After 23 glorious years, Falls Festival continues to provide us with the most unforgettable moments across the New Year festivus. The 2016-17 lineup saw some major international names, as well as our best local acts rounding up another year in style. In Byron Bay, it was a balmy 33 degrees across the three day event and climaxed with a torrential downpour for the very last performances on day three.
Straight into day two, multi-instrumentalist Hein Cooper opened the amphitheatre to a nice swell of punters, braving the extreme heat just after midday. Meanwhile, Sydney locals Middle Kids ambled their way across the Forest Stage with a stellar set, followed up by Norwegian act Lemaitre. Ultra-talented crowd favourite Matt Corby delivered an as-per-usual spine-tingling performance, with POND and Violent Soho going on to take the Valley Stage later in the night. Finally, The Avalanches and The Rubens clashed to close out another massive day of amazing music.
In this gallery you will find Hein Cooper, City Calm Down, The Jezabels, Middle Kids, Lemaitre, Matt Corby, POND, Ta-ku, Violent Soho and The Avalanches.
PHOTOS: Falls Festival Day I
PHOTOS: Falls Festival Day IIIHein Cooper
City Calm Down
The Jezabels
Middle Kids
Lemaitre
Matt Corby
POND
Ta-ku
Violent Soho
The Avalanches
Photos: Dani Hansen/Howl & Echoes
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbbZuO7f4E
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmwFnoMoDDg
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpqm-05R2Jk
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNKzInyG9n4
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d5IIgGucaw
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0sD0Tm7aCk
Image: Music Feeds
There’s something particularly evocative about walking up to Festival Hall tonight. Daylight savings means the sun is still out but in typical Melbourne fashion it has started to rain. There’s a rainbow framing the city and Violent Soho’s set is the pot of gold at the end.
Before the time comes for them to hit the stage, we’ve got a pretty mammoth bill by way of supports to get through. Luca Brasi soundtrack the walk from the doors to the stairs to the stalls, proving their worth as one of the most exciting acts out of Tasmania’s, nay, all of Australia’s pub-punk scene in a good while. Anything Near Conviction, Aeroplane and Cascade Blues fill the venue with the bright, urgent energy they’ve built their name on. Anthemic and all encompassing, they’re clearly as comfortable on the large stage as the sticky carpets where they’ve cut their teeth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCfaMZWdAs8
The presence of long-time mates of the headline act, LA’s The Bronx means tonight has not been an all Australian line-up, but they fit right in with their shattering brand of in your face hardcore punk. There’s no pause between them strutting onto the stage and diving headfirst into Heart Attack American. They’ve also brought the Halloween spirit with them – decked out in Devil and fairy costumes, they call on Satan himself when they set off a circle pit that is nothing short of glorious to behold from the seats above. Frontman Matt Caughthran might not be able to see through his costume, but that doesn’t stop him from jumping off the stage and running right into the heart of the pit. Microphone in tow, he belts out Knifeman from the centre before surfing all the way back to the stage as the song wraps up. They might be the main support but right now, it feels like tonight belongs to The Bronx and The Bronx alone.
That is until it hits 9.45 and the massive Violent Soho banner appears, the band follow quickly thereafter, walking onto the stage to Waltzing Matilda. The sound that erupts from all sides reminds us exactly why we’re here. Dope Calypso has long since reached legendary status, as has the Hungry Ghost LP it opens. Only fitting then that it kicks of this set, quickly followed by Evergreen and a rare workout of a Soho classic in Jesus Stole My Girlfriend – some might say a holy (or unholy as is the theme of the night) trinity gathered from across the VS catalogue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzrAfkyq-xM
Like Soda and So Sentimental create a blur of camaraderie, the pair a stellar reminder of how seamlessly the newer material fits with the old without there being any danger of sounding tired or trite. The set finds this kind of wonderfully momentous stride during the epic and anthemic WACO–opener How To Taste. It’s a only a few bars into this song that the massive backdrop shakes free from its fastenings, falling to the ground seemingly soundlessly under the guitars and crashing drums. The rest of the set is to be played against the bare scaffolding.
