BROADWAY SOUNDS
Psych Boogie
Broadway Sounds are unashamed borrowers. Taking cues from afrobeat, psych rock, boogie-funk and pop, the Melbourne outfit aren’t afraid to act on impulse and throw it all together, ultimately producing a sound that’s both curiosity-rousing and uplifting.
Thursday October 15 – Northcote Social Club – Melbourne, VIC
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THE CREASES
Indie Pop
The Creases don’t vie for remarkability, at least not in terms of flashy displays of innovation. That said, they’re not a tiring entity in the slightest – they’ve a way with dream pop melody and an ability to render familiar indie rock tropes in an intriguing manner.
Thursday October 15 – Oxford Art Factory – Sydney, NSW
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AQUILA YOUNG Alt ROCK
With the air of a tormented artist and an arena rock gaze, Aquila Young follows the legacy of such ‘90s artists as Garbage and PJ Harvey. She’s got a powerful set of lungs too, which promises to make her live performances of note.
Friday October 16 – Black Bear Lodge – Brisbane, QLD
FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | SOUNDCLOUD
LEAH SENIOR
Folk
Melbourne songwriter Leah Senior has impressed a lot of the right people in recent months, nabbing a release deal with King Gizzard’s Flightless imprint and supporting the likes of Twin Beasts and Jess Ribeiro. It’s not without good reason either; her acid folk flashbacks are immediately enchanting and cumulatively hypnotising. She’s on the cusp of her debut LP, Summer’s On The Ground, and the stages she inhabits will grow in size imminently.
Friday October 16 – Shebeen Bandroom – Melbourne, VIC
FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD
HEATH CULLEN
Alt Country/Blues
NSW songsmith Heath Cullen recorded his new LP Outsiders with help from Elvis Costello’s regular sidemen, The Imposters. Two thirds of the Imposters have been with Elvis since the beginning, and together they’ve carried out countless genre excursions. Naturally, they’re perfectly adept at enhancing Cullen’s bluesy Americana numbers, which are led by his husky narratives.
Friday October 16 – Wheatsheaf Hotel – Adelaide, SA
DIE ROTEN PUNKTE
Synth Comedy Pop
Die Roten Punkte are more commonly associated with the comedy festival circuit than live music clubs, but that doesn’t mean the duo aren’t an enjoyable musical proposition. Posturing as two subversive Berliners, their electro pop/krautrock shtick makes for a pleasing and hilarious dalliance with nostalgia.
Saturday October 17 – Darwin Railway Club – Darwin, NT
BENJAMIN WITT
Experimental Folk Pop
In 2013, Perth’s criminally undervalued trio The Chemist released an album of outlaw indie rock, which prompted thoughts of everyone from The Drones and Augie March to The Walkmen. They broke up shortly after – a travesty, to be sure – but thankfully frontman Benjamin Witt has returned with his debut solo LP. This is good shit, more openly wacky than The Chemist, but still with incisive songcraft at its core.
Saturday October 17 – The Bird – Perth, WA
MAYHEM & ME
Alt Folk
Tassie outfit Mayhem & Me take a trip to the darkside of folk. Gothic poetry and pastoral instrumentation combines with tension raising ambience (a la PJ Harvey). All in all, it’s a pretty stimulating trip.
Sunday October 18 – Republic Bar – Hobart, TAS
JEN CLOHER, COURTNEY BARNETT, ADALITA & GARETH LIDDIARD
Patti Smith
Tribute shows don’t usually cohere with this column’s intent, but this re-enactment of Patti Smith’s Horses is slated to be one of the gigs of the year. Cloher, Barnett, Adalita and Liddiard – it’d be worth paying big money to see them on stage together in any guise. Each of them has made an artistic imprint by ignoring convention and honing something raw and singular. Patti Smith’s game changing 1975 debut practically wrote the book on such practice.
Sunday October 18 – Melbourne Town Hall – Melbourne, VIC
YEO
Pop
Yeo is goddamn infectious. Suave electronic programming, not at all trite or hewing to prevalent trends, provides the backdrop for the Melbourne producer’s gleeful pop numbers. It just makes you feel good, which at the end of a spring weekend in Sydney, is exactly what you need.
Sunday October 18 – Newtown Social Club – Sydney, NSW