Sans Parents
Power pop
The golden age of power pop is hard to pin down. I mean, you can pinpoint various time when the genre’s flourished – Big Star and The Raspberries in the ‘70s, Cheap Trick in the ‘80s, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies and You Am I in the ‘90s. Anyway, Sans Parents are power pop tragics, and the Brisbane-via-Sydney band’s early singles suggest power pop’s heyday could now be upon us.
Thursday November 12 – Black Bear Lodge – Brisbane, QLD
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The Harpoons
R&B/soul
I’ve had a conflicted relationship with The Harpoons. I first saw them was years ago, and they had a well studied but rather forgettable doo wop/’60s thing going on. Then at Meredith last year I was blown away by their set of seductive nu-R&B grooves. With latest single ‘Ready For You Love’ they’ve sealed the deal – giving the foundations of R&B an electronic makeover without sacrificing the sensually stirring immediacy.
Friday November 13 – Former Royal Women’s Hospital – Melbourne, VIC
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KT Spit
Abstract R&B
Grimes just released a new album, right. She’s commonly portrayed as an artist on the fringe, and her latest LP is a fairly scattershot release. However, it still sits pretty close to the middle. Melbourne’s KT Spit makes frazzled electronic R&B, and refrains from following a straight line. It’s heady stuff; a useful panacea for when the new Grimes starts to grate.
Friday November 13 – Format – Adelaide, SA
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World Champion
Psych pop
Sydney duo World Champion have been teasing us with their existence but providing nothing to listen to for over a year now. In the last couple of months, however, they’ve delivered. Their Future Classic-endorsed latest single ‘Shakes’ is a psychedelic pop tune with a breakbeat-inscribed percussive bent. It’s hard to wipe thoughts of Madchester from the mind, but such associations won’t diminish the track’s infectious sense of fun.
Saturday November 14 – Carriageworks – Sydney, NSW
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Noire
Lethargic pop
Sydney three-piece Noire make a friendly sound, but there’s more than a touch of melancholy to their dreamscape pop. However, it’s a gentle ride that gives you a pillow on which to lie when you’re feeling a little doleful yourself.
Saturday November 14 – The Foundry – Brisbane, QLD
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B Wise
Hip hop
Straight outta south Sydney, MC B Wise has a few hit-the-floor party jams in his arsenal, which are sure to light up the dancefloor in Perth this Saturday. But B Wise ain’t a party-MC by trade. He’s a thoughtful character with a personable vocal style.
Saturday November 14 – Mojos – Perth, WA
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NO ZU
Heat beat
Oh good god damn, there’s fun to be had here. Call it boogie, funk, disco, house – call it what you want, No Zu are one of the most entertaining and ecstatically infectious bands we’re blessed to have within our borders. If you haven’t seen the video for latest single ‘Ui Yia Uia’, watch it right now and observe how quickly you then snap up tickets to Saturday’s show.
Saturday November 14 – Carriageworks – Sydney, NSW
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Tame Impala
Mind mischief
Not small fish by any means. Really, they never were. Even when Tame Impala were a three piece playing fuzzy psych jams it was pretty obvious something special was going on. The Currents tour hits their hometown this weekend, and the Melbourne and Sydney shows suggest it’ll be a master class in melody and groove, lights and fluorescent colour.
Sunday March 15 – Belvoir Amphitheatre – Perth, WA
Ben Salter
Folk rock
Ben Salter writes songs in an old fashioned way: guitar in hand, existential vulnerability to express. But while he might use long established modes, he documents his own experience, painting an unadulterated image of his personality, which certainly makes it unique, if not brand new.
Sunday November 15 – Byron Theatre – Byron Bay, NSW
Kirkis
Jazz/electronic
There are jazz roots to the music of Melbournian one-man project Kirkis. However, there’s not much traditional about it. On his 2014 release ‘Mirror’, distorted synth and over-driven drums make the vocal performance seem like an intricate dance work – avoiding a plummet into the wicked underbelly of subversion.
Monday November 16 – Former Royal Women’s Hospital – Melbourne, VIC