The band quickly move on to In The Aisle, seemingly unaware of the crew scrambling to get the banner off the stage. They’re totally unaffected and the song is one of the big standouts of the entire set. Saramona Said is haunting perfection; all glittering guitars and singalongs. Ok Cathedral is full of trance-inducing solos; long but never gratuitous. Viceroy sends a jolt as energetic as its instantly recognisable riff right through the room. The reception it is met with is rivaled only by that which greets Love Is A Heavy Word. It’s almost at the end of the set, a good three hours since the first band of the night took to the stage, that the audience reaches deep into their reserves and hits peak energy. Rewarded with confetti cannons and beams of smoke under purple lights, the entire venue is shaking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOkFZR5_slk
Even as the last piece of confetti flutters to the floor and the band slips from the stage, the place is vibrating. The briefest of breaks is ended by Tinderbox before everything comes to natural conclusion with what many in attendance would happily change the Australian anthem to in Covered In Chrome. The final song is complete perfection with familiar excited cries of “hell fuck yeah!” reverberating around the venue, band and audience alike impassioned and exhausted all at once under the fading purple lights as the final note rings out.
As the house lights go up and the crowd filters out onto the streets, smack bang in the middle of this capital-city tour, on the eve of a public holiday and with killer sets all round, one thing is certain: Melbourne was spoiled as shit tonight.
Image: Supplied
Welcome to The Soundtrack, a column where we plumb the depths of our musical knowledge to bring you the best* (subjective) music to listen to for very specific life situations. This week, we got your back with music to revive a dead Halloween Party, because it falls on a freakin’ Monday this year so any sensible person will be waiting till next weekend. If you’re not big on the dedication/cleanup that comes with an actual *party* there are plenty of Halloween-themed gigs around for you to attend after you’ve had your fill at home as well. And like last week, each and every track in this Halloween edition of The Soundtrack is from Australia-based artists.
I know there are a lot of people out there who recoil in disgust at the idea of Halloween IN AUSTRALIA. “But that’s an AMERICAN thing!!!!” they gasp, hands over their mouths and feet itching to scurry away from anything that might be kinda fun. And sure. Yes, the USA has the market on commercially-driven Halloween activities well and truly cornered. Besides, it’s not like we celebrate any other Pagan-origin holidays in this country, like Christmas or Easter. But what is truly flabbergasting about these people is that this is the only situation in living memory where Australians have not only turned down, but outright BALKED at the opportunity to get shitfaced with their mates. TLDR; Get over yourselves and learn to have fun.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a closer look at what Halloween parties are actually like. People in stupid costumes (“going as yourself” counts as the stupidest of all costumes), check. Free-flowing booze, check. Music – erm. Sort of check? The music selection at Halloween parties tends towards the camp, the overplayed, the cheesy and regrettable. The same damn twenty songs on repeat. You know what I mean. Thriller. The Monster Mash. Ghostbusters. Anything from Rocky Horror. It’s fun the first time this happens, but if I don’t think I’m alone in saying if I have to do the time warp again this year I’ll jump to the left straight outta that party. Don’t let it happen. I don’t care if you’re the host or not. Grab this playlist on Spotify and snatch the AUX as fast as you can.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand
Nick Cave’s music is full of creepy AF themes, some downright disturbing and yuck. This is probably his least #problematic of the songs in that particular vein (I wouldn’t advise putting a song that discusses sexual violence on at a party for many reasons, all of which should be obvious). The tolling bells and rich, descriptive narrative in the lyrics make this track feel like you’re being told a ghost story by your weird uncle. Except this ghost story is actually kinda scary, because it doesn’t start with a chaste couple in their car at Makeout Point or end in something about a hook hand. This is a good ‘un for when guests are still trickling in. A real mood-setter, if you will.
Ecca Vandal – End Of Time
Anyone who hasn’t gotten on board the Ecca Vandal train is missing the hell out, my dudes. She’s an unapologetically powerful presence and a genuinely innovative musician and we are so here. for. that. There are so many seriously disquieting musical elements to this track – her snarling vocals that trail out in a threatening whisper, the shadowy pulsating synths, the eerie twinkle of keys. Even the artwork for Ecca Vandal’s EP (of which this is the title track) houses some pretty blatant nods to Halloween-y themes. Skulls and B&W aesthetics and creepy font-faces, oh my!
