Second EP from Crooked Saints is a passable follow from their first EP Every Angry Inch. Singer/songwriter Tim Wheatley’s voice is quite unique. First track `Lazy Bones` has Wheatley sing in a style perfect for radio, but  then it gets all rugged, which continues on second track `Cast of Yesterday`, a track that takes the group into slow down, acoustic mood, which tells the tale of a burly evening (sample lyrics “We started making drugs but we didn’t get far/If my memory serves me correctly we were standing at the bar”). Closing track `Man in Waiting `is a great song to play when coming home on the train at the end of a long day at work. Should be interesting to see how this band progresses.

 (Matt Ryan)

Matt Ryan

Call me a broken record, but Regurgitator shot themselves in the foot when they recorded the song `I Like Your Old Stuff Better than Your New Stuff` back in 1998. The album that song came from, Unit, was one of the first albums I loved and got rocking to. Look at them now. While they still can draw a crowd at the click of a figure, the only songs you hear of theirs on mainstream radio are more then a decade old, and stations like Triple J only give their new stuff the occasional play. So we come to the groups seventh studio album, better than Love and Paranoia, their 2007 effort, but not by much. `One Day` kicks of proceedings, a nice pop track with a ace guitar solo mid way though. Shame it doesn’t stay this good though out the album. `All Fake Everything` starts nice enough, with a sweet piano opening, before it gets eletro where singer Quan starts rapping and moaning about things like having a job, and making references to I Phone, baffling stuff. The title track is the highlight, a medieval instrumental, something I want more of. Then comes `Punk Mum`, which is the most unpunk song I’ve ever heard in my life. `No Show` sounds like a song a nineties pop punk band would reject. Things pick up with `Uncontactable`, where half way through the song  a nice little phone conversation occurs. The last five track are all nice tracks, but nothing special. Maybe it was that nine year old boy inside of me, the one that rocked out to `Polyester Girl` at the grade four disco that wanted me to enjoy this album so much more, and while I still will go to there gigs, I hope they skip this record. The next time I want to hear Quan is making a record, I hope its another solo record, and the next time I heard Peter Kostic is behind a drum kit, I hope he’s back with the Hard Ons.

 (Matt Ryan)

Matt Ryan

Globe To Globe Festival,
Namatjira Park, January 28 and 29, 2012

Although not a significant date on the summer festival calendar, the Globe To Globe world music festival has for over ten years provided an enjoyable afternoon and evening of entertainment.  Whilst one can enjoy the Big Day Out only with musically like-minded friends, Globe To Globe has always been the prime example of a festival that can be visited in groups with friends and family alike.  Unlike other suburban festivals, it doesn’t skew itself too far in either the family-friendly or artsy stakes or put any particular group off.  In the past, I have visited the festival with friends, my parents, and even my grand parents.

So I was looking forward to this year’s outing, especially because the first evening boasted Beth George and later the Ska Vendors, and it was perfect weather for enjoying some bluesy tunes in the shade of the World Music Stage, and later to attempt some dance moves as the sun went down.  Furthermore, it would be the first time I would be attending with a dog, after a two year hiatus since my dog – a big fan of the festival – passed away.  I was disappointed, upon our eager arrival, to be turned away on the grounds that the festival is now a ‘No Dogs Allowed’ zone.

Even more disappointing than being turned away from an event at which I am a regular visitor, with dog, is the fact that the festival overtook the grounds of Namatjira Park, usually a dog-friendly reserve, leaving the grounds off-limits for canine visitors and their owners for the duration of the weekend-long festival.  Luckily there was another park nearby to enjoy a walk, albeit without a stage providing musical accompaniment.

Daniel Gardner

Sometimes it truly takes an eternity to become an overnight success. This UK band has only come to prominence in the last few years, in this country anyway, and it took them getting a song on a popular US TV show (Grey’s Anatomy) to do it. However they have actually been around for nigh on 20 years, amazingly. And by now, they absolutely know what they are doing.

It’s easy to see how that success has come about too, listening to this, their sixth album. They are described as ‘alternative rock’, but they are about as safe and commercial as alternative rock can possibly get. ‘Alternative pop’ may possibly be a more accurate reflection of their sound.

Whichever way you describe or categorise them, their tunes are simple, emotional crowd pleasers. Their melodies are melancholy but sweet as honey, their lyrics are repetitive, full of yearning and delivered in a manner that will pull at the heartstrings to maximum effect (all of which is encapsulated in Lifening) and their appeal is extremely broad. This is music designed specifically for the somewhat indie/artsy end of the mainstream. These guys are Coldplay for modern hipsters.

This album should be another massive success for Snow Patrol. Tunes with single potential are literally falling out of it and the entire album is startlingly and ecstatically inoffensive. Big sales and sold out concert dates across the world are assured.

