STACK January 2016 Issue 135

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58 JANUARY 2016
MUSIC
DEAF WISH PAIN
"After eight years of slept-on
albums and repeated hiatuses,
Melbourne quartet Deaf Wish
have signed to Sub Pop to release
their best record yet.
Pain showcases all the invigorating noise-punk
you’d expect, but there’s much more happening
too... a devastating brute of an album with
surprising subtlety throughout." (Sub Pop/Inertia)
MOUNTAIN GOATS
BEAT THE CHAMP
(Remote Control/Inertia)
HONORABLE MENTION
JULIA HOLTER
HAVE YOU IN MY WILDERNES
"There’s something timeless,
classic, yet utterly unique in
the structure and arrangement
of each track that defies easy
description. There’s power – and restraint – in the
performances, underscoring the emotional effect
of the lyrics that explore subjects of love, trust,
and balance in relationships. It's packed with ideas
and sounds that reveal themselves over multiple
listens... endlessly rewarding." (Domino/EMI)
SUI ZHEN SECRETLY SUSAN
(Dot Dash/Remote Control)
HONORABLE MENTION
MARK SEYMOUR AND THE
UNDERTOW MAYDAY
"This is the story of modern
Australia, where it’s 'one rule for
the filthy rich, another one for the
weak', the nation is filled with
'celebrities and sycophants', desperate people seek
asylum, shock jocks are 'screamin’, and musicians
are searching for meaning. The Undertow might
lack numbers, but they’re capable of delivering
both power and poignancy... Mayday is deeply
moving." (Liberation/Universal)
PERRY KEYES SUNNYHOLT
(Laughing Outlaw/Inertia)
HONORABLE MENTION
DRUG CHURCH
HIT YOUR HEAD
"The best thing about New Yorkers
Drug Church is their staunch
swagger. Their music has tough
guy guts that could amp your ego
on your lowest days. Not unlike your standard,
shitty hardcore band, this new album is swathed in
attitude, big riffs and all of the feels, but has none
of the generic breakdowns and monotonous vocals
that hardcore seems to have thoroughly exhausted
over the past decade." (Shock)
LAVES ARE YOU SATISFIED?
EMI)
HONORABLE MENTION
VARIOUS THE WIZARDS
OF OZ: A MONSTROUS
PSYCHEDELIC BUBBLE
(EXPLODING IN YOUR MIND)
"Imagine there’s no country. It
isn’t hard to do when entering the
monstrous psychedelic bubble of London DJs Gaz
Cobain and Brian Dougans. Their Amorphous net
is cast across Australia/NZ for a third, thrilling trip
of seamlessly blended psychedelic rock nuggets...
there’s a fantastic self-contained universe to be
discovered." (Festival)
HE GO-BETWEENS
STANDS FOR GO-BETWEENS
Domino)
HONORABLE MENTION
DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE
NASHVILLE OBSOLETE
"Rawlings steps forward to take
the lead while still supported
by longtime musical companion
Gillian Welch... the pair are a
songwriting force keeping country music real and
traditionally true. Great songs and impeccable,
distinctive Rawlings guitar... it doesn’t get much
better than this." (Acony/Redeye)
EILEN JEWELL
SUNDOWN OVER GHOST TOWN
(Redeye/Yep Roc)
HONORABLE MENTION
STEVE TILSTON
TRUTH TO TELL
"The recent release of Al Pacino's
movie Danny Collins, inspired
by the true story of a musician
(Tilston) who receives a letter of
encouragement from John Lennon 34 years after
it was posted, will no doubt raise Tilston's profile.
Featuring 10- and 6-string acoustic guitars, double
bass and autoharps, he sings of his early days
in London, the passing of old friends and global
destruction." (Planet/MGM)
JUDITH OWEN
EBB AND FLOW
(Planet/MGM)
HONORABLE MENTION
NEW GUM SARN
NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN
"A bunch of kids punching
eons above their age/weight
division... imagine Radiohead
with Tim Rogers’ crown-of-thorns
reflection ( Bad Soy), slice that between Girl’s most
heartbreaking anthems, and add an odd, off-kilter
twang and groovy unease which great New
Zealand bands exude seemingly without effort...
frighteningly amazing." (Spunk)
ING GIZZARD AND THE
IZARD WIZARD QUARTERS
Remote Control/Inertia)
HONORABLE MENTION
TRIBULATION
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
"Retro rock is peaking at the
moment with Ghost leading the
way; unlike Ghost, Tribulation
maintain their heavy metal
roots. Jimmy Page once said that Led Zeppelin
never wanted to copy the blues, just capture its
mood. Tribulation do the same with heavy metal,
emulating Zeppelin’s creativity, free spirit and
occult tendencies for the modern metal fan."
(Century Media/EMI)
RON MAIDEN
HE BOOK OF SOULS
Parlophone/Warner)
HONORABLE MENTION
We asked our nine esteemed genre pundits which two albums they applauded harder than any others for
STACK this year. Here are the results; read up and get in the know! Full versions are online at .
Reviewers' Choice
JEFF JENKINS DENISE HYLANDS SIMON LUKIC
SIMON WINKLER MICHAEL DWYER CHRIS MURRAY
DOUG WALLEN EMILY KELLY BILLY PINNELL