Nightcrawler – Planète
Okay, time to step back and remember this is a party, not a dedicated “spookiest Aussie tracks” listening sesh. Although hey, if that’s what you’re all about then more power to you. But every party needs a solid, driving electro track with no pesky words to distract you from whatever that kind of obnoxious but admittedly really funny dude over on the couch is saying now. (There’s always one. At every single party.) You also don’t want the ~spooky~ vibes to dissipate, though, so it’s not like you can chuck on something euphoric like Wave Racer, so get the goods from Melbourne producer Planète instead.
Violent Soho – Son Of Sam
This crunchy, grungy Soho track from their eponymous first album is a fittingly brutal number that is also named after a serial killer. That serial killer terrorized New York City in the late 70s until he was caught because he went to a police station to pay a parking ticket and they recognised his handwriting. So, you know. Not the brightest serial killer in the world. But a pretty fun Party Anecdote (TM) for you to share with everyone while you let this track simultaneously energise you and make you sorta uncomfortable with its loud/quiet/loud dynamic. It’s also pretty fun to chuck on early Soho tracks and just ruminate on how far they’ve come. That’s not to say that their early work feels lacking or unfinished in any way – far from it. But the sound has definitely morphed into something less heavy, in a traditional sense. Not knocking that, though. Look where it’s got them. Bloody legends the lot of them.
LUCIANBLOMKAMP – Help Me Out
This is best left till everyone is basically completely off their heads, because it doesn’t start out sounding like a party track but hooooo boy is that build worth it. Atmospheric and tense till a meticulous, dark release, Help Me Out is the brainchild of LUCIANBLOMKAMP (yes that is actually his real name), who won FBi’s coveted Northern Lights competition some time back. I caught him at my very first BIGSOUND a few years ago and he blew my goddamn mind. There’s something truly unsettling about the way this song unfurls – is it the pitched-down vocals? The building synths? Who knows/cares, all that matters is this is the perfect post-midnight addition to your Halloween playlist. Just try not to lose vital parts of your ~super topical~ costume as you thrash around like an actual possessed person to this one.
Image: Know Your Meme
Laced with distorted power chords and overdosing on teenage angst, there’s an endearing quality to Violent Soho’s eponymous LP. Stepping up from the lo-fi rock buzz of previous efforts, the release of Violent Soho’s gut-punching rock wasn’t greeted with the pathological tide of praise lathered upon their subsequent work, but to contextualise the genesis of the album and the group more generally, it’s worthwhile taking a historical detour.
Tempering a raw and heavy grunge sound with Butch Vig’s radio-friendly production, the upsurge of Nirvana’s Nevermind brought alternative rock crashing into the mainstream. Rockists rejoiced. Throughout the 1980s many underground rock acts had courted major label success. Some like the Pixies and The Replacements had come close, yet ultimately failed to secure public recognition and chart success. Yet by 1992 Nirvana had seemingly restored the rebellious, caustic and gritty elements of rock to their rightful place. For a moment, it seemed that rock’s promised (but never quite arriving) revolution might finally be at hand.
Things quickly soured. The tragic death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 proved that those living by the underground’s anti-pop ethos could not exist comfortably within worlds of celebrity and large-scale commercial success. Subsequently, an entire generation grew up with grunge’s bandwagoners more than willing to assume Nirvana’s mantle. Calculating contemporaries like Pearl Jam and shameless cash-ins like Nickleback followed quickly in their wake. In the eyes of many, the momentum of grunge had all but burnt itself out by the close of the decade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vabnZ9-ex7o
It’s likely that it was through this jaded lens that Australia’s critical establishment came to view Violent Soho. Many were quick to deride the LP, yet they stood firm by the sonic foundation they had created. What those fixated upon the sanctimonious reverence for grunge’s legacy overlooked is that the inspiration of this past burnt strong. Beyond these critical biases lurked something which another generation of untapped ears could deeply resonate with. The group wasn’t just championing the cause at the behest of ‘90s veterans, but for the benefit of a newer generation.
While the epicentre of Grunge was exploding overseas, things were afoot in Australia too. Brisbane, “Australia’s biggest country town” is best known for oppressive heat and heavy-handed policing, but with the 1990s came the release of long-stifled optimism. An autocratic government and the deep-seated conservatism it embodied had been swept away (if not entirely uprooted). Musically things were changing too. Where in the ‘80s even the clean cut Go-Betweens would have been treated with suspicion by passers-by, the city’s enduring music scene was beginning to flourish under a more favourable social and political climate.
