Pharaohs

File under "dead but still entertaining". Pharaohs were, I think, my first real exposure to Adelaide music other than The Borderers (yeah!) when I saw them supporting The Pictures at the height of my adolescent "retro-rock" phase. Damn Jet.

With their debut single "Keelhaul", the band combined a simple yet damn catchy fuzz bass line with frenetic drumming, buzz-saw guitar, yelpy vocals and a nonsensical falsetto chorus that kind of sounded like Super Mario's voice.

It was their second EP, 2006's Medicines that really did it however, when the music became both denser and more chaotic in some places, and blissfully clear and and decompressed in others. With singer-guitarist Dan Crannitch taking co-production duties, it layered crunchy, angular guitar lines over filtered vocals that began to dispense the chanting, percussive hollerings of their earlier work and shuffle closer to *gasp* melodies!

Then unfortunately, they broke up, and I was a little horrified. But, in a preposterously amazing twist of fate, they announced a new band featuring 66.66% of Pharaohs, with a new sound that sat closer to alt-country than post-punk. Whiskey tango foxtrot! They then released perhaps my favourite record of this year. So, a good outcome in the end.

Pharaohs - Splinter

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Radio Spectacular!!!

Despite being kind of on my radar of acts to surreptiously myspace stalk every couple of months, I only really gave Radio Spectacular!!! a hearty listen when I finally met them both and nabbed a copy of their amusingly titled EP, The Robot Ate My Crayon, complete with hand-coloured crayon sleeve, the intricate folding of which made me incredibly jealous of their deft fingers and paper ingenuity.

The pair, who also write two very nice blogs (Phebe's arty Lightning Heart and Harry's amazingly noble and splendiferous tome Dazzling Horse) make dorky, synthy pop that nonetheless exudes a feeling of utmost "cool". Comparisons can be drawn to latter-day Architecture In Helsinki, with the quirky percussion, electro flourishes and the whimsical male-female vocal interplay, but they have a spark and a penchant for driving synthlines that is their own.

In 'You Light Me Up', which might ring a bell from the tantalising snippet that soundtracked a recent Canon ad, the band pull out the kind of nonsense "eh-eh-oh" hook that would be catchy yet infuriating in the hands of say, Rihanna, but when rendered with such unabashed dorky abandon, it becomes utterly charming and infectious. And for some reason I just love Harry's so naff, but somehow, incredibly cool line "We're like partners in crime, always dancing to the beat".

They are out of action in the live sense, since Harry apparently broke his wrist whilst stage diving at an empty Rocket Bar, but in the mean time their EP can tide you over, as well as the majestic musings on "resplendent beards" and "pegataurs" in Dazzling Horse.

Radio Spectacular!!! - You Light Me Up

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The Ocean Party

When I caught Oh Mercy last week I was also introduced to another Melbourne outfit with a penchant for easygoing country-strummed chords, harmonica and naive lyrics of neurotic lust and sitting around. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they had a lot in common with the headline act, sounding much like a younger, slightly less polished set of Privileged Woes outtakes. I mean, right down to the skinny jeans and op shop shirts with the sleeves rolled up way past the elbow.

But, on closer inspection and a bit of myspace stalking, they dohave some nice songwriting and raggedy chicken-picked riffs with an added Vasco Era twang to those breathy, Dan Kelly-esque vocals. Though not setting the world on fire (as if they are expected to), these fellows certainly boast a handful of potential with their first EP.

I shall keep thee posted.

The Ocean Party - St. Kilda Beach

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Steering By Stars

In the three weeks and two gigs (and one solo performance) since I first heard this Adelaide four-piece (featuring past and present members of Aviator Lane, Lumonics and Zeta) I've found myself transfixed by their hypnotic swirls of guitar, atmospheric drums and indecipherably reverby vocals, like Ed Droste awash in a layer of echo and fuzz.

The tunes from their debut album Cables might sound meticulously layered and honed in the studio, they are actually a pretty accurate documentation of their live performances (which are by the way, mesmerisingly formidable) recorded in just 3 days at Broadcast.

The band are currently unsigned, but if I had my way, they'd get signed to Spunk!, tour with the Middle East and Leader Cheetah and be "forkast" before the year is out.

Steering By Stars - Closer

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Music In Adelaide (video)

For Uni this semester I had to make a short 3 minute film about whatever I wanted. So, since I like the Adelaide "scene" ever so, and always enjoy talking to people in bands I thought I'd film a few people doing just that.

So here is my film-making debut, the insanely creatively titled "Music In Adelaide". Excuse the dubious audio and lighting quality throughout.

It features...

Rory O'Connor (Steering By Stars)
Jon Mortimer, Anthony Golding & Tom Mackay (We Grow Up)
Anny Duff (Bing Goes to Monaco)
Luke Eygenraam (The Waterslides/Antony of the Future)
Ben Revi (Humble Bee/Cheer Advisory Council)

The Honey Pies

Featuring half of the amazing (yet sadly deceased) Poly&theStatics, I fully expected this band to be largely a distillation of their old outfit's Belle & Sebastian-y pop moments. While those influences are still present, thankfully The Honey Pies have an intriguing schtick all of their own, and seem a little better executed and more cohesive than Poly ever was. Somewhere between the sunny, spiky riffage of early Arctic Monkeys and the technicolour pop of '65/66-era Beatles, the band are a head-shaking salute to the guitar pop bands of the 60's.

A mix of Ray Davies and Julian Casablancas punctuated by moments of lofty, falsetto-driven whimsy, singer Jon Marco's vocals and songwriting seem more self-assured (even more acrobatic) than before, which is lovely to hear again on record after a few years' absence.

The band have just put out a batch of pretty polished demos through their website, including "Sex Wax", a joyously frenetic surf-rock ode to the Apocalypse, and the freak-folk ditty "Sold My Soul".

The Honey Pies - Sex Wax
The Honey Pies - Sold My Soul

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Bing Goes to Monaco

Shamelessly reaffirming what was already said a few months ago, Bing Goes To Monaco are pretty sweet. Prior to last night I hadn't seen them for a few months, and in that time they've procured a permanent drummer in Tristan March, written a batch of new material and played some pretty big support slots (Bluejuice, John Steel Singers and... Peter Coombe's son's band).

It also seems Freya has gone electric (judas!) and I don't know, they seem to be enjoying themselves a lot more onstage which is nice to see. Oh, and their EP is quite swell too.

As a side note, Coopers' Alive over the last 2 weeks has delivered two of the funnest shows I've been to since No One Wants To Play With Me. Last night's featured an Aviator Lane set that toed a fine line between hushed instrospection and bawdy stand up comedy as Michael Radzevicius traded inebriated insults with some heckling frenemies.

Bing Goes To Monaco - Ice War

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