Every year when triple j’s Hottest 100 rolls around, there’s an inevitable scurry to express surprise at “glaring omissions” of songs that might’ve seemed like safe bets for inclusion in the countdown. Obviously, since it’s user-voted, we only have ourselves to blame for this (sort of), but it’s always interesting to take a closer look at what made it, what didn’t, and why that might be the case. It’s a no-brainer that tracks that have been spruiked heavily by the j’s are infinitely more likely to be voted in that tracks that weren’t supported quite as much, but that’s not always the case. Here, we take a look at some tracks that were absolutely smashed out on full rotation (specifically, every track on this list received more than 140 plays during the year – for comparison the top 3: Never Be Like You had 134, Adore had 123 and Jungle had 146), but for whatever reason, didn’t quite make the cut.
Lonely Cities, Tigertown
Sydney alt-pop quartet Tigertown released this quasi-tropical belter quite early last year, but not so early that it wasn’t still in the running for the Hottest 100. With a huge, hands-in-the-air chorus like this, you’d think Lonely Cities would be a shoo-in – but even with a whopping 167 spins on triple j, somehow it didn’t show up in the illustrious countdown.
Tremble, Nicole Millar
Nicole Millar’s 2016 began full steam ahead when she released her Tremble EP to critical acclaim, and the title track permeated triple j’s airwaves an absolutely massive 164 times. The song’s sophisticated use of tension and deliriously satisfying release made it a favourite amongst many, but perhaps due to its early release date, it unfortunately didn’t pip the Hottest 100.
Glue, ADKOB
ADKOB aren’t exactly a household name (yet), which could account for their supremely quirked-out chugger of a single Glue not garnering enough votes to nab a spot. Unfair? Yes, especially considering it clocked 162 plays, but hey – Dune Rats didn’t ever make the countdown until last year, and they’ve been nationally recognised for years. Don’t give up, ADKOB! You got this.
Impact, The Creases
Brisbane’s The Creases released this climactic Britpop number in May 2016 and it was subsequently thrashed over 156 times on triple j, and was followed by a national tour and an incredibly fun video clip. Adding to that frontman Joe Agius’ recent win for QMAs Most Promising Male Songwriter, it really looked like this was going to be their year to make the countdown, but sadly they missed out.
Edge Of Town, Middle Kids
With 144 plays, this one was difficult not to take personally because it was this writer’s Fave Aussie Song Of The Year. That slide guitar sounding like a firework going off, those made-for-screaming-along-in-your-car vocals, the lyrics that walked the line between inscrutable and intrinsically relatable so perfectly… but, of course, Middle Kids are still very new on the scene even though their rise is nothing short of meteoric (they’re about to perform on Conan O’Brien FFS). Next year maybe??
Not My Friends, Tired Lion
The relentlessly excellent Tired Lion have been consistently everywhere for a while now, with so many festival slots under their belts it’d be difficult to count. For this single, spun 152 times, to make an appearance in the Hottest 100 would have made all the sense in the world. It was released in May though, so perhaps a touch too early to still be making listeners feel starry-eyed when voting opened.
Nihilist Party Anthem, Ball Park Music
Finally, an anthem we can all relate to. Obviously the j’s thought so too, cos they gave love to this track 147 times over. BPM have made the countdown plenty of times, so maybe it’s a case of listener fatigue, but that doesn’t really make much sense considering how hard they’ve worked to consistently develop their sound and release music that builds on what’s come before instead of repeating themselves. To compensate the band for their loss I propose we make this the new national anthem.
Smoke Signals, Olympia
Olympia f*cking owned 2016. It was her year. She sold out shows, released her debut album Self Talk, and along with it a bevy of intelligent, catchy singles. Self Talk has been shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize, which has previously been won by national treasures like Courtney Barnett and Big Scary. So, yeah. She’s killed it. This song nabbed 142 plays. I’m salty about this. Can you tell?
All these songs had a huge amount of exposure on triple j, so it’s reasonable to assume that they all have a high level of listener recognition. So why didn’t they make it in?
