Monday, November 18, 2013

Single Review: Keep On Dancins 'Grey Ghost' Single




Keep On Dancins are one of those bands who have seemingly been around for ages, proved themselves countlessly with stellar EP and album releases, and yet they have never really attained the recognition they deserve as truly original and creative song-writers.
Although dreamy surf-rockers such as Beach House may have a similar sound, there is certainly nobody in Brisbane making this kind of music. I would even go as far to say there are really not many bands in Brisbane with a sound as mature as Keep On Dancins. There are plenty of gritty garage acts and fun indie boppers, but not many bands making music as layered, enticing and serious as Keep On Dancins. 

The band’s new single ‘Grey Ghost’ is possibly the best and most well developed demonstration of Keep On Dancin's robust talent. It certainly hints that the band can take their sound to an even deeper level, which is a significant statement to make considering the consistency in the strength of their songs on their album ‘The End of Everything.’ Grey Ghost extends on everything that is great about Keep On Dancins; it is a powerhouse of a song that builds and builds and doesn’t let you go until its explosive finale.

The key to Keep On Dancins’ power has always been their subtlety, a less-is-better-than-more approach that still evokes powerful emotions in the listener. But Grey Ghost is not like this. Grey Ghost is explosive and enrapturing: it is a song that demands to be heard. Now don’t get me wrong, Grey Ghost is not a loud and in-your-face song. It leads you in, guiding and goading the listener with a throbbing baseline and smooth, velvety vocals. The song begins much like any other Keep On Dancins song, but it takes the listener to a different place. By the time the chorus kicks in Yuri Johnson’s melodious surf guitar has erupted into a chaotic riff as Jacinta Walker hypnotically chants, ‘I saw a ghost,’ a phrase that builds more and more power with repetition. The chorus hints at what is to come, but leaves it only as a suggestion as the song relaxes back into its smooth baseline.

Jacinta’s vocals are powerful, but not overwhelming, whilst the lyrics are poetic without being pretentious, two phrases I could easily use to describe Keep On Dancins as a band. After the bridge the song fully divulges into a frenzied, near head-pumping guitar solo, in which all the subtle emotions hinted at are fully realised and wreck havoc and harmony on the listener. But like I said, Keep On Dancins are one of those bands that know less is more and thus, the band do not let the guitar solo go on for an excessive amount of time. Instead, allowing it to leave more impact than it otherwise would have if it had gone on for another minute or two. A lesser band would have done just that, but Keep On Dancins know exactly what they’re doing and most importantly, they trust their audience.

Published by AAA Backstage.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Live Review: The Kite String Tangle @ Black Bear Lodge, November 7, 2013




Defining ‘live music’ is becoming increasingly difficult with the wider range of music styles now popular amongst the masses, the most notable being electronic music. I always find the best indication as to what kind of music everybody will be raving about during the year to be the line-up for Laneway Festival. Last year’s line-up was certainly a nod in the direction of electronic music and this year is no different with New Zealander Lorde headlining. This is where popular music is going, but I’m not sure it is where live music should go.

I went down to Black Bear Lodge on Thursday, November 7 to check out some live electronic music acts, but upon first walking into Black Bear it wasn’t even evident anybody was playing. The place was scattered with a few early comers, but mostly empty. I wandered to the back of the bar to find a seat and surely enough there was somebody on stage, but nobody watching. The only person looking at the stage, apart from myself, was a lone girl standing in the centre of the room, staring lovingly up at Thomas Brydon, the solo artist behind the first act of the night, Motion Picture Actress (I presume she was a friend).

The sound of Motion Picture Actress differs from more commercially viable acts like The Kite String Tangle, in that there are no vocals and the songs dreamily blend in and out of each other; not exactly radio-friendly. This doesn’t mean it is any better. In fact, I would have to say this kind of music should probably be reserved for a chill-out at home, with headphones on so that one can hear the complexities of what Brydon is actually doing on stage, which are mostly lost in the live arena. The only person who seems to be having fun is Brydon himself as he bobs his head up and down with the music, whilst everybody else stands in clumps and clusters and chats animatedly to their friends, all the while completely ignoring Brydon.

Nothing much changes when Elroy 4.0 takes the stage, except more groups of people have arrived, still completely ignoring the live set. Elroy 4.0’s style is similar to Motion Picture Actress, a combination of hip-hop influenced beats and chilled out songs that recall a lazy summer day. However, that seems to be the more appropriate setting for this kind of music, which is why the audience are not that fussed about paying any attention. The only point in the night at which things liven up is when the man behind The Kite String Tangle takes the stage: Danny Harley. By this point the entire room has filled out, with punters squeezed into every corner, corners and chasms I didn’t think existed in Black Bear Lodge. Harley starts his set with a mellow song accented by light keyboard and strings. People immediately go crazy and although it is a nice song I don’t think it is the kind of song people really need to scream and cheer at.

After his first song Harley greets the audience, joking, “You can tell this is a headline show because I have my own table with my own wine.” Apart from the more engaging songs, Harley’s cheeky chit-chat with the audience is what sets him apart from his predecessors and is precisely why he has the big crowd: he connects with his audience. His self-deprecating chatter in-between songs feels genuine and helps everybody relax after the rather rigid sets from Motion Picture Actress and Elroy 4.0. This is the first show of the tour so it’s no surprise that Harley is particularly nervous and using humour to get through the night, but it’s an approach that works, and one I hope doesn’t disappear or become faked when the fame that he is surely on the cusp of is fully realised.

