POP
FROM DOWN UNDER
by
Scott Thurling
Informations
about Australian pop scene
PART.1
(3 / 26 / 2001)
Greetings from downunder - or
should I say G’day. I am
very pleased to introduce some of the best power pop bands coming
out of Australia at the moment. Australia has always had its
share of fine power pop - the Easybeats, the Sunnyboys, the Stems. I will be detailing
the current pop scene in Australia. Ranging from the usual
suspects such as You Am I, Even, DM3 and the Ice Cream Hands , to
the more obscure bands who I hope will find their way into your
record collections.
My introduction to the power pop world came late (although I am
still young) Firstly discovering Jellyfish & the Posies &
Teenage Fanclub and then working back & forward hunting out
essential pop gems. I am still a big collector of vinyl records
here in Australia and regularly attend record fairs & stores
in search of buried pop treasures. The International Pop
overthrow festival in LA last year & Baypop in San Fransisco
were perhaps the highlights of my pop life so far! I think I
broke tourist records for the most cd’s bought on a trip - I think my final
count was 280 in the 4 weeks away.
I have just started a pop venture - the record label
“Popboomerang Records”. We already have some exciting projects
in the pipeline so stay tuned for prime pop sounds from
Popboomerang Records. Write to us at popboomerang@hotmail.com - visit us at http://www.geocities.com/popboomerang/ or write to us at Popboomerang Records c/o Scott Thurling P.O. BOX 2016 Rangeview 3132 Victoria, AUSTRALIA
LABEL
INTRODUCTION
PURE
POP RECORDS AUSTRALIA
One of the most exciting
developments in recent times for Australian pop fans has been the
emergence of Pure Pop Records Australia.
Pure Pop Records began last year
as a reaction to the unavailability of quality overseas
independent pop music in Australia. Initially with a catalogue of
about 20 artists, Dave Stevens of Pure Pop Records set of for Los
Angeles, California to the International Pop Overthrow. The IPO
is a 16 day festival featuring 140 bands in the power pop style.
Pure Pop Records were interested in about 10 bands for
distribution and the opportunity to see them at such a
showcase festival was to good to
pass up.
The one band that David Stevens
came back raving about was The Oranges from Japan. This band has
been a success for Pure Pop. Melbourne’s Inpress Magazine had their "Young
Now!" CD in their “Top 5 Office Faves” for an amazing 5 weeks! To put this in
perspective “Radiohead's
Kid A” occupied that spot
for 1 week! Other acts
signed at IPO include American Suitcase from Norway, The Spinning
Jennies, The Tories, Double Naught Spies, Masticators and
sparkle*jets uk. Pure Pop gained the exclusive Australasian
rights to distribute the highly anticipated, much delayed
& long-awaited album from LA pop
genius John Brion.
And Pure Pop is growing. At last
count there were 76 artists represented by Pure Pop Records
Australia and sales are growing. Australian music buyers are
becoming aware of the power pop genre and Pure Pop are very happy
with the increased acceptance of the previously
"unknown" bands that are now making inroads in the
Australian music scene.
ARTIST
INTRODUCTION
GROUNDSWELL
When I think of Groundswell I
think “If Only” If only the pop world could sample their
infectious tunes they could be the next big thing in the pop
wold. This Melbourne band was founded in late 1994 and is based
around Ivan & Micheal's songs & vocals. Groundswell have
managed to release 3 singles and a mini album in that time. Fans
of bands such as Teenage Fanclub, Mayflies USA and Cloud Eleven
should find this band hits the pop spot! Groundswell feature
Michael Snowball- guitar/vocals, Ivan Jakic - bass/vocals and
David Kleynjans - drums. The latest CD from the band is the
single "Linchpin" recorded at Hothouse studios by Wayne
Connolly (Welcome Mat, Knieval).
In recent news Groundswell
should start recording demos for their debut full-length album in
January/February. The album should be completed just after
mid-year and if things go to plan the band intend to tour
extensively. The overseas market is the bands main aim and they
are currently making contacts in Japan with the view of making it
their first stop before heading toward the United States and
Europe.