Clearly, release timing plays a massive part here: for anything released too early in the year, it can be difficult for voters to still feel that initial connection that made them fall in love with the tune in the first place when the polls open. Another factor that might be at play here is looking at what else was released around the same time as these tracks that might have overshadowed them. The times each track was played is another element to consider: just because they’ve got 140+ spins under their belt doesn’t mean the majority of those plays were during primetime listener engagement. And, of course, there’s always the possibility that a tune just didn’t quite connect with its audience in the way triple j might have expected it to. Either way, it will be interesting to see which of these crops up in tomorrow’s 101-200 countdown, beginning 10am AEDST.
Photo: triple j / Facebook
It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball-stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:
Louisahhh!!! – Ready
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTZi1sH7TAQ
One of the best and brightest young producers out of Los Angeles is Louisahhh!!!, whose Shadow Work EP released last year has swiftly become a club favourite. Her latest single from that EP is Ready, a sprawling, near robotic techno track that cascades with layers of sound juxtaposed with powerful spoken word across its near six minutes to create a unique listening experience.
The video, directed by Philippe Cuendet, looks like a warped tape played on a VHS system that needs its heads cleaned. It’s full of pulsating waves of static and flashes of subliminal messages to keep your eyeballs entranced along with your ears.
Shadow Work is out now on Bromance Records. Louisahhh!!! is also enjoying a residency on Triple J across June.
HABITS – Ether
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONFwGDpc184
Having just released their latest EP Ugly Cry to a sellout crowd at the Northcote Social Club, Melbourne duo HABITS have just launched the video for one of the standout tracks on that record in Ether. Haunting and ethereal, a slow-burning and multilayered backbeat builds beautifully to create a track absolutely perfect for a cold winter night with the lights dimmed.
The video is a clever combination of lo-fi footage of the duo on an animated bank of monitors, the dark and dull shades throughout fitting the sonic vibe of the song just perfectly.
Ugly Cry is out now on HABITS’ Bandcamp.
Bassnectar – Reaching Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exQIlfAkbMU
Moving to Santa Cruz for this next one and the all powerful Bassnectar, who has a stunning new single ahead of his Unlimited LP landing today. Reach Out is the name, boasting an utterly lush and vibrant soundscape of production that showcases exactly why Bassnectar is at the top of the electronica game.
The video is equally as eyeball-grabbing, with plenty of birth symbolism and some absolutely jaw-dropping visual effects showing the protagonist breaking forth and floating as if through water inside an endlessly spacious room.
Unlimited is out today on Amorphous Music.
LASTLINGS – You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6HcQo0g8qY
Gold Coast sibling duo LASTLINGS are back with a brand new single and video after a fantastic 2015 on the back of debut EP Unreality. You is their latest, a gorgeous track anchored by shimmering electronic production and singer Amy’s icy vocals. The chorus absolutely pops.
The video, directed by ORFN (who shot to fame after directing the video for Hoops by The Rubens) was shot across multiple locations in Tokyo and captures some of the better recognised aspects of Japanese aesthetic such as Geisha and cherry blossoms just beautifully.
Catch LASTLINGS as part of the Purple Sneakers 10th Birthday celebrations at Vivid Live in Sydney this weekend.
Clarence Clarity – Splitting Hairs (ft. Pizza Boy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptf5HlXr6Tk&feature=youtu.be
London meets St. Louis in this next one, with the former represented by electronic singer-songwriter Clarence Clarity and the latter by the fantastically-monikered Pizza Boy. The two have joined forces on Clarence Clarity’s brand new one Splitting Hairs.
Pizza Boy’s flow positively simmers over the off-kilter production, Clarity singing a throaty and infectious chorus. It’s a unique pairing that works tremendously. The accompanying video is not your average lyric video, Clarity and Pizza Boy performing in just one window of a very active browser (lots of cats of course).
Look for more great stuff from both these artists in the near future.
Abbe May – Are We Flirting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MXpXrimUc
Perth songstress Abbe May has a brand new one too in the smouldering Are We Flirting? With her ghostly falsetto juxtaposed with her smoky, almost spoken word delivery, May has the listener feeling hot under the collar throughout (and that guitar solo is pure heat).
If you like cats you’ll love this video, a nice little grey one slinking around Abbe May almost in time to the music. We can’t wait for what else she has in store for us with the impending release of her next album Bitchcraft later in 2016.