The emergence of nationally successful Brisbane locals Powderfinger, Savage Garden, Screamfeeder and Regurgitator were also important drivers for cultural change. The decisions of these groups to record, perform and reside in Brisbane showed other musicians they no longer had to move to Melbourne or Sydney to make a living. Instead of leaving town, breaking up or buckling under police harassment, a new generation of bands helped strengthen their local network. tripe j’s support of local acts in the late 90s also allowed artists to reach a national audience. Slowly people began to look to Brisbane as a vibrant source of Australian music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOdqDj8JSps
Yet there’s still something insular about the city. Away from the industry hub of Sydney or the creative incubation of Melbourne, bands are free to delve deeply into non-commercial sounds. The raw essence of rock music seems to hold a special sway. Perhaps a group like Violent Soho couldn’t have come about anywhere else. It’s very easy envisioning these boys sitting back in the suburbia of Brisbane’s Southside, tucked away in some dimmed down living room blowing smoke and listening to “the classics.” Whether Brisbane’s bands had any direct musical influence is another question. The group may find a closer affinity with Australian acts like Silverchair, The Vines and You Am I bands whose development also occurred in the wake of grunge.
The placement of the band within these two historical contexts makes them truly unique. As music fans, Violent Soho were conscious enough to catch the rise and fall of grunge. As musicians, they were well situated to absorb some of the sensibilities and benefits of Brisbane’s musical coming of age without having to pander too closely to fickle contemporary tastes.
This brings things to the album itself. In all honesty, Violent Soho can’t entirely lay claim to being the group’s first album. After gaining momentum from the release of debut EP Pigs & TV in 2006, the group recorded debut LP We Don’t Belong Here in 2008. To further muddy the waters, many of the tracks from Violent Soho are reworkings of these earlier releases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooEYpl0cisw
Their second album came about through a short-lived signing to Sonic Youth co-founder Thurston Moore’s newly minted Ecstatic Peace! Records in 2009. Spending the better part of the year touring overseas, the group also took time away to record an album. Under the auspices of veteran alt-rock super-producer Gil Norton, Soho captured the songs in Wales’ Rockfield Studio.
The LP opens with Here Be Dragons, an adrenaline pumping riff accompanying barking screams evocative of Cobain to the tee. Even these opening seconds mark a critical juncture for the group, the crystallisation of a signature sonic concoction. Adding a polished gloss to an underlying lattice of scrappier rock noise, Soho set themselves apart from many contemporaries with a willingness to imbue their work with a little radio-friendly sheen. While this digital frosting can often condemn a live band to the depths of tepid genericism, a reluctance to find the balance keeps all too many Australian rock bands away from mainstream ears. Beneath the polish, these tracks are teeming with the off-the-cuff and of-the-moment momentum of live sound.
Follow-up track Jesus Stole My Girlfriend reimagines a previous release into one of the group’s largest hits. Telling the tale of a lover lost to Jesus, the track nods back to the group’s genesis within a Mansfield youth group. A hybrid of Black Francis’ Doolittle era vocal scrapings, sing-song hooks and chugging ‘90s alt-rock choruses, the track’s dense instrumental thicket melds itself into an infectious lead single. The track oscillates between timbrally subdued verses and exploding choruses. Its lyrics tie into the album’s messianic grunge iconography.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzrAfkyq-xM
Speaking with the voice of a heartsick suburban kid, Outsider invokes many the elements which would later see the group through to success with single Covered In Chrome. Angst-ridden lyrics like “They don’t know/They don’t care/They don’t even understand” connect with the inner teen. It lends well to the confessional and heart-on-sleeve lyricism which sits at the centre of the band’s music, injecting its own subtle influence of terminal disillusion.
When connecting with an audience, it’s often the vocalist’s addition which is the most readily identifiable. This is certainly true here, it’s Outsider’s gentler acoustic showcasing of Boerdam’s tranquil yet melancholic vocal timbre which elevates it to one of the album’s finer moments. Accompanied by its sparse instrumentals, the track wallows in all inviting gloom.
