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REVIEWS
MUSIC
LCD Soundsystem
American Dream
American Dream
is LCD
Soundsystem’s greatest record
yet and that’s just on a production
level. The bass snaps are crisp, the
drums are almost felt more than
heard, and Murphy’s voice swims
through the band’s tumbling
arrangements as naturally as if it
was the product of their harmony.
Every bar feels purposeful, even
amid the No Wave scrawl of
Change Yr Mind
and the sparse
build-up of
How Do You Sleep.
Murphy is still as poignant as
ever: critically sharp on hedonism-
diss
Tonite
, crucially empathetic
on back-to-back knockouts
Call
The Police
and
American Dream
.
Age smooths all, but
American
Dream
shows that while LCD
Soundsystem might’ve sacrificed
their edge, they’ve gained
something far more enduring.
(Sony) Jake Cleland
Davey Lane
I'm Gonna Burn Out Bright
Davey Lane is one of the great
Australian guitarists; he’s Tim
Rogers’ right-hand man in
You Am I and the go-to guitar
slinger for bands such as The
Saints and Crowded House.
You’d expect his solo album to
be filled with big riffs and guitar
solos, but
I’m Gonna Burn Out
Bright
is gloriously indulgent,
kaleidoscopic pop. Lane is like
a crazy one-man band, where
that band is a mix of ELO,
Queen and Cheap Trick. If, like
this writer, you think that 1979
was the greatest year in music,
this is the album for you. It’s a
terrific trip. Put the headphones
on and get lost in Davey Lane’s
genius.
(Capgun Kids/MGM)
Jeff Jenkins
Tim Wheatley
Pillar To Post
The sun doesn’t always shine in Los Angeles.
On his second album, Melbourne-bred singer-
songwriter TimWheatley clearly has a love/
hate relationship with his adopted home: “I tell
you now,” he confides in opening cut
Midnight
Man
, “I’d give my kingdom for a breeze.” Strap
yourself in for a rollicking road trip. “Just yesterday, the radio went dead,”
Wheatley sings. “It’s just you and I the rest of the way.” Wheatley is a
long way from home and he’s got some tales to tell: “You just would not
believe the things I’ve seen,” he states in
Old Hollywood (Things I’ve
Seen)
. Elsewhere, things take a darker turn: “There’s nothing but snakes
amongst the cane,” he declares, with his ominous vocal complemented
by the dreamy voice of Australian model Helena Vestergaard.
Pillar To Post
is, indeed, deeper and darker than Wheatley’s impressive debut, 2015’s
Cast of Yesterday
, with producer Justin Stanley (ex-Noiseworks) adding
a muscular edge to the folk pop sound. Paradise lost. Paradise regained.
Wheatley has the songwriting smarts to rise above the LA dross. In a city
where everyone’s an actor, he’s the real deal.
(Sony) Jeff Jenkins
The Belligerents
Science Fiction
“Sorry to say,” The Belligerents
frontman Lewis Stephenson
intones on the opening cut on
the band’s debut album, “it’s
all the same.” And, yes, there
can be a stifling sameness to
electro-pop. But not with The
Belligerents. The Brisbane band
have delivered a wonderfully
kooky collection, where you
never know what’s coming
next. Just about every track is
like its own epic electro opera,
with unexpected shifts in
sound – it’s almost exhausting.
There are some Britpop
influences, plenty of nods to
the ’80s, and
Caroline
takes
a trip to ’60s psychedelia. But
The Belligerents have crafted
their own ambitious adventure.
Back to the future.
(Sony) Jeff Jenkins
Alvvays
Antisocialites
Despite Alvvays becoming something
of an indie rock staple,
Antisocialities
is only their second album, such
is the maturity of their already
well-honed sound.
In Undertow
is a
remarkably realistic song chronicling
coping strategies post-break-up,
vocalist Molly Rankin’s vocals as
dreamy as ever. The drums on
Plimsoll Punks
unite with the band’s
trademark jangly guitars as Rankin
repeats the song’s infectious hook.
Your Type
is a blistering two minute
number that shows off the band’s
poppier side, while
Not My Baby
’s
trajectory allows you to see multiple
sides of the band – one moment
they’re full of energy, the next they’re
contemplative. With
Antisocialities
,
Alvvays expand upon their musical
repertoire while remaining as
endearing and compelling as ever.
(Pod/Inertia) Holly Pereira
Alex Cameron
Forced Witness
Alex Cameron’s debut
Jumping the
Shark
was a sketch of a character
burnt out, hopeless, and out of
time.
Forced Witness
colours in
the lines, showing how far two
cowboys of the modern wasteland
– Cameron and business partner
Roy Molloy – can take a good
idea with a little extra gas in the
tank. Draped in 20th Century
romanticism,
Forced Witness
is
Springsteenian sentiment through
NewWave sheen: doom is
inevitable, love must be cherished,
happiness is far from guaranteed,
but the struggle needs a helluva
beat. It’s a genuinely moving and
ingenious portrait of people failing
each other and themselves, over
and over, in the same damn ways.
(Inertia) Jake Cleland
Emma Russack
Permanent Vacation
Emma Russack’s signature blend of
wry humour, confessional lyrics and
sparse instrumentation has made
her a favourite of many for years.
On her new album
Permanent
Vacation
, she comments on
everything from the desire to
escape to the seaside (
Migration
)
to the toxic influence of social
media (
Body Goals
). While this
new material is notably less candid
than that of her previous albums,
Russack still has emotional pull
as evidenced in the stunning
Free
Things
and
The Way
, both of which
feature her voice accompanied
by a wonderfully moving piano.
Permanent Vacation
is evidence
of Russack’s progression as a
songwriter, and much like her other
albums, serves as the perfect
companion to your existential crisis.
(Spunk) Holly Pereira