The Creases – Impact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Haty0SVGTwc
One of my absolute favourite bands ever to come out of Brisbane are The Creases, and we’ve been loving huge new single Impact something chronic since it was released just a couple of weeks back. Grandiose, ambitious, catchy and just a wonderful stomping rock tune, it’s been ripping up the airwaves and for good reason and now it has an accompanying video.
While the band rips it up in a vintage living room, the camera pans between a bunch of other rooms where an assortment of characters enjoy the song in their own unique ways before meeting up with the band for a raucous finish. The very first time The Creases have used an outside director (Sophie Hayward) for a music video, it bottom line looks like it was one of the most fun shoots ever.
You can feel Impact for yourself live when The Creases tour Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne from July 2.
Violent Soho – So Sentimental
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTFmf8DKBI
And wrapping this week’s roundup up with another of the greatest Brisbane bands in Violent Soho and the video for their huge single So Sentimental. Already a live standout and an absolute belter, a chugging guitar riff building into a big singalong chorus fans have been going bonkers for since it was released on their smash album WACO earlier this year.
The video sees the Violent Soho boys heading out for a sunny day on the road in a beat up station wagon, starting their day with a carton of XXXX Gold (as every good day ever has started), the rural landscapes reeking of fresh air and serenity, before stopping at the beach for an impromptu jam. Very warm and fuzzy stuff.
WACO is out now via I Oh You.
Image: YouTube
Brisbane rock and roll royalty The Creases are back in 2016. The quartet, already riding a wave of success from 2015 with some heavy touring around Australia as well as singer-guitarist Joe Agius scooping up the ‘Most Promising Male Songwriter’ prize at the most recent QMAs, The Creases are looking to put a definitive stamp on this year and have started with the release of their brand new single today; Impact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri4ItQfS-VI
It’s a stomping main riff backed by some laser-precise tremolo picking. It’s the chorus though where The Creases really stretch their wings. In a marked change of pace for the band, there’s gang vocals, strings and brass across the chorus to give it one Godzilla-sized punch directly into the stratosphere. The Britpop influences are abundant and the results are so impressive. This is without doubt the hugest and most ambitious The Creases have ever sounded, a tune positively fit for a packed out stadium.
There are some familiar names in the production credits here as well, Malcolm Besley of Northeast Party House helming the recording process and Liam McGorry of both Saskwatch and the outrageously good Dorsal Fins lending his talents in providing the big brassy moments.
Along with Impact, The Creases have also announced a few tour dates along the East Coast in early July for anyone keen to see it played as part of what has always been a ripper live show. Good to see one of Australia’s best and brightest young rock bands really stepping it up in a big way. Fingers crossed this means a new record might be on the way…
Let The Creases heat up your winter on their Impact tour on the following dates:
Sat, Jul 2nd: Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane
Thu, Jul 7th: Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Sat, Jul 9th: Newtown Social Club, Sydney
Image: Triple J
The past week has seen Sydney inundated with not just rain, but a torrent of enticing Falls Festival sideshows. Among these, at The Metro on Monday night, was The Maccabees, for whom the past year has been a tremendous success. Principally, 2015 saw the release of their fourth album Marks to Prove It, their most acclaimed to date and further evidence of the South London band’s quality and versatility.
The Maccabees are a band I’ve admired for a long time, but had not seen live before Monday night. It’s a real testament to their passion and guile that, amid a glut of sideshows from renowned live acts such as Foals and Bloc Party, they delivered a performance that will not easily be forgotten. Indeed, I write this after seeing Foals – perhaps my favourite band – unleash a set brimming with fury, style and tenderness upon Hordern Pavilion. And yet The Maccabees’ offering remains lodged in my mind for its own marvellous qualities.
With broad smiles across their faces, they strode on stage and kicked off with the blistering Marks to Prove It. Alright, boys; we’ve definitely started. It’s also worth noting that frontman Orlando Weeks was unable to play guitar due to a recently sustained thumb injury. This meant that three guitars became two, with brothers Felix and Hugo White skilfully filling the gaps. Weeks himself is as charming as they come, smiling and uttering thanks after each song. The Metro wasn’t exactly packed, but the healthy crowd were loud and unwavering in their support of the band, particularly when it came to older songs like the infectious Precious Time and the helter-skelter X-Ray. Recent singles Something Like Happiness and Spit It Out were immaculate in their performance, with Weeks’ vocals atoning for any forced adjustments to guitar parts.