Following its raw rocking introduction, My Generation sounds a little cheesier than the earlier Pigs and TV EP variant. Swapping some antecedent rawness for polish, the track sits closer to the slicker pop leanings of Silverchair’s Neon Ballroom. Yet a bombastic delivery still secures Soho’s status as something more than a hard rocking pop band. It’s these moments that make this album worth the spin. The musical idea behind many great songs can kick around for years until they reach perfection, but it’s rare to be privy to anything but the final product. The group’s career has been marked by incremental improvement, hard work and learning by doing. This isn’t a musical folly so much as a failure to strike the balance. Here they were still getting it right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwXP8NCW3yk
Son Of Sam incorporates a Steve Albini-inspired low-end rumble juxtaposed against gentle vocals. Helped along by massive distortion, doubled vocals and paint stripping growls, it isn’t long before verse-born serenity gives way to sonic chaos. Muscle Junkie continues to channel the seething pathos of grunge. Replete with crunching guitar lines, Slippery Tongue’s mingles romance with drug-addled paranoia.
Love Is A Hidden Word throws back to the grunge-treated Britpop of The Vines‘ Get Free. Subdued yet quietly powerful, Narrow Ways adopts a rarer tone. The track demonstrates another musical direction, a trajectory the group may not have taken themselves upon. Permeated with ominous atmospherics, the devotional Paper Plane, channels the darkly defeatist introspection of Nirvana’s Something In The Way.
The overdriven distortion of Eat Your Parents marks a thundering conclusion. Reassuming the album’s religious thematic, pugnacious and drawling lyrics enshrine the depths of anguish and frustration. The track refuses to sit tidily as either vitriolic secular rejection or some twisted affirmation of faith. An energetic spiralling structure sends things out with a moment of rock brilliance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jC49f_vh04
At times Violent Soho may not top some of the more lo-fi moments it brings forward from previous releases (which are excellent works in their own right), but for the most part, it cultivates their ambrosial signature sound. The LP may have fallen short of the impact supporters of the group expected, it certainly led to a near burning out of the group’s musical ambitions. Yet when they were finally able to muster themselves together and move forward, it’s this eponymous LP which would lay the foundation for the impact of Hungry Ghost three years later.
Stripping away the self-mythologising aspects of popular music, most successful acts aren’t the stratospheric innovators, but neither are they those who wallow in second-hand safety. It was with this album that Soho consolidated their inspirations and worked hard to take them further. What was startling about Violent Soho (and still is) is that while the fingerprints of the group’s antecedents become fainter, their own tracks remain increasingly resonant and blisteringly volcanic. Violent Soho laid a foundation which continues to see these Mansfield natives continuing to push an idea of grunge-laden exuberance to its seeming limits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwnXXKbQwFg
Words by Dani Hansen and James Tait.
With this year’s Splendour In The Grass happening in just a few days time, our excitement and anticipation levels are in overdrive. You may not have had the chance to peruse the timetables for each day and plan out who you’re going to see. We personally think you should be able to catch every single act on the Splendour bill, but that would be impossible without a time machine and a great deal of patience. Instead, our own recommendations are:
James:
Gang Of Youths
Sydney quintet Gang Of Youths are responsible for some of the most emotional and evocative rock and roll to come out of this country. A huge wall of sound, probing and introspective lyrics, huge soaring choruses and, most of all, raw energy. Frontman David Le’aupepe is as captivating a performer as you’ll ever find and his vocal range is enough to induce goosebumps.
There will be plenty of raised fists and hearts on sleeves as they rip through a ferocious Saturday afternoon set at the amphitheatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJzLc8Cj-AY
City Calm Down
Melbourne quartet City Calm Down had a breakout year in 2015 with the release of their album In A Restless House to rave reviews off the back of singles like Rabbit Run and Son. Giant synths buoying songs full of twists and turns and clever pop melodies that grab you and take flight, they’re a part of the new wave of Australian rock but City Calm Down are a band who play with the aplomb of a group well beyond their years and their live set will keep you mesmerised from start to finish.
Catch City Calm Down dishing out the chills like candy to many a weary head on Sunday at the amphitheatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26AQCCQKkcc
Spring King
Heading out to Australia for the very first time are Mancunian energy fiends Spring King. Having just released their debut album Tell Me If You Like To and blowing up in a big way after singles like City, Detroit and Rectifier took off. Harnessing the sound of the swinging 60s, yanking it into the 21st century and infusing it with so much raw energy and aggression, the mosh for Spring King on Saturday in the GW McLennan tent promises to be just ludicrous. There’s also something special and awe-inspiring about a drumming frontman and Tarek Musa’s ability to sing while his limbs are flailing almost impossibly everywhere will drop jaws.
