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Montaigne
Glorious Heights
“I ate a salad today, I ate one
yesterday, too.” You’d have to
be a rare vocal talent to make
those words come alive, and
Sydney’s Montaigne (real
name: Jessica Cerro) has a
voice that simply soars. Her
debut album is aptly titled,
with the singer delivering
thrilling electro pop infused
with genuine soul. She’s
just as effective when she
straightens up and simplifies
things – check out the ballad
Consolation Prize
and the pure
pop of
What You Mean To Me
.
A star is born. If she’s this
good at 20, I can’t wait to hear
what she does over the next
decade.
(Wonderlick/Sony)
Jeff Jenkins
Dreadnaught
Caught The Vultures Sleeping
Dreadnaught have been active
since the nineties, and have
become one of Melbourne’s most
respected bands. Their strength
lies in their ability to experiment
within the hard rock/heavy metal
format, but with 2009’s self titled
effort, they created a faultless
hybrid of both worlds that won
many over.
Caught The Vultures
Sleeping
follows a similar path
and as expected, it packs quite a
punch. Vocalist Greg Trull spits and
snarls, without ever forgetting to
deliver memorable hooks, while
the band backs him up with a
granite-like performance.
Caught
The Vultures Sleeping
is not to be
missed.
(Rocket) Simon Lukic
Totally Unicorn
Dream Life
Dream Life
is 26 minutes of
absolute ruckus. The rowdy
Sydney-siders have been quiet
for a few years but are well and
truly back with first full-length
after a string of EPs. Lead track
Old, Cute & Purified
hits you like
a flying schooner to the skull.
Guitarists Karem Erkin and Aaron
Streatfeild’s incredible chord
progressions are the perfect
backdrop for frontman Drew
Gardner’s punchy vocal. Nothing
but brutal breakdowns en masse
through
Customer Service Station
and
Space Congratulations
.
Karina Utomo of High Tension
jumps in for one minute of chaos
on
Convict Brick.
The band
themselves summed up the album
perfectly: "it's a motherf*ckin'
PHOENIX, man!"
(Farmer &The
Owl/Inertia)Tim Lambert
Cash Savage And The Last
Drinks
One Of Us
When she says
Run With Dogs
she means hellhounds, of course.
Like one of those nightmares
where your fleeing feet are
stuck in quicksand, there's a
grim undertow to Cash Savage's
booming voice, whether she's
howling up midnight heart
palpitations in
Rat-a-tat-tat
or
sinking in the tender hangover of
Sunday Morning
. The Last Drinks'
black country landscapes drip
poisoned destiny in the colonial
flashback of
Port
; even mock
a sweet dream of the goddess
messiah in
Do You Feel Loved
with fiddle shrieking and demons
hooting. Things don’t end well as
"the pen bleeds out on the page"
but Savage's road to desolation is
never dull.
(Mistletone) Michael Dwyer
Allegiance
D.e.s.t.i.t.u.t.i.o.n
The release of
D.e.s.t.i.t.u.t.i.o.n
in 1994 was a major event. Hailing
fromWestern Australia, Allegiance
were the nation’s premier thrash
metal band at the time. Influenced
by the likes of Metallica and
Anthrax et al, they made quite an
impression and
D.e.s.t.i.t.u.t.i.o.n
remains highly revered to this day.
This reissue is long overdue. The
album is remastered, getting the
extra power where needed, with
additional liner notes and rare
photos in tow. Available in limited
edition vinyl as well as a CD/DVD
edition with
Time To React…..Live
on DVD for the first time, this is
a great opportunity for many to
rediscover one of Australia’s most
significant heavy metal bands.
(EVP/Rocket) Simon Lukic
Billy Talent
Afraid Of Heights
Billy Talent could be Ontario’s
answer to The Alkaline Trio but
their transition into adulthood has
gone so much more smoothly.
Songwriter and guitarist Ian D’Sa
eases off the metal pedal this time
with more country and classic rock
in his leading riffs, but Benjamin
Kowalewicz’ vocals remain a familiar
constant.
Afraid of Heights
confronts
the declining state of the world and
finds optimism to grasp with surging
anthems like the Against Me!-ish
Leave Them All Behind
and the
synthy march of
Horses & Chariots
.
Besides an egregious misstep in
the rock supremacist rally
Louder
Than the DJ
, which makes them
sound ancient for dissing Millennials
who like electronic music,
Afraid
of Heights
shows a band ageing
gracefully with their audience.
(Warner) Jake Cleland
Sarah Mary Chadwick
Roses Always Die
As an art form, song is largely decorative. Oh sure,
there's substance – loads! – but it’s only when you
spend an album with Sarah Mary Chadwick that
you realise how much emphasis most artists place
on bells and whistles. One nasty old pre-set church
organ and its built-in robot rhythm-ticker are the only
things the Melbourne songwriter needs to colour
the soul-scraping world view poetically described by the title
Roses Always
Die
. Her early morning smoker's voice is less concerned with pitch than
red raw and uncompromising communication of her own depression. "You
should see me on my knees in the alley," she croaks – and so we do, too
vividly to look away. Titles like
Yunno What
,
The Fire That Touched My Fear
and
Every Year's The Same
promise much and deliver far more.
Right Now
I'm Running
gives us "my soul through a sieve", for instance. It's tempting
to wonder how a more traditional sense of music production might make
her fabulous skeletal melodies soar, but it's the cold psych ward atmos that
keeps us hanging on every burnt and blackened phrase. Fans of Cat Power
will recognise the uncomfortable proximity to self-harm in Chadwick's
words and delivery. Worry only if you don't care.
(Rice Is Nice) Michael Dwyer
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