With this year’s edition of Falls Festival somehow only a week away, we’re all getting very much ready for Christmas to be over and the end of the year upon us, going mental at a festival a damn sight more fun than awkward family gatherings. We’ve looked at ten acts from around the world that you need to catch at this year’s Falls, today we get a little closer to home with five local acts you’d be a fool to miss as well. The likes of:
Violent Soho
Look, if you’ve been to a single music festival in Australia this year then there’s a very strong likelihood that you have seen Violent Soho at some point, they have just been everywhere on the live circuit this year touring the heck out of their outstanding latest album WACO.
Even if you’ve seen them more times than your own grandmother this year, few things are as earth-shaking as a Violent Soho festival show on home soil, they’re up there among the biggest bands in the country and when they play absolutely nothing gets left in the tank, from the band to the raucous crowd. You know new hits like Viceroy, Like Soda and Blanket are going to go off like frogs in a sock, but who could pass up the euphoric singalong to Covered In Chrome that will surely end the set (and possibly the entire festival in a smoking crater) with a bang.
DMA’s
Violent Soho’s I Oh You labelmates in Sydney’s DMA’s are also touching down at Falls after having themselves a ripper year too. They released their long-awaited debut album Hills End earlier this year, a record that won them swathes of new fans and solidified their status as one of the country’s best exports in one fell swoop, the trio on a meteoric upswing ever since.
They’ve expanded their sound on the new record and it’s a sonic experience that should transfer to the festival stage naturally, their signature Brit-pop throwback wall of sound made for seething outdoor crowds. Delete is a festival favourite that everybody in the country should know the words to like the national anthem at this point and DMA’s should be a highlight for everyone in attendance. If they love us unconditionally they might give their spellbinding cover of Cher’s Believe from their stint on Like A Version this year a red hot crack.
The Avalanches
What a return 2016 was for The Avalanches. They were heralded as conquering kings at their first stage show in years at Splendour, a true spectacle that showed The Avalanches still have it in spades. Their sophomore album Wildflower, released 16 long, bleak years since their debut Since I Left You is one of the records of the year and live renditions of Frankie Sinatra and Because I’m Me blended seamlessly (and delightfully) with old hits like Since I Left You and the titanic Frontier Psychiatrist when they unveiled them live at Splendour.
Special guests, mash ups and enough dancing to send shockwaves to the core of the earth will be the order of the evening when The Avalanches take to the stage at Falls Festival.
Tired Lion
Perth’s Tired Lion came to kick ass and chew gum and they’re fresh out of gum. They’ve enjoyed a breakout 2016 as part of the new wave of feminism taking the Australian punk scene by storm. They hit absolutely huge on just about everything they released, including the snarling I Don’t Think You Like Me, the anthemic Not My Friends and the darkly personal Agoraphobia among others.
They’ll be rocking Falls a new one this year as well leaving no ear within about 200 feet of them un-defeaned. Frontwoman Sophie Hopes is without doubt one of the best in the business going at the moment and Tired Lion will be a must watch as they take to one of the nation’s biggest stages to solidify their place on it.
Middle Kids
Sydney trio Middle Kids are playing their first ever Falls Festival as well. They’re a fantastic new name in Australian indie rock, finding success and racking up plays with hit singles Your Love and Edge Of Town in 2016.
Frontwoman Hannah has a set of pipes that will haunt you in your dreams. If you’re feeling like just chilling out for a little while amidst an otherwise hectic and debaucherous festival, Middle Kids will be there to give you the good vibes in spades.
Mallrat
Last but certainly not least is upstart young Brisbane talent Mallrat, whose name has been heard with increasing frequency throughout the year off the back of fantastic singles like Inside Voices and the deliciously off-kilter Sunglasses.
Dancing the line, with nothing short of aplomb belying her incredibly young age, between hip-hop and electro-pop, her tunes are beyond infectious and Falls will be her chance to make her mark even bigger in the wider consciousness of Australian music.
Image: Music Feeds