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King Gizzard & the
Lizard Wizard
Nonagon Infinity
Another hour, another King Gizzard
album, but of course. Here, kids,
the concept is that you can loop the
entire nine-track release and you’ll
never hear the joins; an endless jam
if you will. Brilliant, I tells ya! With
sweat flyin’ off the needle,
Robot
Stop
opens to an urgent flurry of
multi-instrumental madness. We
continue down this jagged road
throughout
Big Fig Wasp
until single
Gamma Knife
out-psyches any wizard
likely to float by. Not until
People-
Vultures
(track four) does the energy
let up, but even that’s only for a
mere 30 seconds, and once again
we’re thrust into a spiralling vortex of
colour and overwhelming passion for
immersion. This band is not human…
clearly. Hats off!
Chris Murray
The Living End
Shift
Twenty-two years of playing
seriously intense music (to
varying critical and commercial
success) hasn’t dampened
the torch one molecule; that
unmistakable raw and middle-
fingered energy is still front and
centre in The Living End's latest.
Except they’ve dropped the
‘Clash meets Stray Cats’ style
pigeonhole; this is instead a dark,
angry and furious record dripping
with sweat, regret and a pain
you have to punch through. Old-
school Australian rock, modern
moods and frank authenticity fall
from lead singer Cheney’s lips.
Life As We Know It
is a highlight
amongst solid work that deserves
to be a hit. Nice one!
Chris Murray
Melody Pool
Deep Dark Savage Heart
In this crazy modern world we
are swamped by music – most of
it meaningless. But some of it is
genuine and timeless. Melody Pool
is special. You sense she could have
taken the pop path to fame, but
she’s chosen a different road; as she
declares on her second album, “I’m
not trivial.” As the title suggests,
Deep Dark Savage Heart
is not
always easy listening. But there are
some truly beautiful moments, and
the album provides a window to this
musician's soul. The standout song,
Black Dog
, is like a page ripped from
her diary: “People often say there’s
no time in a day,” she sings, “but
there’s way too much time for me.
I’m empty and aching, my whole
world is shaking, and the black dog
has sat at my feet.”
Jeff Jenkins
Motörhead
Clean Your Clock
On December 20, 2015, the
world lost an icon: the one and
only Lemmy Kilmister.
Clean
Your Clock
is the first Motörhead
release since Lemmy’s passing
and a timely reminder of his
legendary status. Recorded
in Munich, Germany during
November 20-21 of last year, it
features one of the band’s final
performances. Motörhead were
in ferocious form, but there are
moments when the fragility of
Lemmy’s health concerns can be
heard.
Clean Your Clock
will be
difficult for some, but it ultimately
crystallises the talent, wit and
determination that was Lemmy.
Available in various audio and
visual formats.
Simon Lukic
31
REVIEWS
MUSIC
MUSIC
Pacific Heights
The Stillness
The title says it all, really: rather than the banging
anthems of his old outfit Shapeshifter, Devin
Abram’s second outing as Pacific Heights is
wrapped in lush, plush electronica. The beats
haven’t been forgotten entirely, but for the most
part they take second place to Abram’s plangent, ambient soundscapes
and suitably ethereal vocals from some rising young stars of the New
Zealand music scene. As well as the sultry shimmer of the first single
Airborne
, jazz singer Deanne Krieg brings her lovely, cool vocal tones
to two further tracks,
Realm
and
Breath and Bone
, while Drax Project’s
Shaan Singh shines on the gorgeous peaks and troughs of the gently
pulsing epic
So Love
. Kudos, too, for the other two featured vocalists –
newcomer Jen Turner on the celestial grooves of
Drained
and singer-
songwriter Louis Baker on the haunting second single
Buried By The
Burden
– while the soothing, chilled beats of
Ibanaka
make it probably
the pick of the instrumental tracks. All in all, an elegant and rather
blissful box of delights.
John Ferguson
Car Seat Headrest
Teen Of Denial
Fresh and jarring in the best kind of
way, CSH seem to capture every
indie metaphor without buying into
the ‘too cool for school’ cliché.
Drugs with Friends
is slacker
humour with panache that’d cause
Jonathan Richman to punch the air,
while The Cars-inspired
Just What
I Needed/Not Just What I Needed
licks Neil Young’s gumboot with
love and respect. Will Toledo (think
Beck, a lot) is the genius behind the
moniker and this is the first album
he's recorded in a traditional studio,
as most of his previous vocals were
done in the back of a car (hence the
name). Clearly it’s a small matter
of time before we’ll see his legacy
catapulted to serious heights.
Chris Murray
Olympia
Self Talk
Now with a major label behind her,
Olympia has the resources to delve
into further nuances at which her
earlier records only hinted.
Self
Talk
is luxurious; where previous
releases hinged on the strength
of her voice and somber guitar
lines, here she incorporates a
swath of analogue and synthesized
instruments to pile up moments
of simmering tension and swirling
balladry, spanning cheeky nods to
adolescence and refreshing takes on
universal themes. Taking cues from
literary figures as much as her rock
ancestors,
Self Talk
is big on feeling,
huge on impact, and a crucial
demonstration of what Olympia can
do given the means.
Jake Cleland