December 13 - Noteworthy New Releases
Our favourite releases of the week.
Freegolf – ‘Fite the Heart’
Has your closed fist been itching to punch the air directly above your skull recently? Well, we suggest spinning Freegolf’s sophomore single, ‘Fite The Heart’, ‘til your speakers give out. The two-minute-fifteen punk pastiche from the mid-coast band manages to wrangle a bunch of hardcore tropes together through sheer force of will. Every power chord and vocal line arrives with the sting of an accusation and it makes us feel like we’ve been roped into a fight that the band themselves have started. But the adversary relationship at the song’s heart is all cigarette smoke and shattered mirrors. During the breakdown, all that punk rock posturing boils down to a sense of pride in community. As any band of loiterers out front of Seaford Rangers Football Club will tell you, there’s nothing mid about the mid-coast.
Sounds like: 80% ethanol content, pure, distilled.
By Jack Paech
King Jeff & The How Are Yous – ‘Preacher’
King Jeff & The How Are Yous are testament to the fact there must be something, quite literally, in the water down south. What’s coming out of the mid-coast plays a huge role in keeping SA’s scene so healthy.
‘Preacher’, the lead track on King Jeff’s recent double single drop, gives us the same buzz that slamming Red Bulls after a scorcher arvo on Port Noarlunga jetty would. With a sonic nod to Bad//Dreems in-your-face vocals and roaring guitar, this is a don’t-hold-back, go-bloody nuts bop. This might just be one of the best punk tracks to come out of South Australia this year.
Sounds like: A good ruckus at the local surf club.
By Hannah Louise
TUSHAR – ‘Tonight’
If you’ve ever found yourself in a late-night call with a loved one while under the influence of something, you’ll find yourself resonating with this song. The lead single from TUSHAR’s eagerly-awaited sophomore EP, Feels Like A Start, ‘Tonight’ delivers the same hazy aesthetic of a night well spent, mixed with the dreamy synth-driven sound of nostalgia and romance.
Emblematic of TUSHAR’s uncanny ability to craft an immersive piece of alt-pop, the track is stamped with the indie brilliance of the late ’00s, buoyed by an impossibly catchy groove and a sheen as sweet as it is blissful. Much like the rest of his EP, ‘Tonight’ is a small reminder to always find some joy and humour in life’s little moments.
Sounds like: An early-morning walk down Hindley Street to the taxi rank.
By Tyler Jenke
The Tullamarines – ‘OMG’
The Tullamarines strike some familiar chords on ‘OMG’ – and not just with their guitars. Beaming with a shimmering dance-pop melody and held aloft by its fine-tuned loud-quiet-loud formula, ‘OMG’ is the latest song in a lineage that includes tracks by bands like Two Door Cinema Club and Grouplove. But the Tullies’ distinguishing flair comes through in cracks of sharp sunlight. The song is nimble thanks to its interchanging vocalists, while touches of ambience and percussion lend it a sense of grandiosity that sounds like a triumphant rally against social anxiety. It’s a deeply accessible cut from The Tullamarines, but that’s hardly a surprise. They’ve always known that ‘groovy’ and ‘conceptually interesting’ aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive ways of making music.
Sounds like: Going for a walk with a disc in the Walkman.
By Jack Paech
the Vains – ‘Mess’
How good are The Vains? The quartet comprising Rhia Dickson, Libby Verrall, Shara Klecka and Madeleine Cossey produce thrash rock anthems with the subtlety of a blunt object to the back of the head. ‘Mess’, their latest single, is a hurricane of devastating riffs and punk rock vocals that finds Dickson asking her partner if they like her “Even when I pick fights before bed” before declaring on the chorus, “I’m a mess / but do you love me?”. As a listener, the answer is an emphatic yes. Very few bands possess the energy, spunk and attitude of The Vains.
Sounds like: A 6am wake-up call.
By Tobias Handke
Heinous Crimes – ‘How Long’
“The basic definition of lucid dreaming is that while you’re in the dream, you become aware of the fact you’re dreaming.” – Dr. Alicia Roth.
Lucid dreaming almost reads as a fantasy. Nevertheless, an immeasurable number of people have experienced this psychological state. Often feelings of flying are encountered, and individuals undergoing these phenomena can also take control of this mythical world. But what would the soundtrack be?
Heinous Crimes’ ‘How Long’ could arguably be the background noise for this undertaking. Envisage The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ experiencing a magical modern transformation, with artistic interpretations from Tame Impala, Hum and Palms but performed inside an Icelandic volcano. What a dream that would be.
Sounds like: The song that should have been used in the credit for Inception.
By Will Oakeshott
