STACK #141 Jul 2016

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Blood Orange Freetown Sound

Orb Birth Orb come from rich local stock. Geelong descendants whose previous bands have toured the world and met critical acclaim, Orb’s Zak Olsen, Jamie Harmer, and Daff Gravolin started with doom and evolved into something brighter, crunchier, and catchier. The gut-stomping chug of Sabbath’s hard rock binds to a frankly rude degree of rhythm, prizing pop riffs over speed or shock value. It’d be all too easy for Orb to descend into the glowering black morass of doom, but as self-confessed charlatans, they bring the best of all worlds to Birth without a care for purism. Leaning on inspiration from the tropes of fantasy to something as mundane as waiting in the Centrelink office, Birth is an exceptional record in all senses. (Remote Control) Jake Cleland

Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes is a generously gifted artist who’s shared much of his talent over the years; there’s been numerous bands and music projects, collaborative tracks with friends, and writing credits for other artists. Each release has given a new perspective on Dev’s craft, and his skill in producing R&B, punk, dance and funk. Freetown Sound however is offered as perhaps the most intimate insight yet: a personal history of the artist, and uncompromising explorations of identity and social politics. Across the 17 tracks are subtle soul ballads and irresistible grooves. It’s all passionate and compelling: a portrait of the artist as fearless navigator of new frontiers in modern culture. (Domino/EMI) SimonWinkler

Stonefield As Above, So Below Consider the twin channels of woolly amp feedback a four-second warning. Sister hits with storm force, cymbals singing and bass, guitar and keys lumbering as Amy Findlay pitches her wail into the maelstrom. What the devil is she on about? Who cares? Dream ratchets up the fuzz and wah-wah

and the second album by rural Victoria's heaviest psych-rock sisterhood has already pulverised literal comprehension. Yes, the four Findlay siblings are locked in perpetual homage to the acid rock age, but their chemistry is all their own and their tunes are built to bulldoze the flashbacks that nag at the edges of a monstrous sound, laid down in cahoots with Spiderbait's Kram and producer John Lee. For every phased-out pump and grunter like Eyes there's a crafty arrangement like Love , where Sarah's sideways piano tugs a counterpoint to Hannah's sweetly stabbing lead guitar. Holly's bass is a feature of the slo-mo space truckin' respite, Midnight , and brings ballast to the requisite Middle-Eastern flourishes of Lonely . In the trippy sludge finale of Eagle , the hum of pure electricity rises to claim the final victory like a force of nature bigger than rock itself. (Wunderkind/Mushroom) Michael Dwyer

MUSIC

Diesel Americana

Descendents Hypercaffium Spazzinate There’s been no shortage of

Direct Hit Wasted Mind “F-ck you! Get pumped!” It’s the staccato catch cry of Milwaukee- based punx Direct Hit and it says all you need to know about this reckless brand of unhinged pure punk. The new Fat Wreck Chords signing have revealed an ambitious little concept album that could happily serve as a chaotic soundtrack to Thompson’s opus Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas . Creating an album documenting “identity, consciousness and relativity” seems a bold endeavour for a meagre pop punk ensemble but it feels like an organic transition from 2013’s excellent Brainless God LP. Here’s hoping the band’s relentless touring schedule points them southwards in the near future, as these brief bangers would surely make for one killer live show. (FatWreck/Shock) Emily Kelly

Margo Price Midwest Farmer's Daughter Margo Price’s debut solo album has got Nashville in a spin. After record company rejection she caught the ear of Jack White who released it on his Third Man Records label. Comparable to a modern day Loretta Lynn in both sound and attitude, this is genuine, old school, honky tonkin’ country. These are heartbreaking autobiographical songs about losing the family farm, the death of a child, the seedy side of Music City and her troubles with men and the bottle, and to top it off, she sold her wedding ring and car to foot the bill for recording this gem at Sun Studios, Memphis. May her star shine bright. (Third Man Records) Denise Hylands

Fifty years after he was born in America, Mark Lizotte – AKA Diesel – returns to where it all began to pay tribute to his heroes. And it sounds like he’s having a ball – just check out his rollicking cover of Buddy Holly’s Rave On . He also tackles Springsteen’s Born To Run , Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire , James Taylor’s Fire And Rain and Tom Petty’s Here Comes My Girl . He also extends the Americana concept to Canada, covering Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game , The Band’s Rag Mama Rag and Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down . Diesel’s eternally youthful voice and soulful guitar playing has delivered a classic covers collection. (Liberation) Jeff Jenkins

Descendents impersonators since the original released their much- adored Cool To Be You album 12 years ago, but my gosh it’s nice to have them back to prove why the original is still the best. With their special brand of adolescent pop now firmly cemented in the annals of punk rock pop culture, there’s a warmth to these new tracks like old friends returned to reminisce about old times. Heartfelt one moment and offensively bratty the next, Hypercaffium Spazzinate runs the gamut of moody, manic punk rock. And with drummer, founding member and technical mastermind Bill Stevenson at the helm, you can bet it’s perfectly produced. One of the year’s ‘must purchase’ albums. (Epitaph/Warner) Emily Kelly

JULY 2016

16

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