These guys don’t need much of an introduction. A recently completed tour with Kaiser Chiefs and The Vines gives a good indication of how they’re tracking, and you get the feeling that their debut full length album,United In Isolation, is going to the first one of many. The Sydney three-piece have previously released three EPs; The Presence EP (2007), Papa Vs. Pretty (2008) and Heavy Harm (2010), and singer/guitarist Thomas Rawle is said to have a back catalogue of some 30 albums!
If you haven’t been living under a rock this year, you’d have no doubt heard the two singles from the album, which have had a good run on Triple J – One Of The Animals, and Honey; both great examples of the heavier guitar driven output from the band. Likewise Charity Case and Life’s Got A Hold On Me.
But the songs that left the biggest impression were the slower ones. I Felt Nothing is brilliant. It’s depressing, but beautiful, in the same way that you could be happy or sad in your choice to play Jeff Buckley’s Last Goodbye. I could listen to Rawle sing about putting the dishwasher on. It’s like he has a big chunk of words in his head, and he just fits them to the music as he goes, nailing it every time. He makes words elastic, and his unique phrasing defines the band so much you forget how good his chops are on the guitar, backed solidly by Angus Gardiner (bass) and Tom Myers (drums). I loved Bitter Pill for much the same reason, plus it’s got a bit of Queen about it!
They’re not only creative with their music, but also its formats. For iTunes buyers, you get an interactive LP which Rawle designed with Vert Pixels (who did the designs for Grinderman and Gorillaz’s Plastic Beach interactive LPs).
BY MICKY RENNIE
Best Track: Bitter Pill
If you dig this, you’ll dig: Queen, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Kaiser Chiefs
In a word: Awesome