Rod Whitfield

Closure in Moscow were somewhat of an odd choice as a local support for My Chemical Romance. These guys are like the ficticious band Stillwater from the movie Almost Famous reborn. Maybe a prog rock Wolfmother? They’re extremely 70s anyway. It didn’t matter in the end, as they rocked the capacity Festival Hall crowd. Maybe a little surprisingly, the gothy emo crowd seemed to lap it up. About two thirds of the way into their set, their songs became a little samey, but they put on an excellent, flamboyant, retro inspired rock show nonetheless.

I know I have used the term ‘emo’ previsously in this review, and that is indeed what most of the crowd consisted of. Morose looking, mostly dark haired kids with too much eyeliner, who looked like they had just surfaced as daylight was dying, for fear of bursting into flames if exposed to sunlight (or maybe just turning all sparkly like the whimpy modern vampire apparently does?). But to me, this is where the ‘emo’ motif begins and ends, as far as MCR are concerned.. Their fans are emos, but as a band they ain’t.

As vocalist Gerard Way has strongly alluded to in interviews, the emo tag sits extremely uncomfortably on their shoulders. And this is reinforced even more in a live setting. To these ears, MCR just sound like dramatic, energetic, slightly punky sounding modern/alternative rock. And live, it all fell into place.

Opening proceedings in a blaze of glory with the opening track of their latest album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, Na Na Na,MCR had the massive crowd going absolutely off their nuts from the get go. Sitting in the baconly directly behind the floor, it was a real sight to behold to see 3000 people heaving, bouncing and fisting the air as one.

And, often when you watch a live band that plays for two hours or more, there is a lull period maybe half to two thirds of the way through the set. That was not the case here, the energy levels of band and crowd were maintained absolutely from go to woah, and it was truly infectious. Their set was wall to wall, fist pumping alternative rock anthems, and the crowd left the building utterly satisfied with the experience. It was as much a celebration as a rock show.

Emo my arse, My Chemical Romance rocked this night. That is all.

Rod Whitfield

I am an unabashed fan of Nightwish, and indeed many of their female fronted, symphonic gothic rock/metal contemporaries, Lacuna Coil, Epica and the like. It undoubtedly comes from the fact that I love heavy and metal music, and symphonic music, and few other genres combine the two to such  convincing and dramatic effect. Nightwish’s incredible 2004 album Once is an absolute landmark release in the genre, it’s the one where everything came together for them compositionally, and it broke them on a worldwide scale as well. Whilst they decided to part ways with their incredible lead vocalist Tarja Turunen prior to its recording, and replace her with the slightly less classically accomplished Anette Olzon, 2007′s  Dark Passion Play was an extremely strong  follow up.

It’s been another very lengthy wait for Imaginaerum. It’s a concept album, based upon the memories of an old composer who is facing his death. There is also an accompanying movie to go alongside the album’s release. Needless to say it’s a ridiculously ambitious and dramatic undertaking, in true Nightwish style.

This however may be the album’s downfall. In reaching for more of a ‘music theatre’ type of feel, they may have overreached themselves slightly (which is extremely difficult for a band such as this), and sacrificed a little of the sheer, over the top bombast that they do best and are best known for.

That’s not to say there’s not a solid wack of pomp and ceremony going on here. There certainly is, and a first time listener probably couldn’t help but be blown away by the sheer size, scope and ambition of the record. Bands regularly suffer in comparison to themselves, and their previous triumphs though, and Imaginaerum falls a little short, especially of Once and even Dark Passion Play.

In constructing an album that is also a story, they have come up with a bunch of songs that maybe aren’t quite as fully realised as they were on Once, since they’re having to serve the storyline as opposed to simply standing alone. Listening through to the end of Imaninaerum, there are far fewer moments that make the blood tingle and the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Viewed in isolation, this is a fine symphonic metal concept album. It has many fine moments. Once, and to a slightly lesser extent Dark Passion Play, set the bar insanely high for these Finnish masters however, and Imaginaerum comes up slightly short.

Rod Whitfield

Similar to his main band Porcupine Tree, and possibly even more so, Steven Wilson’s solo works take a while to get your head around. Once again, his new solo album Grace For Drowning is far from instant gratification music, and like most musical geniuses, the man has his quirks (understatement intended). It also takes things several steps further than his last solo release, 2008’s Insurgentes.

As I sit here typing this, I must have listened to the album at least a dozen times, and I feel as though I’m still ingesting it and trying to get inside it. It’s a double album, which doesn’t help to this end, but ultimately it’s value for money and a true musical journey. Apart from the odd grandiose moment, it’s mostly acoustic guitar and piano driven mellow progressive ‘rock’. There are melodies, harmonies and arrangements that have you saying ‘man that sounds like Steven Wilson’, and yet it’s far removed from the Porcupine Tree sound and style. He obviously uses his solo efforts as an outlet for his outpourings of musical ideas that he feels don’t suit his main project. So if you’re looking for the expansive, bombastic prog of PT you may be disappointed. But give it a spin anyway. In fact give it many spins.

