Continuing its recent trend of bringing sounds from bygone decades into the present, esteemed label Chapter Music is today announcing the forthcoming release of Turn My Dial – The M Squared Recordings and more, 1981-84 – a reissue of tracks from Meanjin/Brisbane-born teenage-pop prodigies Tangled Shoelaces. Charting the group’s recorded work over a three-year period, this compilation showcases not only the group’s undeniable knack for song-craft, but also eerily prognosticates sounds that would come to shape Australia’s music scene in the ensuing decades.
Naarm-based crew Crazytown! is indulging in a bit of belated festive cheer with Xmas In July – a splendid slab of sweaty, synthetic strange out today via Dero Arcade. Hard to pin down but easy to pick up, the members of Crazytown! have hijacked Santa’s sleigh and set about delivering this gift far and wide. Today we’re chuffed to be premiering the release, a collection of crocked club-friendly carols for the subterranean set.
Drawing in and extrapolating on the sounds of its 80s-era Mancunian forebears, Naarm-based post-punk quintet Body Maintenance is following up a demo and live tape with a bristling self-titled 12″ EP. The band’s severe and surly sound is encapsulated on lead single ‘Sheets’, an austere assault of anxious writhe and pitiless pace.
Bedroom pop made with a punk attitude, the music of duo Baby Doll Eyes is a masterclass in scuffed-up energy and campy spunk. Yesterday the two-piece dropped a nine-track cassette full of bent and subversive jams via Dero Arcade and are keeping the release celebrations going with the visuals for standout track ‘Pizza Face Boy’, a punchy encapsulation of Baby Doll Eyes’ eclectic and electric approach to danceable discord.
Words: James Frostick Band image: Lewis Hodgson Cover art: Roland Hlavka
An assortment of musicians from underground hitters such as Cuntz, Exek, Ausmuteants and Spray Paint have converged to form Spiritual Mafia – a five-man unit that taps into a more primitive side of post-punk. In March the crew will release its debut album Alfresco via Anti Fade Records, but not before making pulses quicken with lead single ‘Body’ – a muscular slab of vigorous and vaguely malevolent chug that is propelled by a sense of primeval physicality.Continue reading Premiere: SPIRITUAL MAFIA – ‘BODY’→
New South Wales-based producer Danny Wild is kicking off 2020 with a brand-new full-length Low Flung album. Microscope Impressions – out later this week via Nice Music – sees Danny synthesising organic and inorganic sound into something both innately familiar and decidedly alien. The album’s second single ‘Chipboard’ exemplifies this dichotomy perfectly – elemental ambience is warped and re-contextualised, creating vast new sonic realms to explore.
With a new full-length album primed and ready to drop at the end of April, Bulanaming/Marrickville downer-rock four-piece Mope City begin to whir and crank into gear. To build anticipation for the release, the group is whetting appetites with a somewhat unusual taster – a limited-edition four-track cassette EP containing first single ‘Rocket Surgery’ and three bonus tracks. ‘Rocket Surgery’ sets a suitably dour tone, pairing claustrophobic creep and browbeating fuzz with lashings of disaffected ideation.Continue reading Premiere: MOPE CITY – ‘ROCKET SURGERY’→
Claire McCarthy of Heart Beach fame is stepping into the limelight with a new solo project called Pretty In Pink. Today marks the release of Pretty In Pink’s self-titled debut cassette, out through Eternal Soundcheck. The cassette’s ruminative lead track ‘Letters’ has been given a visual treatment to accompany the release, giving life to the wistful pondering and minimalist acoustic strum featured within.
Words: James Frostick Band image: Ross Coulter
Cover art: Richard Lewer
Naarm/Melbourne dream-pop two-piece Time For Dreams is today unveiling ‘A World Of Your Own’ – the second single from its sophomore album Life of the Inhabitant (out next year via It Records). Imbued with a palpable yearning couched within a sense of desperate loneliness, this serene lullaby-like composition navigates the the illusory nature of a one-true love – a idealised companion born from fanciful imagining and wanting.
Words: James Frostick Band image: Stapled Together
Two years on from the release of its debut LP A Handful of Ash, scintillating Boorloo/Perth-based post-punk quartet New Talk is back with ‘Amytis’, the first taste from the band’s sophomore long-form effort Time & Memory. Coruscating in sound and tone, ‘Amytis’ touches on displacement of culture, alienation and isolation, and a longing for home – drawing influence from a legend from the distant past to underscore the societal issues permeating the present.
Weirdo Wasteland is an Australian-based music blog that examines musical endeavour from the cultural fringe. The site regularly features reviews and interviews from the underground scenes from Australia and New Zealand. Weirdo Wasteland acknowledges the original custodians of the land upon which it operates. Sovereignty has never been ceded. To get in touch, contact: weirdowasteland (at) gmail.com
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