STACK NZ June 2016 Issue 74

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letlive.
If I'm The Devil...
Since their inception in 2002,
letlive. have always stood out as
renegades. Not just in their injecting
some serious and much missed
politics into their punk rock, but in
their bold overlapping of genres and
their massive, manic live show. It’s
only been three years since their
last LP The Blackest Beautiful, but
somehow it’s still been too long
between drinks. On If I’mThe
Devil... production steps up to meet
the group's powerhouse sound. It
seems as if frontman Jason Butler’s
grandiose vision for the band
might be one step closer to being
realised. Bravo!
Emily Kelly
Flume
Skin
Harley Streten is a Sydneysider with
a passion for smart electro-pop and
his second Flume LP promises great
things. Never Be Like You is already
doing the rounds and resonates
with its plea to “Please just look
me in my face, tell me everything’s
okay," while the appearance of
Tove Lo on Say It shows just how
far this onetime garage rocker has
come. However there’s a thoughtful
deceleration with When Everything
Was New that suggests perhaps
a new direction for the producer,
inviting us into an imaginarium of
our own creation. Skin’s closer, Tiny
Cities, featuring Beck – yeah, that
Beck – combines that new, slower
pace with Flume's distinctive beats
and rhythms that’ve been around
since Hyperparadise. There’s no
doubting it – he’s holdin’ on.
Alesha Kolbe
Garbage
Strange Little Birds
Shirley Manson told us 20 years ago
she's only happy when it rains, but
oh dear. When the storm breaks,
pitter-patter, at the start of Night Drive
Loneliness, it's her cue to slip on high
heels, lipstick and blue velvet dress
to go do something unspeakable.
Never one to dwell on the chirpy side,
she follows the sinister rock-electro
soundscapes of Steve Marker, Duke
Erikson and Butch Vig into relentless
darkness on the sixth Garbage album.
The band's razor-sharp cut-and-paste
aesthetic is distinctive as ever, as
belching guitars and crisp, mechanical
drums interweave with ripping Velcro
and oxygen tank rasps. "There's no
one around to fix me now," Manson
moans at one point. Like something's
broken?
Michael Dwyer
The Temper Trap
Thick As Thieves
“The time is now or never,” Dougy
Mandagi declares on The Temper
Trap’s new album, “and if we have
to fall, we’ll fall together.” The third
album is make or break; if you nail
it, you’re gonna stick around a long
time. Of course, The Temper Trap
were both blessed and cursed by
a remarkable debut. That nothing
here matches the magic of Sweet
Disposition is no major criticism,
not that the band hasn’t tried,
writing and recording in London, LA,
Montreal, Byron Bay and Melbourne.
The Temper Trap sound is sensitive
stadium rock: at its worst, it’s hollow
singalong choruses; at its best, it’s
both intimate and epic. Thick As
Thieves shows that The Temper Trap
still have plenty to offer. The fourth
album could be the one.
Jeff Jenkins
Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool
A Moon Shaped Pool reveals a band still completely
fascinated by the properties of sound. Radiohead
want to show the plastic bones or wooden heart
or optic-fibre veins of the noises they create, even
if those things seem scary – there’s a constant tug
of war between the horror of the familiar and the
beauty of the bizarre. Although piano and strings are
the stars on this release, there are contemplative pockets and fervid layers
in which other things emerge or take over: the swoop and chop of reversed
vocals and percussive instruments, electronic plinks like celestial windchimes,
and vocals which confirmThomYorke’s talent for turning routine phrases into
oddly disturbing maxims. Tinker Tailor... showcases the sublime peculiarities
of orchestral strings; Identikit’s curt rimshots threaten to spill over into deep
floor toms, and The Numbers uses bells and low piano chords to drive its
message: Yorke sings with steely calm, “The future is inside us, it’s not
somewhere else, take back what is ours.” For all the cosmic hallmarks, A
Moon Shaped Pool seems to be terrestrial – it’s a message about our place
here and how tenuous and charmed it is, as well as our responsibilities to the
soil under our feet. Its title suggests that although we can see into the sky,
and we see its beauty, it’s a reflection of earthly magic. Zoë Radas
Tony Joe White
Rain Crow
Spanning a career of more than 50
years, Tony Joe White's trademark
sound, throbbing, fuzzy electric
guitar and a voice that conjures word
pictures of spooky goings-on in the
Louisiana swamps (he was born and
still lives in that Southern U.S. state),
prevail throughout the songs on his
19th studio album. Rain Crow ’s nine
new tracks, some co-written with
his wife Leann and old mate Billy
Bob Thornton (with titles such as
Hoochie Woman, Tell Me A Swampy
Story, The Bad Wind and Where
Do They Go) evoke the bayou tales
White is so known for.
Billy Pinnell
Whitney
Light Upon The Lake
This band’s moniker might fool you
on two counts. Firstly, a name that
makes an instant connection to one
of pop’s female greats. Secondly,
the feminine vocals that entice you
on opening cut No Woman. The
latter twist is revealed as the voice
of Julien Erlich (ex-Unknown Mortal
Orchestra) who sure ain’t no dame
and is joined in Whitney by guitarist
Max Kakacek (ex-Smith Westerns).
Their soul-folk debut digs deep into
pop history, chiming with the likes of
Aretha Franklin, Prince, Neil Young and
Robert Fripp. Blasts of exultant brass
mix with melodies to sigh for, which
help disguise the sorrow of songs
about breaking up and breaking down.
At 30 minutes, it's a breezy listen, but
one you’ll be returning to for sure.
GarethThompson
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28 JUNE 2016
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