Perhaps The Maccabees’ greatest asset is their mastery of tempo. They have an inimitable knack for working spectacular crescendos into songs at whim – Feel to Follow and WW1 Portraits are examples. Live, this is amplified; their equally impressive displays of patient restraint and shameless gusto make for songs crafted with poignancy and dynamism. Rounding out the set was an encore of the lullaby-like Toothpaste Kisses and the grand sing-a-long that is Pelican – a perfect end to a performance remarkably unencumbered by the band’s obvious six-string setback. Their tenacity and humour in this regard simply made The Maccabees all the more endearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNC9FVWdBk
Read our interview with The Maccabees’ Orlando on suntans, South London and stripping things back
The Creases
The Maccabees
Aside from being great Australian bands, what do The Delta Riggs, The Creases and Closure in Moscow have in common? The terrible misfortune of having their worldly possessions stolen, that’s what.
Late last month, The Delta Riggs guitarist Alex Markwell has his guitar, pedals and new pedal board stolen from his car in Melbourne. Not to mention glass shattered everywhere and a window needing repair. Earlier in October, The Creases’ bassist/vocalist Jarrod Mahon‘s East Brisbane home was broken into and his laptop, mixing desk and guitars were stolen. Now, after playing a sold-out show in London as part of the European tour for their album Pink Lemonade, Melbourne band Closure in Moscow found that a bunch of their personal equipment been stolen, too.
Played a sold out show in London tonight. Also got rolled and got all our passports, clothes, laptops and some personal equipment stolen. Oh the highs n lows of being a band. Fuck.
Posted by Closure In Moscow on Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Adding to the list, they found they were also no longer in possession of their passports, laptops and any clothes other than those they were wearing. The full list of stolen items is pretty extensive and adds up to around $8700AUD.
So here is a full rundown of what we lost toa.) give you an idea of the damageand b.) allow you to keep your eyes…
Posted by Closure In Moscow on Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Their tour is scheduled to continue, but it’s no doubt a huge dampener on the whole thing. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but one would hope that an outcome similar to that of the Smith Street Band‘s stolen (and then recovered) combo amp occurs for all the bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq6YsdVoi0w
Can we all just, you know, not steal stuff? Please keep an eye out for any and all possible belongings that may belong to these bands, and report any suspicions to your local authorities. These are not just trinkets, but tools for these people to make their livelihoods. Without their guitars, they cannot make the music they work so hard on. Without their laptops and other technological items, said music is potentially lost forever. Being in a band and trying to make it work is hard enough, but this awful act of cowardice makes life even harder. Moral of the story: don’t be a dick.
This is my first review of a band playing at Brisbane’s The Met, a place I’m barely familiar with due to its frightening lack of tap beer and abundance of EDM that just isn’t my regular cup of Earl Grey. Tonight though I’m braving the strange and the unknown for a look at the Sydney rock and roll act swiftly making a name and blazing a trail for themselves around the country, The Preatures, as well as some special guests of theirs as they touch down in Brisbane for their Cruel Tour.
The set times are unfathomably early for a Saturday evening, with opening act The Furrs going onstage at 7. After navigating my way through two separate Uber drivers who just cancelled my pickup for no reason (they can do that?) as well as a pretty sizeable line outside The Met trying to get in, I end up missing what must have been the shortest and sweetest of sets from the band.
I’m Incredibly disappointed that I missed them considering how fantastically singer Gabriella Cohen slayed her set at BIGSOUND just last week. In any case, The Furrs play a mesmerising, bluesy brand of rock with a liberal dose of 70s nostalgia and they’re an act you should do your absolute civic duty to check out should the chance arise, flaky Uber drivers be damned.
I am thankfully not going to miss Brisbane band The Creases. They’ve been one of my favourite local acts of the last 12 months and every time I see them live they seem to get better and better. They play a setlist full of belters, from the infectiously jangly I Won’t Wait, to How Long ‘Til I Know and Gradient from the EP of the same name right up to latest single and crowd-pleaser Point. The Creases create a massive wall of sound and their vocal harmonies are so on point.
The band squeeze in a rendition of David Bowie‘s Let’s Dance that is up there with the best cover songs I’ve heard all year, the growing crowd obliging their request and getting all kinds of funky as the band absolutely hammer a classic out of the building. Static Lines is their set-closer and its live arrangement is a supercharged end to a great set that the headline act is going to have to work real hard to top.
