Hello and welcome to our fortnightly indie artists column. Head here if you missed the previous instalment, featuring Glass Beams, Floodlights and Tahnee Ollerton.
Every fortnight, we’re rounding up the best new Victorian bands and artists making waves online, underground and on the airwaves.
For those looking to keep an ear to the ground with the best emerging acts, this column will have you covered every two weeks with Victoria’s finest.
Catch up on the latest music interviews, news and reviews here.
The Psychedelic Freaks
This fortnight, we kick things off with Naarm/Melbourne’s jazzy house aficionado Horatio Luna and his new alias The Psychedelic Freaks. It’s an apt name for the freakishly talented bassist, who trades his signature nu-jazz sound for one far more retro.
Passing Through The Doorways Of Your Mind is the name of the debut LP, and it sees Horatio putting down the bass and picking up the guitar for a psychedelic odyssey that channels Miles Davis’ electric era as well as Jimmy Hendrix and Frank Zappa.
Where recent Horatio Luna records like Boom Boom and Yes Doctor leaned heavily on the dancefloor for their energetic, late-night house influences, Passing Through The Doorways Of Your Mind is much more of a home listening experience — one that acts as a time machine to the acid-drenched ‘70s.
Put the record on and appreciate the multitrack recordings, analogue craftsmanship and scorching guitar solos that prove Horatio Luna can’t be pigeonholed.
Passing Through The Doorways Of Your Mind is available now on Bandcamp.
Flimsey Lohan
In the jazz-hop camp are Flimsey Lohan, a perennially chill four-piece who bring velvety keys together with slippery bars for a mellow sound inspired by MF DOOM, BADBADNOTGOOD and Kamaal Williams.
Bringing the rhythmic band mentality of members Sean Gage and Rhys Grunden’s other project Foreign/National together with an old-school hip hop ethos, Flimsey Lohan find a niche that sets them apart in Melbourne’s ever-growing jazz scene.
‘Late Night Fridge Raid’ — their latest single that follows a string of releases over the past four years — is anchored by a dreamy, looping keyboard melody that sends vocalist Lindsey Knight’s lyrics gliding effortlessly across the track. While there’s a late-night munchies vibe that permeates throughout, it’s easy to hear how this could become an atmospheric banger live.
‘Late Night Fridge Raid’ is out now. For more on Flimsey Lohan, hit their Instagram page.
Quivers
Charming jangle-pop four piece Quivers are back to break our hearts with a smile on Golden Doubt, a new album out now via Spunk Records/Ba Da Bing/Bobo Integral. With Matthew Redlich (Holy Holy, Husky, Ainslie Wills) on production, the four-piece lift their indie pop sound into the skies, crafting big, warm soundscapes that comes as a comforting hug on a winter’s day.
Opening track ‘Gutters of Love’ filters easygoing pop-rock through a nostalgic ‘50s pop lens, culminating in soaring, goosebump-inducing group vocals — including contributions from Angie McMahon. The whole record crackles with life, capturing the sort of magic you can get when recording with a classic setup in studios like The Aviary and Woodstock, where Golden Doubt was recorded.
Golden Doubt is a masterclass in jangly pop melancholia: all sunny vocal harmonies and ennui-fuelled escapism. The songs might be shot through with a certain life-weariness and drudgery, but there’s an optimistic kick to Quivers’ concoctions that will keep a smile on your face.
Golden Doubt is out now on Spunk Records.