If deadlines had allowed for it, I would have given this album at least another dozen listens, and I would probably be raving about it a lot more. There are moments of truly wonderful melody, such as the outtro of Deform to Form a Star and of moodiness that sends shivers down your spine (No Part of Me). Index builds slowly to and extravagant and atmospheric climax, while at over 23 minutes, Raider II is a strange, mindbending epic, that reveals his strong Pink Floydian influences.

Wilson is undoubtedly one of the true visionaries out there plying his musical trade. Every entry into his discography is a unique and fascinating work, every new album breaks new ground and has something unique to say, musically, lyrically, theatrically and thematically. Grace For Drowning is another piece of this man’s immense musical puzzle, and is well worth the time and patience it requires to fully appreciate.

This album is very well named, for it a graceful and immersing experience.

Rod Whitfield

Sometimes an album comes out that is so beautiful that it just defies description. That is certainly the case for Rockhampton’s favourite sons Busby Marou whose self-titled debut album is absolutely sensationally… this is the kind of album that could just have hit after hit after hit released off it… and nobody would get tired of hearing it.

Opening track ‘All Of You’ is an absolute gem while ‘Biding My Time’ is screaming to be used in ‘Packed To The Rafters…. and when it does it is guaranteed to become a hit. ‘Banjo’ continues the string of great tracks while ‘This Moment’ shows that this duo have the songwriting capabilities to pull off a great love song without it getting all soppy.

They also put a lot of emotion into ‘Paint My Cup (Early 60’s)’ which is another gem. ‘Dancing On The Moon’ shows that even when these guys drop an ordinary track it is still worth a listen while ‘Save Some For The Others’ is really, really infectious.

The smooth ‘Lhasa’ is well worth another listen while ‘Not Fire, Not Ice’ is capable of bringing out some strong emotions from deep down inside. ‘Underlying Message’ and ‘5 Rocks’ both consist of some truly beautiful melodies while ‘Konomie’ will win you over with its sweet lyrics.

This self-titled is sensational and I can’t wait to hear more work from Busby Marou.

Rating:

Dave Griffiths

The Sunshine Brothers really do travel the world to make their music. There debut album Rebel Yellow was recorded on a beach near Fremantle while their follow up was recorded in New York, now comes their third album, Red Alert which was put together in the mountains of Spain.

But there is seriously something missing from this album. Tracks like ‘Deep Breeze’ are feel good reggae but with all the tracks back to back the album becomes just a little bit too repetitive.

The tribal sound of ‘The Jamon Song (La Cancion De Jamon)’ may make you want to go to the beach but the ‘Hideaway’ drags down the mood of the album completely. It rises again with the catchy ‘What You Do’ and the darker groove of ‘Red Alert’, but then hits another roadblock with ‘The Pint.’

The Spanish influence is clearly there with ‘Golden Duck’ but then ‘Jairo Jam’ is so repetitive that it can’t even be resuscitated with the help of Spirit Of Pucho. The vocals on ’72 Blanks’ provides another peak for the album but sadly it ends on a sour note with ‘Inside The Silo’, a track that you could expect to hear being used as background noise in a restaurant.

Sadly, Red Alert is a flop and I don’t think even serious reggae fans would find much to write home about with this one.

Rating:

Dave Griffiths

It sounds like publicity spin but the world really is falling in love with Ed Sheeran, and after a listen to his debut album + you will be as well. It only take one listen to this album for you to realise that this British singer/songwriter is one of the most talented musos to surface in a long time.

+ eases in smoothly with ‘The A Team’, a beautiful indie track that Sheeran wrote after visiting a crisis centre. By the time you get to ‘Drunk’ you really do feel like an alcoholic because this album is so damn addictive that you just want more and more.

‘U.N.I.’ shows Sheeran’s expertise as a songwriter while ‘Grade 8’ is one catchy radio track that I really don’t mind listening to over and over. ‘Wake Me Up’ may sound like a track that James Blunt would love to get his hands on but Sheeran’s unique British humor raises it’s head and really makes it something special.

By far the most beautiful track on + is ‘Small Bump’. This is one of the best tracks ever written about fatherhood and really does show why Sheeran deserves to be rated as one of the best songwriters around at the moment. He follows that up with ‘This’ an absolutely gorgeous love song that is going to have hearts breaking.

‘The City’ is a pop track with a rock edge that makes it something special while ‘Lego House’ is yet another love song that will be finding itself onto many romantic’s mix tapes I’m guessing. The faster pace of ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ shows a different side to Sheeran and the use of terms like ‘crack pipe’ shows you just how cutting edge he really is.

Sheeran does sweet and seductive to a T with ‘Kiss Me’ while the brilliant sound of ‘Give Me Love’ makes you rue the fact that it is the last track on the album.

+ shows that Sheeran has the potential to become one of the most popular musos of our time, now after a brilliant debut comes the hard part… sitting down to write the follow up.

Rating:

Dave Griffiths