Anyone wishing to contact
Groundswell should e-mail the band at mikey88au@yahoo.com.au
Recommended listening:
Groundswell - Skinflick
Groundswell - Good Morning TV
Groundswell - Club Mix
Groundswell - Linchpin
STARKY
Starky are a band who has the
potential to make a major splash on the pop scene given the right
exposure & promotion. Starky have formed from the ashes of
Sydney Pop band Pennidreadful who released a single & 2 great
EP’s on the Phantom Records
label.
Starky burst onto the airwaves
& video screens late last year with their great singe “Rock and Roll is the Devils Music”
The video for this song scoried high
rotation on national music video channels. Starky echo the
classic pop sound of current pop heroes Teenage Fanclub and
Fountains of Wayne. I feel Starky could brighten the day for those
Teenage Fanclub fans who may be slighly disappointed with the
bands latest offering “Howdy”
This week I listened to the mixes
for the bands debut full length album and I was very impressed.
Expect songs like “Yeah
Yeah Yeah”, “Last Night I Drove Your Girlfriend Home”
were instant classics to these ears.
In current Starky news,
Guitarist Nick Neal, has returned from overseas. He managed to
shop around the new Starky record to some very favourable
reactions. I look
forward to the release of this album in the upcoming months.
Recommended Listening:
Pennidreadful : Money For Woolen Socks (Phantom Records)
Pennidreadful : The Ping Pong Delegate (Phantom Records)
Starky- Rock and Roll Is The Devils Music (Phantom Records)
Michael
Carpenter
Not Lame recording artist
Michael Carpenter enjoys more worldwide success than here in his
own country. He is more well known in Australia for his
production work on releases from bands such as 78 Saab,
Challenger 7, The Finkers, Pyramidiacs, Eva Trout and The
Scruffs. Michael Carpenter is also the lead singer & bassist
for pop band the Finkers.
Pop fans who have not yet picked
up Michael’s second album “Hopefulness” must rush out to their local import store.
It is an even stronger collection of songs that the equally
impressive debut album “Baby”
Don’t forget to keep listening after the final
track for the hidden cover version .
In current news, Michael
Carpenter is about to announce details of a July/August USA tour.
This should please the USA pop fans who were very disappointed
that Michael could not return for IPO 2000. In more concrete news
Michael Carpenter has announced “S.O.O.P #1” - The Covers Album. The project is to be
released on his label Big Radio Records in April and will be
limited to 500 copies. The
fun part is the fans get to vote for their favourites from a list
of 15 contenders. Just go to the site and follow the links in the
news section at www.mcarp.com
Recommended Listening
Michael Carpenter : Baby (Not Lame Recording Company)
Michael Carpenter : Hopefulness (Not Lame Recording Company)
P76
P76 are one of the most exciting
bands on the Australian pop scene. For those who don’t know, P76 are fronted by Danny McDonald
from the band Jericho. Jericho released 4 stunning EP’s before disbanding & evolving into
P76. P76 debuted with catchy (now out of print) Life In General
EP on their own Hub Records label. The band have just recorded
their new EP "Sunliner". The band have recently signed
to USA Pop label "Zip Records" The CD is scheduled for
release in Australia, New Zealand, and USA in February 2001.
"Sunliner" was recorded and mixed over 2 days in
November at Melbourne's Birdland Studios. Fans of The Sunnyboys,
The Stems, You Am I and Header should really love this EP.
Recommended Listening
Jericho : " Jericho "
Jericho : "Instamatic" (MDS)
Jericho: "Radio City" (MDS)
Jericho: "Can’t Find
Reverse" (MDS)
P76: "Life In General" (Hub/ Blah Blah Blah)
SHOWBAG
Showbag are a new band out of
Perth. Showbag are not pure pop. Their strength lies in the
jangle pop variety ? I have heard this type of music called “desert metal” but I am not sure. I do know that Showbag
remind me of great acts of years gone by such as Green on Red,
Guadalcanal Diary and R.E.M (yes I know R.E.M are still going but
I am not sure how strong!)
Showbag have one release out to
date, the 6 track EP called Playlunch. Showbag are recording
again at the moment for a follow up EP, which should hopefully be
released through Phantom Records (called "Quicksand").
