singing along with various other Little Birdy tunes and feeling inadequate in my lack of singing skill prowess.... no I wont admit that.
Anyway.... I wont spend too much time on this. Best wait for the album, i reckon. In the meantime here's their website where you can grab the single and play it to your hearts content: http://www.littlebirdy.net/
I think that's it for now.
Have a tops weekend!
Sal
sally@weheartmusic.com
Lucky you: The Panda Band is in town. And, by town, I mean North America. The melodious boys from Perth are in the States for an indefinite amount time -- to record, tour, act obnoxious, look cute, etc. So, here's a chance (or three) to see them live, before they skedaddle back to Western Australia. Whenever that may be. I don't think it's anytime soon, though.
As you may recall, the Panda Band had previously been mentioned by Vu, in his Perth Bands podcast and entry, and by Jason, in his Halloween songs post. They're a whimsical five-piece comprised by members of Rollerskates, Eye Spy, and band-of-one Damian Crosbie. Since the 2005 release of their first ep, Sleepy Little Death Toll Town, they've garnered love, praise, and a few awards -- as well as spots on tours with The Grates, The Sleepy Jackson, and Gomez.
In 2006, The Vital Chapter, their first full-length cd, was released. An ep, Pioneer, appeared in late 2007. (I think that you can pick up the latter at their shows. I can't find it on-line.)
The January 18th (tomorrow!) show at The Delancey in NYC is a 21 and older gig, but actually only costs $7, which is a good deal for four bands. Also gracing the stage that night will be the Massachusetts' triple threat of Baker, Harris, and Township. (Unintentionally sounding like points on a map.)
But, if you can't make it or feel particularly thrifty, on Saturday, January 19th, the Panda Band will be playing a free show at the Penguin Store in NYC at 3 PM.
They'll be at the Burke Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont on February 2nd.
Dates pop-up randomly, so keep an eye on the Panda Band's MySpace page for any new shows.
Wishing you an enviable year, Cristina
P.S. It's the Panda Band's guitarist's birthday on Friday. If you go to the gig, buy him a drink.. or show him some nip. Hairy man-nip is ok, too.
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Podcast Footnotes [1] blog.myspace.com [2] bielerbros.com |
Wow, can you believe Google is down for almost four hours now? I had to use alternate search engines. Remember Alta Vista? They offer an MP3 search feature!
Anyway, in my second of series of interviews for W♥M Podcast (which have been moved to weheartmusic.mypodcast.com), I spoke with Jason Namour, who tells us a little about the music scene from Perth, Australia, and his days when he started www.perthband.com.
Below are all the Perth bands that were mentioned in the Podcast:
♥ The Panda Band
www.thepandaband.com | myspace.com/thepandaband
Band Members: Damian Crosbie (Vox, Guitars), David 'Rufus' Namour (Bass), Steve Callan (Keys/Synth), Chris Callan (Guitar), and Gabriel Nicotra (Drums)
Originally called Philius Phog in the late 90s, they tried to reform as another band before ending up as the Panda Band in 2003.
Currently signed to Filter Magazine's Record label for US distribution.
♥ The Sleepy Jackson
thesleepyjackson.com | myspace.com/thesleepyjackson
Band Members: Luke Steele, Malcolm Clark, Lee Jones, Dave Symes, and Felix Blossom.
One of Perth's most well-known band, they were nominated for the ARIA Awards in 2003 and 2006, but didn't win in either categories for either of their two albums.
The band got their name from an ex-drummer whose name was obviously Jackson and was narcoleptic.
♥ Eskimo Joe
www.eskimojoe.net | myspace.com/eskimojoemusic
Band Members: Kavyen Temperley, Stuart MacLeod, Joel Quartermain
The most popular Australian band among all the bands we mentioned here. Their albums have gone gold and double-platinum.
They're slowly charting at 160 on the CMJ Top 200[1].
Yeah... I've never heard of them either :/
♥ Karnivool
karnivool.com.au | myspace.com/karnivool
Band Members: Ian Kenny (vox), Andrew "Drew" Goddard (guitars), Mark Hosking (guitars), Jon Stockman (bass), and Steve Judd (drums).
When asked where the name "Karnivool" came from, guitarist Drew said:
That's one question I can never answer very well, as the name Karnivool was around before even I was in the band. Kenny originally played guitar and sang with a couple of lads from his high school, Brett and Andrew. They used to play Nirvana and Carcass covers and had a few originals floating around, as well as the name Karnivool which they used loosely as band name for when they played at their local high school parties.[2]
They are currently on tour in the South area of the US.
♥ Snowman
www.thesnowmanempire.com | myspace.com/thesnowmanempire
Band Members: Andy Citawarman (guitar/vox), Joseph McKee (guitar/vox/trumpet), Olga Hermanniusson (bass), and Ross DiBlasio (drums)
What makes this band interesting is that each member was born in different countries. They are from Indonesia, England, Iceland and Australia.
They're currently on tour in September and October. Unfortunately, they're only touring in Australia.
September 16, 2007 1:25 AM
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.thepandaband.com
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