STACK #122 Dec 2015

It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll GROWN AT HOME MUSIC REVIEWS

STREAMYOUR FAVOURITE ALBUMS AT JBHI-FI NOW... NOW!

Chris Murray loves pop culture and loves to share.

Trust Punks Discipline The Urban Dictionary defines the band’s moniker as,‘a person between the ages of 17–25 who lives off their parent’s money, yet maintains they live a punk lifestyle’. It’s safe to assume these guys spend most of the time in the garage making sweet tunes to be having any lifestyle at all. The five young NZ lads have released this astounding debut, conjuring every forgotten joy

when you first heard Steve Albini, Trail of Dead, or just about all the cool stuff from Flying Nun. Angsty, honest and gutsy-geek. Gordian Knot will take your head off, nicely. More please! Spunk/Caroline/Universal

TV on the Radio Seeds This will be the band’s best-selling record to date, and probably the worst reviewed. From the ashes of a musically challenging indie outfit winning over post-punk Gen X/Y crossovers with Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (2004) and the incredible Return to Cookie Mountain (2006), which no doubt had Radiohead feeling threatened, it’s been arguably a different sound since then. Not a bad one, just not THAT one – the one that made you feel the wonder of the unknown in a creatively terrifying and sexy way, rather than soaking up interplanetary sunshine with a herbal tea and a MacBook Pro. There’s reasons for this, particularly here, as it’s the first recordings since losing a comrade. Hope and awe are the go here; commercially friendly, musically accomplished and when listened as an entire album, pretty satisfying. There’s the electro-pop fury of Happy Idiot, the old TVOTR promise of obtuse greatness with Careful of You and the close-your-eyes-and-you’d-swear-it-was-the-Foo-Fighters in Could You. Then Test Pilot pops out of the speakers and you rush over thinking another (really ordinary) band has hijacked the stereo. It’s a conundrum of wanting to like this album more than it deserves; but you wouldn’t listen in the car – unless you drive a Prius. EMI/Universal

Captain Beefheart Sun, Zoom and Spark: 1970-1972 The original enigma, our beloved Captain knew no peer. With or without his Magic Band, it was clear Mr Don Van Vliet was cut from a husky cloth so strange, tribal and pure, it terrified as equally as it stunned. For the

uninitiated, think TomWaits jamming with Frank Zappa and the Wiggles, in a strip club, in Haiti. Here in glorious re-mastership are three of the kookiest albums he ever made: Lick my Decals Off, Baby, The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot, plus a disc of unreleased extras. Yeah, 51 tracks of madness and beauty that highlighted an artist running free. Small children will love it too, trust us. Rhino/Warner

Ex Cops Dagger “Pop will eat itself,” coined an old band that stamped the ethos on their collective foreheads. Thing is, it’s an insatiable beast with a bottomless gut. Ex Cops, a NYC duo who probably cue-up for gelato at all hours wearing thongs in the cold, aren’t afraid of getting fat on the popular trends of today. They flaunt it. Executive produced by Smashing

Jerry Lee Lewis Rock’n’Roll Time Jerry Lee Lewis is 79 and dangerous. They done made ‘em different back then, particularly when you consider he’s probably smashing a piano in a juke joint as you read this. With ‘pals’ on board to help out including Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Neil Young and Daniel Lanois (amongst others), it’s

refreshing it doesn’t sound like a Sting record; they’re here to back-up The Killer and do what they’re told. Listen to Little Queenie with the two Stones, if unsure… or better still, the psycho-country honk sprinkled with alternate lyrics on Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues (with Robbie Robertson). See, told ya’. Caroline/Universal

Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan (though you’d be hard-pressed to find his DNA anywhere), the album feels like the older sister of Taylor Swift fantasising about the star quarterback’s arse. Consequently, they’re destined to be huge. You’ve been warned. Create Control/Universal

Click on ‘similar artists’ onTv on the Radio’s page on JB Hi-Fi Now to hearTomVek, Deerhoof, Broken Social Scene and more

Jeff Jenkins is a poor player but a great listener.

Cold Chisel Live Tapes Vol. 2 Live at Bombay Rock April 27, 1979 Jimmy Barnes infamously described Cold Chisel’s second album: “ Breakfast At Sweethearts stunk and you can spell that f-u-#-k-e-d.” The songs were strong; the band simply didn’t dig the lifeless sound. Now,

live albums don’t have much currency these days, but this is a cracker – all energy and urgency, the way Sweethearts should have sounded. There’s even a seven-minute version of Wild Thing . Sadly, the Sweethearts café in Kings Cross is no longer there. It’s now a McDonald’s. And Bombay Rock is also just a memory. But Chisel’s Sweethearts album has come to life. Universal Mike Brady Bloodlines

Paul Kelly Presents The Merri Soul Sessions It can’t be easy being Paul Kelly. You’re the nation’s poet laureate. Your songs are studied in high schools. Journalists scour your lyrics, eager to quote your wit and wisdom. “Don’t you feel the pressure?” Linda Bull asks in the opening track here, Smells Like Rain , a portent of things to come. But Kelly has never been afraid of a career left-turn, whether it’s breaking up The Messengers, doing a reggae record, or now doing an Aussie soul album, where he takes a back seat and showcases singers such as Vika and Linda Bull, Clairy Browne, Kira Puru and Dan Sultan. As Linda sings, “I do believe there’s gonna be a change.” But the more things change … This still sounds like a classic Paul Kelly album (even if it was originally conceived as a series of seven-inch singles). Not enough is made of Kelly’s brilliant band – drummer Peter Luscombe, bassist Bill McDonald, guitarist Ash Naylor, and Cam Bruce on piano and organ (with Kelly on rhythm guitar). They bring the requisite class and lightness of touch to make these songs sound magical. Gawdaggie/Universal

Think you know Mike ‘ Up There Cazaly ’ Brady? Think again. Bloodlines shows there’s much more to Brady than one classic footy song. The Melbourne singer-songwriter pays tribute to his Irish roots, with these sad songs – check out the heartbreaking Say It While You Can and A

Song of Whispered Sighs . “It’s like a tear that never dries.” But the sound is so stirring and vibrant, the result is life-affirming. Irish music is a tremendous way to tell a story, and Brady inhabits these characters, bringing them to life. Like Russell Morris’s Sharkmouth , this is a career-defining album. Fullmoon/MGM

Emma Donovan and the PutBacks Dawn Melbourne is enjoying a soul revival. Emma Donovan is originally from northern NSW but she’s hooked up with Melbourne’s The PutBacks to deliver a great Aussie soul record. The band whips up some mighty grooves, but props to producers Bob Knob and Tristan Ludowyk for

Christine Anu Island Christmas It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid. Most seasonal offerings come with extra cheese, but Christine Anu’s first Christmas album is a sweet treat. A mix of standards (including an exquisite reading of Silent Night ), she also covers Paul Kelly’s classic How To Make Gravy and Joni

Mitchell’s River , and has a stab at writing a new Australian Yuletide song, Island Christmas : “It’s Christmas in the land of the Dreamtime, Southern Cross twinkling up in the sky.” Australia doesn’t have a great tradition of Christmas albums, but this album works. Social Family Records/ EMI/Universal

allowing her voice to shine. And unlike many contemporaries, Donovan isn’t reliant on cheesy covers – she wrote all the songs with bassist Mick Meagher. Indeed, Dawn is aptly titled. This is the start of big things. “Take me to the top, baby,” Donovan sings, “where I need to be.” Hope St Recordings/ Rocket

DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au/music

18