It is also important to recognize that The Kite String Tangle is hardly in the same category of electronica as the previous artists. Although the music may fall under the same broad label of ‘experimental electronic’, there is really little experimental or ground-breaking about The Kite String Tangle’s songs. They are pop songs in structure and style that happen to have electronic influences fused throughout them, but they are not experimental. But this is not to say they are bad, in fact, I enjoyed Harley’s songs far more than the other acts, but this is probably because they are more accessible and his performance was more engaging. But I don’t believe it should be labelled as something it really isn’t.

Danny Harley’s Kite String Tangle show becomes one of sing-alongs, laughter and dancing: everything a live set should be, even though his predecessors had demonstrated that perhaps electronic music was best left at home. Highlights include a song called, ‘Commotion’, complimented by heavy, dramatic synthesisers, a cover of Lorde’s ‘Tennis Court’, and of course, the title single ‘Given The Chance’, which perfectly closes the show. With his exciting, energetic performance Danny Harley proves me wrong about electronic music played live; any kind of music can be made fun and engaging when performed live if there is a performance, an element that was unfortunately absent with the other two artists who simply stood on stage and expected their audience to do all the work.

Published by AAA Backstage.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Live Review: The Creases @ Alhambra, October 31, 2013






The Creases are that band everybody’s been talking about for the last few months, ever since they were miraculously signed with the prestigious Rough Trade Records. To give you a bit of perspective, Rough Trade represent bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Warpaint, The Palma Violets and The Strokes, a mere blip on Rough Trade’s indie music monopoly.
It’s a story most people can get behind, with the young members being clear underdogs in the music industry who will hopefully put Brisbane on the map. If you’re another musician, however, it does seem a bit unfair that The Creases, who have only been around for a few months, have achieved the success most bands in Brisbane have been working toward for years. How The Creases may differ from some of the other garage acts in Brisbane and the reasons they may have found success is probably because their sound is more accessible and they are more accessible too. Unfortunately, many of the bands in Brisbane have a deadly Achilles Heel that prevents them from having any success: they’re lack of motivation to promote their music, because that would be seen as trying too hard, which isn’t very garage, now is it?

Nevertheless, The Creases did have something to prove and I went down to Alhambra Lounge on Halloween to check it all out.

Halloween is always a great night to catch a gig, with the costumes and décor providing a festive atmosphere and allowing most people to let loose a little more than they would have without the costume. Supporting The Creases is Babaganouj, another line-up of hip young kids reviving their nostalgic nighties roots with an inflection of pop-rock tunes that recall bands like Hole, who the band covers with the song ‘Malibu’. Leading this nighties-revival scene in Brisbane is the incredibly successful Go Violets, who have lent two members to Babaganouj. Or maybe it is the other way around: keeping track of the chronology of all these bands can be difficult when they swap and share band members like sex partners. Thus, is the Brisbane music scene. 
Babaganouj’s sound is more alternative rock than the bittersweet and intimate sound of Go Violets. Kind of like the more daring and fun older brother. The band put on a nice show: charismatic lead singer Charles Sale sports a clever Lou Reed Halloween costume, flanked by the Go Violet girls Ruby McGregor and Harriette Pillbeam decked out in white men’s shirts, with Hariette’s shirt covered in blood and Ruby’s presumably being a homage to Pulp Fiction in combination with her blunt black bob. There’s a good balance of energy here, with Charles providing most of the zest, whilst the girls let him do his thing, always looking like their enjoying themselves. As a result, the audience has a good time too. It’s the kind of gig where everybody is dancing or at the very least, swaying, and nobody is getting hurt. It’s a testament to the kind of people that flock to these shows. Although a lot of people let out a unanimous groan whenever the dreaded hipster is mentioned, at least these are the kind of kids who can put on a silly costume, have fun and dance around without getting stupid.

Babaganouj take us back to the nighties with their set, an era we remain in when The Creases take the stage. All the band members from The Creases have costumes on too, with one of the front-men, Jarrod Mahon, wearing oversized overalls that I’ve concluded may have been a Backstreet Boys homage, although I can’t be sure. Maybe that’s just his look. A lot of young bands have recently emerged in the indie rock music scene with a hip retro look, but a mismatched bubblgegum, Backstreet Boys pop sound, but the reverse is true with The Creases. The band applies a standard pop formula to their tunes, otherwise they wouldn’t be catchy, but this is no Backstreet Boys tribute. The sound is more mellow and grungy, but it’s hardly anything groundbreaking. Even so, it doesn’t surprise me that they got signed to Rough Trade. Go Violets prove that this repackaged 90s grunge sound and image for indie kids sells.

But The Creases are hardly the best Brisbane has to offer a major label like Rough Trade. The songs are fun and the band puts on a good show, even crowd-surfing at a couple of points, but it isn’t anything new. But at the end when half the audience and Babaganouj are on the stage with The Creases and everybody is dancing, I can’t help but fall prey to the infectious good vibes of the night and think that maybe, this is a little special. There is definitely a lot of potential for these guys to become something really cool. The single, ‘I Won’t Wait’, is the best song The Creases have, but even then it’s only really a ‘good’ song: melodious and a little scrappy (in a good way), with a bit of quirk thrown in with the singers’ trademark Australian accents, but it’s not anything mind-boggling. Still, ‘I Won’t Wait,’ shows these guys can write a song, but the question remains, can they write more than a good, clean, fun pop song and reinvent indie rock ala Rough Trade’s The Strokes? Probably not, but that’s a hefty challenge. I think we will see good things from these guys and that is what counts, especially with Rough Trade guiding them.

Published by AAA Backstage.