STACK NZ August 2016 Issue 76

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30 AUGUST 2016
MUSIC
The Amity Affliction
This Could Be Heartbreak
Amity have officially reached
levels of popularity that very
few people saw coming. The
Brisbane-based metalcore band
have enjoyed a steady rise to
become synonymous with
Australian mainstream ‘heavy’
music, with thanks in no small
part to unwavering radio support
on the other side of the Tasman
in recent years. Recorded at
new Melbourne recording studio
Holes and Corners with longtime
collaborator Will Putney, the
album’s clear standouts include
This Could Be Heartbreak and
nominated lead single I Bring
The Weather With Me. Both
are powerful but also incredibly
vulnerable, leaving behind tough
guy posturing in preference to
hopeful honesty. Solid.
Emily Kelly
Eric Clapton & Guests
Crossroads Revisited
Beginning back in 1999, Eric
Clapton’s regular Crossroads
festivals have been air guitar
heaven, with the rock icon
jamming with an amazing line-up
of guests on old blues standards
and favourites from his own
distinguished catalogue. Most of
the shows are available individually,
but this exemplary double album
offers the perfect introduction, with
40 tracks spanning the festivals
from 2004 to 2013. There’s not
enough room to list all the guests,
but suffice to say they include blues
legends (BB King, Buddy Guy),
Clapton contemporaries (Steve
Winwood, Jeff Beck), newer stars
(Gary Clark Jr, Derek Trucks &
Susan Tedeschi Band), and many,
many more. Fret-tastic stuff.
John Ferguson
Trust Punks
Double Bind
The 2014 debut from these five
young Kiwis was not quite a full
album, but offered a garage-y affair
with swagger and spunk. On these
11 tracks, we’ve left the garage
(not too far, mind) and entered the
studio with a bucket of angst to
chow down on. That seductively
dangerous alternate punk sound
of the early underground ‘80s
combines with fresh vengeance
on Leaving Room For The Lord,
while the opener Paradise/Angel
Wire would easily have captivated
a thinking man’s mosh pit at a mid-
‘90s outdoor festival. Fire, anger,
sharpness and raw energy come
through effortlessly throughout
this must-have grower, yet it still
retains a refined and superior
delivery usually reserved for far
older artists.
Chris Murray
Steve Abel
Luck/Hope
Although it features much of the
same personnel – Gareth Thomas
(Goodshirt), Geoff Maddock
(Goldenhorse), Mike Hall (Pluto) –
that performed on his last LP Flax
Happy (2008), the third album from
the Kiwi alt-folk singer is a sparser,
more acoustic affair. There’s a
haunting fragility to tracks like
the opener Best Thing and Not
Going Anywhere, just one of a
number of songs to feature Abel's
regular collaborator, US singer
Jolie Holland. However the woozy
Good Arm and the breezy jangle
of Sidewalk Doves (NY City) finds
him embracing his rockier side to
good effect. Abel began working
on this back in 2009, so it’s been a
bit of torturous journey; it's good
to have him back.
John Ferguson
Bernard Fanning
Civil Dusk
His solo debut, Tea & Sympathy,
was a classic. His second album,
Departures, was a disappointment.
Civil Dusk finds Bernard Fanning
back in top form. Opening cut,
Emerald Flame, has all the
warmth that was largely lacking
in Departures. It’s extraordinarily
beautiful; one of the most
exquisite album-openers you’ll
ever hear. Fortunately, the rest
of the record matches its magic.
This is an album about choices and
consequences, filled with songs
about love’s tenuous grip, where
“God is making music, the Devil
is making wine” and the singer
is hoping that “only the good
love survives.” Place Civil Dusk
alongside classics by Jackson
Browne and Cat Stevens. It’s one
of the year’s best. Jeff Jenkins
ZHU
Generationwhy
The music of Grammy-nominated
Steven Zhu is a reasonable mix of
Calvin Harris and Flume – even if
you don't know his name, you'd
probably recognise his 2014 hit
Faded. Now he’s back with his
latest album Generationwhy,
which is already drawing
comparisons to Daft Punk. If that
isn’t thought provoking enough
for you, this record also features
DJ Khaled on IAM, so prepare
for another one of his keys to
success. Fans of Zhu and Skrillex's
collab hit Working For It will love
Electrify Me, and the rest of this
substantiated deep bounce is
enough to keep any long-time
fan or newcomer at peace. He’s
workin’ hard for the money, he
want it all.
Alesha Kolbe
Dinosaur Jr.
Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not
As an alternate to the instant
nirvana of Farm (2010) and the
effortless catch-and-embrace of
I Bet On Sky (2012); J. Mascis’s
latest with his most popular
moniker offers an earlier-sounding
tinge to this record, nowhere
better exemplified than on Be
A Part. It’s that unmistakable
Fogerty-as-a-Gen-X-slacker vocal
vibe and melody we love so well,
again present on I Told Everyone.
A distorted country/folk ballad
arrives via Lou Barlow (written
by, and on vocals) on Love Is…
which segues masterfully into the
fire/fury of Good To Know. This a
grower – and like all DJ albums, it’ll
take just two listens to feel like a
well-worn pair of socks you refuse
to throw out and instead wear to
bed when no one’s watching.
Chris Murray
Maala
Composure
Evan Sinton has come a long way
since coming third as a 17-year-
old on the 2012 TV show New
Zealand’s Got Talent. Adopting
the moniker Maala and swapping
acoustic balladry for sleek electro-
pop, the young Aucklander is
now poised to become our latest
breakout international artist. Synths
whoosh, pulse and glide in all the
right places as he croons his hook-
laden tales of heartbreak and love,
and while the emphasis is mainly on
mid-tempo grooves, there’s a juicy
dancefloor punch to Kind Of Love, a
co-write with US hitmaker MoZella
(who shared writing credits on Miley
Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball). If you loved
the latest Broods album, then this
should be your next homegrown
pop purchase.
Adam Colby