The band have also pressed up a “fan club tape” which was recorded at home just before
Christmas and has been sent to everyone on the bands mailing
list.
For more information on Showbag
e-mail desilu@iinet.net.au
GOLDEN
ROUGH
It would not surprise me if
Australian band Golden Rough enjoy some success down the track!
Founder David Orwell has been responsible for releasing some of
the finest pop music over the last few years. Firstly in the
short-lived but much loved Sydney band Oliver. Think Teenage
Fanclub with hints of Big Star. Oliver also featured current
Knieval bass player Tracey Ellis.
Golden Roughs first release was
the mini album called “It’s A Heck of A Machine” A mix of laid back country originals
numbers and a few choice cover versions. They followed this up
with the album “Twin Firs”
Imagine putting the Jawhawks, Wilco and Teenage Fanclub in a
blender for an insight on how this album sounds. Most recently Golden Rough have released
the follow up album “This
Sad Paradise” This album is
more laid back than Twin Firs but equally as essential. Fans of
the Pernice Brothers will fall in love with this album. The band
actually supported Joe Pernice & acted as his back up band on
his last Australian tour.
Latest news from the Golden
Rough camp is that they in the very early stages of making their
third record after having a break for a few months to recover
from our triumphant US tour last year. The other significant news
is they are once again back to a four piece after parting ways
with guitarist Jason Walker. More information at http://www.zipworld.com.au/~goldenr/
Recommended Listening
Oliver : Black Mountain Songs (Summershine Records)
Golden Rough : Twin Firs (Summershine Records)
Golden Rough : This Sad Paradise (Candle Records)
DOM
MARIANI/DM3
No pop fan can hold their head
high if they fail to own one CD released by this man! For the
uninitiated Dom was the founder of seminal oz band the Stems who
later went on to pilot the Someloves and of course released a
series of fine albums under the moniker of DM3
In hot off the press news: Dom
should be recording his instrumental project in February. Sources
have reported the project features plenty of variety and all
sorts of styles (soul, surf, spy movie etc.).
Another project in the pipeline
is his solo album. He will record with the current band
(including Tony Italiano and Jeff Baker). The band is currently
writing more material to record (either with a band or just
acoustic) and hopefully have an album's worth later in the year.
Dom is eager to get over to Europe soon once the album is
released and arrange a tour for 2002.
Recommended Listening
The Stems : At First Sight Violets Are Blue (Mushroom Records)
The Someloves : Something Or Other (Mushroom Records/White Label)
DM3 : One Time Two Times Three Red Light (Citadel Records)
DM3 : Road To Rome (Citadel Records)
DM3 : Rippled Soul (Citadel Records)
LOCAL
LIVE SHOW
5678’S (The Punterc Club Hotel January 8 2001)
I have to admit I knew very
little of this band before they arrived in Australia in December.
I had heard them described as “Japan’s wildest ladies of rockabilly” which sparked my interest. This was apparently the bands third
Australian tour. The band played a series of gigs in December to
full house signs at each show. The band also played New Zealand
before returning to Australia for this final show.
This show was at the great
Punters Club venue (in Fitzroy - the heart of Melbourne’s Indie music scene) I was shocked to walk
in and see that the venue was filling up fast - long before the
first band appeared on the stage. First up on the bill were the “The Double Agents” soulful rock'n'roll ala flamin' groovies.
Next were “The Mystaken”
- all girl rock band ala 70's Suzi Quatro or
the Runaways. Third band on this night were the swamp rock band
“The Exotics” - By this stage the crowd and heat and
smoke had become too much and I retreated outside for some fresh
air.
Again this show was a full house
- many fans were turned away in disappointment & many fans
tried desperately to sneak, cheat or trick their way inside past
security.
The 5678’s appeared in matching black leather
outfits & proceeded to put on a glam meets trash meets pop
meets rock performance. They sang in English & Japanese. The
highlight for me being the funky “Do The Barracuda” Lead singer & bassist Ronnie stole the
show for me. “Wild”
would have to be the one word to sum
up her energy & style. This performance of the band fell on
January 8, Elvis’s birthday
- the band dedicated this night to “the King”. The packed crowd called the band back
for three encores. Not on frown in the crowd as the fans streamed
from the venue smiling!
