More new shit! Wowee, its like Christmas only better! Wow Yeah!
The Native Cats-51
Boom! Bet you didn’t fucking expect that right off the bat! Boom! New Native Cats, what are you even going to do about it? Huh? What? You scared? You scared by the greatness?
Man, ’51’ is an offcut from ‘Dallas’, the album The Native Cats released earlier this year, but listening to it begs the question of why the fuck they left it off!? This song is amazing! There’s so much shit happening!
The track starts out like a 1980’s platform gamer, only you control the character of Ian McKaye as he smashes barrels for coins, to fund his label Dischord Records and ensure that he doesn’t have to ever take money from The Man. However, the track then evolves into the sinister monologuing that was found on ‘I Remember Everyone’, a malicious combination of Gareth Liddiard and Kirin J Callinan. And then all of a sudden we’re floating in space to this programmed drum beat and drawn out keyboard soundscapes. Weird shit, but so good you’ll curse The Native Cats for not releasing this to the public sooner.
House of Laurence-Just Don’t Move Me
And bang, more good shit, straight from our backyard. This time, we’re south of the border in Melbourne, with indie rock band House of Laurence. I feel as though the clip for this song is basically a retelling of the band’s journey trying to find a place after Laurence kicked them out of his House for starting a fucking band in his flat. Regardless, at least House of Laurence can write a pretty cool indie rock track in the form of ‘Just Don’t Move Me’.
The Good Sports- Out of the Way
The Good Sports are a great band from Brisbane. Its kind of King Gizzard/Thee Oh Sees, but instead of going for the bat out of hell slaughter that those bands usually get up to, The Good Sports seem content to just wallow in their murky garage-psych jams for a while. ‘Out of the Way’ manages to be both incredibly chill and invigorating at the same time, kind of like if Unknown Mortal Orchestra were dragged out of a swamp.
Shiny Joe Ryan-The Cosmic Microwave Background Pt.1
In case you couldn’t figure it out already from the title, Shiny Joe Ryan is another offshoot of the Perth psych scene, this time from POND member, Joe Ryan. This one has a definitive Tame Impala feel to it, twangy space guitar littering a slowly escalating holy high note, a sound that’s like being raised into heaven whilst the Beatles go through their Indian phase around you. Its a weird amalgamation of sounds, but its pretty fucking cool.
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks-Cinnamon and Lesbians
Isn’t that just the greatest title for a song? ‘Cinnamon and Lesbians’? And wouldn’t you fucking know, this song has the most delightful video clip since Winnie the Pooh made rap videos. Yep, this song pairs those usual Pavement riffs with Malkmus’ wry observations (…’I’ve been tripping my face off since breakfast…’) make for a fun fucking listen. And when the video can reflect the lyrics as accurately as a truth serum, well then its time to shut up, and watch a fucking video.