And boy, did The Preatures deliver the shit out of this one. The top rafters are packed to the brim and the mosh pit is an absolute sardine tin so I have to settle on a spot with a limited view of the band, but what I could see whenever the 6’6 gentleman in front of me did the courtesy of moving his head was the same unbridled and high energy performance crowds have come to expect from frontwoman and overflowing fountain of talent and charisma, Isabella Manfredi.
The amazing record that was last year’s Blue Planet Eyes translates so comfortably to a live environment, there’s an extra bite to the guitars and Manfredi rips into her vocals with an added splash of aggression. Somebody’s Talking gets everybody dancing. So does pretty much every song the band run through. Rock And Roll Rave hasn’t been played in a more appropriate venue than this one and Two Tone Melody cuts the set down the middle real nicely, allowing everyone sweating out on the dancefloor a sublime sounding breather, Manfredi’s vocals are nothing short of amazing all set.
She dedicates a through the roof version of It Gets Better to a dude in the front row who is apparently somehow falling asleep. I salute his prowess in that department, he must be deaf or on painkillers given the sheer volume and energy of the set going on in front of him. Manfredi asks everyone if they’re ready to dance and the band drop their sparkling signature tune Is This How You Feel on the crowd like a bomb. The moshpit is visibly shaking and everyone goes positively apeshit when guitarist Gideon Benson gets to sing his part of the second verse. There are a pair of girls standing next to me who haven’t stopped dancing once all set. Not even once. Hats off to the pair of them.
And if I thought The Creases had given us one of the covers of the year earlier this evening, The Preatures absolutely smacked me for six and gave me all of the Splendour 2014 nostalgia goosebumps when the opening riff of Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again blasted out of the amps. They’ve been playing it as part of their live set for over a year now and according to Manfredi it’s being retired after this tour (boo). It’s a rip-roaring cover but I’m worried for about five seconds that the relatively young crowd (it’s an all ages gig) aren’t going to be steeped enough in Australian rock lore to know the customary response to The Angels timeless chorus. Those fears are put straight to bed though and I’m a little sheepish for doubting the crowd in the first place, Manfredi asking whether she’s ever going to see our faces again and absolutely everyone hollering back the appropriate response of ‘no way, get fucked, fuck off!’.
Beautiful.
They end their set with a rapturous run through of Cruel, the good old time rock and roll vibes getting every last person with a soul boogie-ing right out of their shoes. The Preatures run back onstage for another crack and play us a brand new track that I didn’t quite catch the name of and then end their encores with their first hit Take A Card. I’m a little disappointed to see more than a few people heading for the exits while the soulful and raucous party that is this song is still playing out. This was the tune that introduced me to The Preatures and it is still my absolute favourite, but different strokes and all that I guess.
What a great night all up though, a showcase of some of the best young bands in the country, all on the upswing. The Preatures are an amazing live act, a troupe of disgustingly talented young musicians fronted by a vocalist who takes all the best qualities of the premier frontwomen of years gone by in the vein of Marie Fredriksson, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and the late Chrissy Amphlett and brings them roaring into the 21st century, still as relevant and as powerful as ever.
Bring on the future for all of these bands. Hot damn.
The Creases are one of the better bands to have come out of Brisbane in the last few years. That’s not fair actually, they’re flat out amazing, crafting a nifty little blend of indie and post-punk infused with pop hooks that is as infectious on record as it is in a live environment. I saw these guys open for DMA’s last year and they blew me away
Coming off the release of debut LP Gradient last year and just shy of kicking off a national tour supporting The Preatures, the band released a brand new song via Pilerats today:
Holy heck, that is up there for one of the coolest songs I’ve heard all year. The production is tighter and more crisp than a pair of skinny jeans fresh through a tumble dryer, really making the guitar work pop, and that synth hook is catchier than the clap.
I don’t want to go as far as to say that I like it better than their original hit I Won’t Wait, because that song ruled much of 2014 for me, but given a couple more listens that might just end up being the case, I’m enjoying Point that much. A simple test, if you dig The Smiths, then you’ll love the shit out of this.
The Creases are supporting The Preatures around Australia from August 27th. Dates and tickets are here.