Check out our interview with Tarek from Spring King.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yONyEewXraU
The Preatures
Sydney four-piece The Preatures are another frenetic and infectiously energetic live experience. Frontwoman Isabella Manfredi is rock and roll to her absolute core, able to alternate between the lightness of Stevie Nicks and the swagger of Joan Jett on a whim. The Preatures’ sound harkens back to a golden era for rock and they’re four of the best young musicians in the country to boot.
Good luck trying to watch their Sunday night set at GW McLennan and without dancing uncontrollably.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtDXezAhes8
Violent Soho
There may be few moshpits larger and more frantic in the history of Splendour than the one that will greet Mansfield heroes Violent Soho for their set this year. Having released one of the hottest records of 2016 with the devastating WACO, the Soho boys somehow survived a national tour with Dune Rats and DZ Deathrays and are here to leave a crater in their wake. Seriously, The Avalanches may not have a stage to play on after Violent Soho get done.
Look out for the return of the fabled gumboot bong as Violent Soho cause carnage on Friday night at the amphitheatre. Read our interview with guitarist James.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRWi-SvzviY
Dani:
The Strokes
Simply legendary. We saw guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. hit up Mountain Sounds Festival in February flying solo (what a set), and with the release of the band’s comeback EP Future Present Past in May, rumours were flying that we might just see The Strokes come to Splendour.
The same rumour seems to go around every year and we’ve been left disappointed, but now it’s actually, really, truly happening and you finally have your chance to see a piece of New York indie rock history in the flesh. Don’t mess this up, guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT68FS3YbQ4
Flume
Our forever-21-year-old-electronic-savant Harley Streten, the man otherwise known as Flume, has made it through his self-described “dickhead phase” and emerged… a genius (what we already knew tbh). Released in May, Skin is the highly-anticipated and very solid follow-up to his self-titled debut. After a four year hiatus, Harley recently announced a massive world tour to unveil his new live show, which we already received a taste of earlier this year at Laneway.
Let me tell you, folks, I was shooting at Laneway and never have I seen a photo pit so packed in my life, staying and watching the entire set just mesmerised. Compared to the last live performance from three years ago, his live show and on-stage presence have considerably evolved to be simply incredible and the beats are second-to-none. Also, a highly collaborative album means a high chance of special live guests, as we saw at Laneway with Kai, KUČKA and Vince Staples all joining Flume on stage. Best buckle-the-hell up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fAzM5cI5FM
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard
Melbourne garage rockers King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard are no stranger to hard yakka. Over the span of their four year career, they’ve released a ridiculous eight studio albums, with another four projects supposedly set for release next year alone. Nonagon Infinity, released earlier in April, is a much heavier answer to 2015’s all-acoustic Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, with frontman Stu Mackenzie maintaining it’s “not really metal but… inspired by stuff like that.”
Where these guys seriously impress though (that is beyond their insane artistry), is seeing them in their sweaty, bent-over, hair-flying, psychedelic glory onstage. If Mac DeMarco crowdsurfing during their Falls set in Marion Bay earlier this year isn’t any indication of what to expect, I honestly don’t know what is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f78_Tf4Tdk
Fat White Family
“The most rebellious act is to revel in your own misery and patheticism,” chimes Lias Saoudi, frontman of this raucous five-piece from Brixton. The band had barely released their first album before they were swaddled and hailed on high by the likes of NME, Rolling Stone, even Letterman.
Anti-establishment, anti-gentrification, anti-Arctic Monkeys, they’re overly portrayed as some kind of Sex Pistols-esque train wreck whose implosion is imminent but, honestly, who doesn’t appreciate a bit of sobering vulgarity? Their reputation as a brilliant live band is to be seen in their constant crowdsurfing or stripped naked guitar playing or the general ramshackle and extremeness of any given performance of theirs. If you want a band that’s not there to run through the motions, Fat White Family are what you’re looking for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKNt_qq6N7o
Green Buzzard
Fresh meat from the I Oh You family who have been working with some amazing acts of late (DMA’s, Violent Soho, MOSSY, City Calm Down etc.), Green Buzzard are a five-piece Sydney garage outfit who, I swear, get better every time I see them.
