New Releases - 14/11/2017

​Greeting groovers! Sunflower Bean are kicking things off the week with a glossy new single but for those in the mood for something a little raw, there’s two new thrashers from Sydney's Crocodylus and Melbourne’s The Stained Daisies. Pond, Kurt Vile, and Gum's go-to artist Ben Montero has dished up some drifting psych of his very own while Marlon Williams and Aldous Harding push into more sombre territory with heart pulling duet ‘Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore’. Also on hand, London's Sorry chronicle heartache of a different shade with ‘Wished’. Finally, If you hadn’t heard, Violent Soho axeman James Tidswell is starting up a new label Domestic La La. For those unfamiliar West Thebarton’s ‘Bible School’ should provide a good idea of where he’s taking things. 

​SUNFLOWER BEAN – I WAS A FOOL (LUCKY NUMBER)

Here Brooklyn aesthetes Sunflower Bean try a hand at soft rockin’ pop. To their credit the high gloss fantasy of ‘I Was A Fool’ sees them pulling it off with composite ease. Yeah, it’s a little Tango In The Night lush, but what self-respecting group isn’t taking a stab right now? 
​

​
​MONTERO - TOKIN' THE NIGHT AWAY (CHAPTER)

It shouldn’t take too much imagination to figure out what this one is about. 
​

​
​CROCODYLUS – VERTIGO (INDEPEDENT)

We’ve been digging Crocodylus’ ‘Christian Syrups’ as well as ‘Sweat Already’ over the past couple of weeks and as such we’re stoked that these Sydney thrashers have dropped their debut EP. In addition to these leading singles Christian Syrups collects an additional four ripsnoters guaranteed hit you straight in the gut. Closer ‘Vertigo’ sees the 3-peice hitting their energetic peak in a towering blaze of amphetamine-fuelled garage psych. 
​

​
​MARLON WILLIAMS AND ALDOUS HARDING – NOBDOY GETS WHAT THEY WANT ANYMORE (DEAD OCEANS)

Marlon Williams and Aldous Harding were an item at one point and it’s perhaps this intimacy which lends to the emotional headrush of Williams’ latest. Capturing their considerable alchemy, ‘Nobody gets What They Want Anymore’ gravitates between chamber pop and minimal folk. A masterstroke of emotional flagellation, it's littered with aching solitude and helpless resignation. 
​

​
​SORRY – WISHED (DOMINO RECORDING CO)

Another duet, ‘Wished’ spills forth as a dystopic mass of noise and fretwork. Dragging Riot Grrl and post punk influences into their darker emotional hues, 'Wished' rings out as a tortured middle point between bitter remorse and feral aggression. If these jagged guitar licks say anything it’s that these Londoners aren't averse to playing things a little raw. Devastatingly heavy!  
​

​
​WEST THEBARTON – BIBLE CAMP (DOMESTIC LA LA)

Laced with manic lyrics and ragged thrash, ‘Bible Camp’ unleashes a caustic blast of pure emotion. As these Adelaide natives have just announced their signing to Violent Soho axeman James Tidswell’s Domestic La La, it may be something of a taste of things to come from this fledgling label. The track’s narrative draws inspiration from a violent incident of homophobia frontman Reverend Ray’s mother Dora witnessed as a university student. An upbeat revision of this tragic romance there’s a lingering feeling of devastation that pervades. 
​

​
​JEFFE – WHOEVER YOU LOVE, I’M COOL (INDEPENDENT)

Navigating a twisted mass of surrealism and angst, Jeffe’s debut conjures languid torrent of tortured nocturnal thought. The fallout of relationship looms large in this narrator’s mind. Her lyrics come mired in the questioning and doubt as the track’s orchestral backing oscillates between smouldering lulls and transcendent builds. 

​
​THE STAINED DAISIES – GET BACK HOME (SIDE STARE MUSIC)

A collision of down-home blues and mangled garage sound, The Stained Daisies latest documents a bumpy transition from rural NSW to their grittier Melbourne surrounds. “Literally our first night out in Melbourne a cabbie locked us in his cab, wouldn't let us out and then flagged down the cops,” drummer Aidan Bateman recounts. “Perhaps we were a little inebriated at the time, however, we put the cabbies anger down to Uber envy.” Okay, Sure. These four may have a little of a way to go, but there’s no faulting these stripped back sonics.  
​