STACK Mar #137

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Courtney Barnett is always truckin' to the
strum of her own guitar, and the new Milk!
Records compilation album Good For You is
another example of that impetus. It comprises
six new songs from six artists on Barnett's label:
Jen Cloher, Fraser A. Gorman, Ouch My Face, the
East Brunswick All Girls Choir, The Finks and of
course Barnett herself. Its release is accompanied
by a tour traversing the capital cities throughout
this month; check
for all the details
and be sure to
get your hands
on this superb
release.
La’s fable wherein lead songwriter Lee
Mavers refused to produce a second
album because the original ‘60s mixing
desk the label painstakingly sought for
him didn’t have “original ‘60s dust on
it.” “I think it was that he’s a psycho,
he’s a perfectionist, and nothing would actually
make him happy,” says Took, adding that The
La’s are “one of [his] favourite bands ever.” “But
I never really thought of it like that to be honest.
The gear that we had when Blown Away was
recorded, it was really basic, hey; it was pretty
sh-t microphones and pre-amps and whatnot.
I was kind of surprised with the way some of
those turned out.” But it’s about the songs’
inner kernels for these boys, rather than the
effects they (love to) spread on afterwards.
“We’ll focus on the song and as long as the
melody and the lyrics are there, production-wise
JOHNNY TOOK
DMA'S
J ohnny Took is adamant the DMA’s are still
emerging from the nest, despite the Sydney
trio having travelled all over the world twice over
on the strength of their EP. “You’re not even like
a real band until you release an album anyway,”
he retorts. “You’ve got to prove that
you’ve done some work, you know.
And you can only reach a certain
feeling off an EP. I think we milked that
one pretty hard: two years.”
The EP, self-titled and featuring
the band’s breakout hit Delete, was
indeed released two years ago this
month. For the band’s debut album
Hills End, a couple of those tracks
have been reworked – Delete, most
significantly, has had the warmth of
a string section added. “If we were
going to put these tracks on the album
we wanted to bring something new to them,”
Took says. The new ones, though, are brilliant:
Melbourne isn’t about Melbourne at all but
anxiety and depression, and its last few bars
speed up to a frenetic pace while singer Tommy
O’Dell slurs through the line “I will give you
what you need” (“That song was always meant
to end in complete chaos,” says Took). In The
Moment is the gem of the record; with a Jane
Says saunter and a La’s production feel, I ask if
Johnny (who produced much of the album) ever
tries to adhere to a specific style when it comes
to that stage of the game, and bring up the old
continued
STEEL
PANTHER
The glam-rock guys
with the monstrous
hair have released
a new album of live
tracks, featuring one
fresh one ( Then You
Came In) and a bunch
of comedic banter
recorded between the
other tracks. Innuendo,
straight-up profanity and
smug solos abound.
Live From Lexxi's Mom's
Garage by Steel Panther is
out now through Inertia.
MILK! RECORDS
Good For You by the Milk!
Records crew is out now through
Milk! Records.
visit MUSIC REVIEWS
04 MARCH 2016
MUSIC
we just like to put noisy guitars over it, you
know. Good pop melodies. It’s not rocket
science.”
The album is very full, but dynamic
– there’s definitely space but it exists
around O’Dell’s voice, which is earnest and
sensitive but also pretty chav. Took believes
it’s a style they fell into naturally, and that
its vulnerability is instinctive. “I think that’s
the whole reason I got into music,” he says.
“I think that’s the way lots of people get
into music, because of how it makes you
feel. For whoever listens to it, for some
reason that tune resonated with them. The
concepts we talk about are concepts that
everyone can relate to. And that’s kind of
a big part, for me, as a songwriter: I like to
write about stuff that anyone in the world
can relate to.”
Set up at for 5am on a Sunday morning, the
cover shoot is captained by photographer
Brian Cannon and conducted in Berwick Street,
part of London’s Soho district, an area at the
time known for its record shops. The two men in
the photo were supposed to be Noel and Liam
Gallagher but the pair fail to show up after a big night out. Consequently, the
two passing figures in the frame are Brian Cannon himself and London DJ Sean
Rowley. In the background, album producer Owen Morris can be seen holding the
album’s master tapes above his head. Shot on film, the design cost comes in at
£25,000. Although the cover is criticised for being too accessible by the British
music media, the general public love it, and the album, with its iconic artwork,
becomes synonymous with the Britpop movement.
WHAT'S THE STORY?
We have a look back at the fascinating tales
behind some of our favourite album covers.
This month: Oasis' (What's The
Story) Morning Glory?, the British
band's second album of swaggering
rock, released in October 1995.
Hills End
by DMA's
is out now
through I
OH YOU/
Mushroom.
INTERVIEW