TURNSTYLE
Indie rock
Proud providores of Casiotone-coated indie pop, Perth’s Turnstyle never got the widespread recognition they duly deserved. However, with overseas interest in Aussie music increasingly rampant, could there be hope for the forgotten heroes of the ‘90s/00’s underground to resurge will full force? One thing’s for sure, anyone that discovers Turnstyle ain’t going to be disappointed.
Thursday June 25 – Mojos – Perth, WA
FACEBOOK – SOUNDCLOUD – WEBSITE
THE KITE STRING TANGLE & DUSTIN TEBBUTT
Folktronica
TKST and Dustin Tebbutt have separately made an impact on the Aussie music scene in recent years with a brand of folk/pop songwriting that takes production seriously. Of the pair, TKST sits closer to the electronic spectrum, but even at their most adventurous, these guys pay attention to such traditional things as structure, melody and the accumulation of atmosphere. The recent collaborative single ‘Illuminate’ indicates the pair’s respective home studios aren’t averse to strangers.
Thursday June 25 – Metro Theatre – Sydney, NSW
DUSTIN TEBBUTT FACEBOOK – THE KITE STRING TANGLE – DUSTIN TEBBUTT WEBSITE
TOTALLY MILD
Sway-gaze
I was instructed to never use the word ‘smooth’s when describing wine, as wine-makers find it offensive (i.e. another expression for ‘easy-drinking’). Same applies to Totally Mild. The term smooth-jangly-indie massively undersells the band’s powers. Listening to their music is like indulging in an extra piece of chocolate before bedtime or watching a TV series boxset all in one sitting. Go on, live a little.
Friday June 26 – John Curtin Hotel – Melbourne, VIC
SOUNDCLOUD – FACEBOOK – BANDCAMP
PAPA PILKO AND THE BINRATS
Howlin’ blues
A little quiet of late, it seems Papa Pilko and his gang of oddball henchmen have been busy making their debut album. The lead single ‘How Long’ shows the band picking up where they left off – it’s a swampy blues number, carried along by a debonair groove and bass-y brass work, which backs up Pilko’s hoarse, weekend-at-the-dog-track lead vocal.
Friday June 26 – The Vanguard – Sydney, NSW
FACEBOOK – UNEARTHED – BANDCAMP – SOUNDCLOUD
MOJO JUJU
Rhythm’n’soul
Mojo Juju has been rewarding curious listeners for a handful of years with tunes indebted to classic soul and blues – from Al Green to Tom Waits – and a gutsy voice to suit. But not until her latest LP Seeing Red/Feeling Blue did we meet Juju the artist. The record’s funk rhythms, hip hop phrasing and southern fried blues jams are all delivered with a tone of audacious triumph.
Friday June 26 – Pirie and Co. Social Club – Adelaide, SA
HIDEOUS SUN DEMON
Garage psych
Hideous Sun Demon is a silly band name. Though, the clunky ugliness is somehow attractive. You can’t say the same about the band’s songs. Well, they are attractive, but for their boogie-beat backbones, washy garage-y guitars and freakazoid personalities – none of which is particularly ugly.
Friday June 26 – The Odd Fellow – Perth, WA
FACEBOOK – BANDCAMP – UNEARTHED
GRENADIERS
Rock
There are a lot of bands that cite Queens Of the Stone Age as an influence when what they really mean to say is ‘QOTSA are the band we try to sound like the most.’ Grenadiers show evidence of QOTSA absorption, but they’ve adapted it in a positive, constructive way. Looking up to the tycoons of contemporary rock’n’roll gives them a foundation from which to lift off and make their own kind of noise – a noise that simmers not like the Joshua Tree desert but like our own sunburnt landscape.
Saturday June 27 – Darwin Railway Club – Darwin, NT
FACEBOOK – UNEARTHED – SOUNDCLOUD
LINDSEY LOW HAND
Dinge rock
Dumb jerk-off name, dumb jerk-off sound. What did you expect? Though it’s not purely infantile. Adelaide/Melbourne filth wizards Lindsey Low Hand are purveyors of mockingly irreverent and almost-atonal garage rock. It’s underground music that will never leave the underground. And there’s something disgustingly beautiful about that.
Saturday June 27 – Hotel Metro – Adelaide, SA
PAPER ARMS
Punk/ emo
Boys get emotional too, you know. Some let it out in soft-spoken, weepy melodies. Others scream in a hideous way that’s more than a little indulgent. And then there’s the likes of Paper Arms, who assume a reflective standpoint, surround themselves with locomotive atmosphere and occasionally let out a gruff scream that conveys a relatable honesty.
Sunday June 28 – Brisbane Hotel – Hobart, TAS (w/ Title Fight)
UNEARTHED – FACEBOOK – BANDCAMP
TWIN BEASTS
Freewheelin’ alt-country
Twin Beast are such a gas. There’s a cheekiness to the Melbourne collective’s alt-country arias that suggests they don’t take themselves overly seriously. Though, in spite of being driven by a frivolous sense of adventure, the band’s constructions aren’t the least bit throwaway. Frontman Giuliano Ferla is a bonfire of charisma and he knows exactly where to go for a stick-in-your-head melody.
Sunday June 28 – The Gasometer – Melbourne, VIC