I caught their second ever gig supporting Palma Violets and The Vaccines on their Splendour sideshow last year, so for them to be playing at the festival this year is a huge step up. Live, they’re a wall of utterly satisfying fuzz, smoking speakers and all. Their newly released EP Eazy, Queezy, Squeezy is a lo-fi delight, reminiscent of the whole 90’s Britpop thing, as well as Dinosaur Jr, Weezer, Sebadoh etc. Worth the watch and worth the listen.
Check out our interview with Green Buzzard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtMbPm7Q8Ec
Image: Your Friends House
Words by Sarah Timson
Gird your loins, Australia. Brisbane’s favourite rockers, Violent Soho, have announced their biggest capital city tour thus far. Hell fuck yeah! Supporting them are Californian punks (and occasional Mariachi band) The Bronx, the heart-grippingly honest lyrics of Tasmanian legend Luca Brasi, and the catchy sludge-poppers from Perth, Tired Lion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTFmf8DKBI
Violent Soho infiltrated eardrums and hearts worldwide with their 2013 album Hungry Ghosts, and just as we thought they had peaked, they managed to raise the bar to a phenomenal level with Waco earlier this year (find our review here). They’ve already gone on to blow us, along with the whole of Australia away with sold out shows, but we’re already so ready for more.
The announcement of The Bronx as support comes as extra-exciting news from the band. In a press release, they have said, “We are truly honoured to have The Bronx on board for these shows. There is no band in the world that can put on such a high energy performance the way that these guys do. As a band, we have always looked up to them a hell of a lot. Our friendship goes back over 10 years so to have our big Bros from the USA come all the way across the Pacific to play with us again means the world. Luca Brasi can also be held in the same esteem. For us, they are probably Australia’s best punk rock band by a long shot. And to have this line up complimented by such a class act as Tired Lion just puts the icing on the cake for what is going to be one epic fucking tour. Really, we are just so stoked!”
Exclusive fan pre-sales are available tomorrow (Wednesday July 13th) at 9am (local time), but you’ll need to get yourself signed up at the band’s official website.
General tickets go on sale this Friday 15th July at 9am.
Tour Dates
Friday 28 October – Riverstage, Brisbane
Saturday 29 October – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Monday 31 October – Festival Hall, Melbourne
Friday 4 November AEC Theatre, Adelaide
Saturday 5 November – Red Hill Auditorium, Perth
If you do happen to miss out on tickets, you can catch Violent Soho and Luca Brasi joining forces again at Unify festival in Victoria on 13th -15th January.
Image: Supplied
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
For fans of Brisbane’s music scene and the rock and roll renaissance it has undergone in the last five odd years, tonight, on perhaps its most sacred ground in the newly-rescued Tivoli, is the Holy Grail. It’s the very first night of Violent Soho‘s completely sold-out-like-hotcakes nationwide WACO tour, accompanied by not just their contemporaries but their very best mates in DZ Deathrays and Dune Rats along for the rollercoaster ride.
For perspective; this is Brisbane’s All-Star Pro Bowl Dream Team lineup, playing the first date of their biggest tour in history to a sardine tin sellout crowd at The Tivoli on a Tuesday night to a sweaty, rowdy crowd of young Brisbane-ites who have spent their formative years blasting their eardrums to smithereens with all or some combination of them.
We’ve hit peak motherfucking Brisbane to put it simply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smNb29qKndE
Walking in I wasn’t aware that Novocastrian splatter punk good time garage duo The Gooch Palms were also on this bill and it is one of the more pleasant surprises to see Leroy and Kat doing a bang-up job warming up the already huge crowd with their old time rock and roll noise and good-natured banter. As far as opening acts go, you couldn’t ask for one much better at breaking the ice than The Gooch Palms on any given night.
Credit to the bands and everyone backstage for fucking exactly zero spiders here tonight either, things are moving that lightning quick and efficiently there’s barely enough time to line up for a beer in between sets. Dunies are up next with You Give Love A Bad Name as their entrance music and their unbridled energy not so much raising the curtain as setting it ablaze.
Dalai Lama Big Banana Marijuana, Fuck It and Funny Guy all cop an absolute belting with the front of the stage seething with bodies. There’s a wall of death to commemorate the opening strains of Red Light Green Light and they road test an untitled new song on us that goes over like gangbusters. Bassist Brett singlehandedly wins the ‘I Think He Might Be Having A Seizure’ award for excellence in the field of onstage energy. How he played bass with that much polish despite treating the stage like a padded cell is a testament to his musicianship.
They throw in a cover of The Violent Femmes Blister In The Sun with most of the words replaced with gibberish, the crowd still loving every second of it. Each of the boys takes a hefty swig from a cask of Coolabah’s finest before tossing the remains out into the crowd, where it gets pounced on like hyenas on a wounded antelope before being thrown around like the most Australian beach ball of all time.
Superman cops the biggest cheer thus far but it’s very soon eclipsed by the roar and titular chants preceding Dunies’ latest single Bullshit, the crowd screaming every word despite the fact that the song was officially released not even a week ago. It’s something that has to be wonderfully encouraging for the Dune Rats boys as they work on their next record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNwWzBXIycQ
DZ Deathrays are onstage before you can say Black Rat and they proceed to turn the moshpit into a human blender that I’m all too happy to be caught in. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen DZ’s play as surprise entrants at Splendour In The Grass last year and it’s exhilarating to be reintroduced to live face-melters of old like The Mess Up and an electrifying No Sleep.
Some small, shameful part of me had somehow forgotten that Reflective Skull existed as a song, so it was a delight to hear it’s klaxon riffs bellow through the Tivoli, DZ’s going all the way in on it and seemingly trying to make sure those of us up the front get stomped into the floor.
Like Dune Rats before them, it’s a newie in the ferocious Blood On My Leather making the top of the highlight reel. It is an absolute belter of the highest order and its first live rendition I’ve had the chance to hear did not disappoint in the slightest, half the crowd hurtling themselves into each other without a given fuck in sight, the other half throwing down every bar right along with Shane Parsons (some opting for both).
By the time they’ve thoroughly ripped through a set-closing Gina Works At Hearts, DZ Deathrays have proven above and beyond tonight they’re perhaps one of the best pure noisemakers in the country at the moment and I feel physically spent having moshed along to every one of their tunes.
For the smallest of whiles there I’m also ever so slightly unsure if this crowd, already battered and bruised beyond belief, is going to make it through the headline act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6jLfL_g4w0
Fifteen minutes later the lights go out and a rumbling starts. The opening strains to WACO kickoff How To Taste jangle out across a bracing for impact crowd before the curtain drops with a flourish and Violent Soho are there thrashing out in front of them.
I was so very woefully, shamefully off about this crowd’s ability to last.
Bedlam that’s up there with the best the Tiv has ever seen (certainly some of the best I’ve ever seen in my many ventures there) is the best way to describe it from the inside. From the front, the physical moshpit stretches about as far back as it can get, the whole bottom level just a whirlpool of limbs.
New tracks from WACO blend seamlessly with the old, Viceroy going off like a frog in a sock next to a throwback Neighbour Neighbour early, So Sentimental, Fur Eyes and Saramona Said providing very brief opportunities in between for breath-catching (but mostly more moshing), Evergreen, Blanket and Dope Calypso absolutely crushing in their magnitude. There are multiple circle pits throughout and barely a moment goes by without someone being launched straight over your head. Like most Tivoli gigs though, the crowd have each other’s backs wholeheartedly at all times.
The whole set builds up like a tidal wave and when it hits its zenith and comes crashing down there may be no bigger set-closing knockout combination than the thunderous one-two of Like Soda and a Covered In Chrome that threatens to level the place. Violent Soho leave every last shred of themselves onstage and the crowd know it and love them for it.
And just like that, night one of the WACO tour is in the books and everyone departs into the night. Most, including myself, look like they’ve been caught in some kind of monsoonal weather but it’s actually just a liberal coating of sweat, both their own and belonging to probably several hundred other punters as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwPtaHTABy8
When those punters talk about some of the best shows they’ve ever witnessed in Brisbane, tonight (and without a doubt Wednesday and Friday night’s also sold out shows) should be right up there. To have three of the best bands ever to come out of this city, in their prime and truly representative of the new era, playing triumphantly at home on such an institutional stage like The Tivoli?
Tonight was so Brisbane you could tell people you saw Wally Lewis crowdsurfing past you doing a shoey and they’d probably believe you. Shit, I was there and I can’t even rule out that that didn’t happen.
Buckle up, rest of Australia. The WACO tour is coming and you’d better be ready.