Album Reviews

Album Review: Future Static bring the noise with sophomore EP Fatalist

Formed in 2016, post-hardcore kids Future Static have been working hard to solidify their place on the Melbourne scene. Fatalist is the second EP from the band, which consists of singer Bri Marsh, guitarists Ryan Qualizza and Jack Smith, bassist Kira Neil and drummer Jackson Trudel. Of the EP, Marsh said: “It’s a bleak look at…

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Album Review: Grouplove – Healer (2020 LP)

Returning to our ears after a few near traumatic years, Grouplove are back in 2020 with a revitalised sound and lust for music. Always capable of writing a bonafide pop song in the past, the Californian five-piece are back with Healer, an album as up and down as a pushup. Since forming in 2009, there’s…

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Honey Cutt

Album of the Week: Honey Cutt balances sunshine and realism on Coasting (2020 LP)

Honey Cutt is the project of Boston-via-Florida singer-songwriter Kaley Honeycutt. Whilst she cut her teeth playing in New England, she put out a couple of EPs under the moniker Baby!, including 2018’s Sunny F.L. Cut to 2020, and with a name change, it’s time for the project’s debut album: Coasting.  If you like your indie…

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Album of the Week: Northeast Party House’s Shelf Life is a turning point for the Melbourne band

Northeast Party House have awoken. While their first two albums (Any Given Weekend and DARE) were both great releases in their own right, it felt like both were building to something bigger. And now, four years on from DARE, the band has fully metamorphosed into what they’ve always shown signs of becoming. Shelf Life is…

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Album of the Week: Michael Dunstan conjures up calm on his debut LP In The Grand Scheme (2020 LP)

Thanks to the likes of Ziggy Alberts, Kyle Lionheart and Kim Churchill the Australian folk/surf rock scene is in fine form. Now, there’s a new name we can add to the list: Michael Dunstan. Though he’s far from a newcomer to the scene.  In The Grand Scheme might only be his debut album, the Western…

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EP Review: Jack River – Stranger Heart (2020 EP)

The evolution of an artist is imperative to their continued success. Sure, you could release a really great debut album and have everyone love it across the musical spectrum, and then proceed to release the same ten songs every two years for the next decade before you seemingly grow out of your target audience, or…

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Tora

Album Review: Tora delight fans with a deluxe edition of Can’t Buy The Mood

The home-grown wonder that is Tora are no longer Australia’s best kept secret. Following the success of their first album Take A Rest in 2017, songs including “Another Case” and “Too Little” caught international attention and saw them head overseas to perform. Now preparing to re-pack their bags for another tour of Europe in the…

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Album Review: Glass Tides drop their first full length album, with the stellar In Between

Adelaide’s Glass Tides have been blending post-hardcore with soft rock hooks and heartfelt vocals since their inception in 2017. Garnering comparisons to the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, The Used, and Young Lions, the quintet have just dropped their first full length album, In Between. With press praise from triple j and a recent Track…

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Album of the Week: Hayley Mary – The Piss, The Perfume (2020 EP)

It’s not uncommon for artists to try re-invent themselves. Whether it’s as solo artists or within the band they’re in, quite often it’s done to try and break the mould that they’ve become to be known for. Some do it well; others not so much. As for Hayley Mary, her debut EP is distinct and…

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Album of the Week: Anna Smyrk returns with stunning second EP, Swim

Singer-songwriter Anna Smyrk recently dropped her second EP, Swim. If you liked our recent premiere, featuring her single “Alight“, you’re going to love this five strong selection. Recorded in a Central Victorian farmhouse, Swim brought together a band of old friends on violin, banjo, dobro, double bass and drums, with Anna’s sister on backing vocals. The…

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Album Review: Jimmy Eat World return with stellar 10th album, Surviving

It’s difficult to think of the alt-rock and emo scenes without thinking of Jimmy Eat World. The Arizona band have been peddling their emotive wares for a good quarter of a century now, and tenth studio album Surviving is yet another showcase of solid songwriting and killer sounds. “[the] album explores some of the different…

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Album Review: City and Colour returns with the stunning A Pill For Loneliness

Dallas Green is back with his sixth City and Colour album, A Pill For Loneliness, and it’s another belter from the Canadian singer-songwriter. All the usual City and Colour suspects are here – poignant and moving lyrics, a brooding, subtle soundtrack, and, of course, Green’s stunning seasoned vocals. In A Pill For Loneliness, there’s a…

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Album of the Week: Wallis Bird shines on her sixth album Woman

Singer-songwriter Wallis Bird is back with Woman, her first album release since 2016’s Home. Occasionally politically charged, often emotionally raw, and always beautifully crafted, it’s signature Bird, powered by a synthesis of folk, soul, and a little bit of electro-pop. Woman touches on a variety of subjects, from the personal to the newsworthy. Bookended by…

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Album Review: Heavy Metal Rules is more of the same from California’s Steel Panther

It’s definitely fair to say Steel Panther aren’t for everyone. But for every heavy and hair metal hater, and for all those who’d rather not mix parody with punk, there’s a loyal Steel Panther fan to balance it all out, and with latest album Heavy Metal Rules, the California rockers are happily continuing to cater…

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Album Review: Brisbane’s Austen sets the bar high with debut EP Passenger Seat

Brisbane singer-songwriter Austen has just dropped her debut EP and, honestly, I’m a little bit in love. Passenger Seat is a five strong collection of brooding electro-pop, featuring singles “Too High To Cry“, “Anthem“, and “Money“, and is filled with plenty of trademark killer hooks to get listeners in the mood for her upcoming support…

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Album Review: Brisbane’s WAAX bring the noise (and an unexpected amount of feels) with stellar debut Big Grief

WAAX have just dropped debut album Big Grief, and we can confirm that it’s a cracker. Consisting of frontwoman Maz DeVita, Ewan Birtwell and James Gatling on guitars, Tom ‘Griff’ Griffin on bass, and drummer Tom Bloomfield, the Brisbane punks worked with Powderfinger‘s Bernard Fanning and Grammy winner Nick DiDia on the twelve track release, with things taking…

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Album Review: Seeker Lover Keeper – Wild Seeds (2019 LP)

You can tell a lot about the quality of an act based on how contemporary and current their music sounds even when listening to it eight years after it was first released. “Even Though I’m A Woman” is still one of my favourite and timely tracks, while “We Will Know What It Is” will always…

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Album Review: Greta Stanley’s latest EP, Sun in My Eyes, is an assured and unflinchingly honest listen

The 6th most played artist on triple j Unearthed last year and with a slew of festival performances under her belt, Cairns art pop/electropop artist Greta Stanley is clearly doing something right. Sun In My Eyes is the latest EP from the singer-songwriter, and it’s a six song strong triumph, featuring exquisite vocals and hard-hitting…

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Album of the Week: Angie McMahon’s Salt (2019 LP) is the sound of an artist demanding to be listened to and heard

When I first saw Angie McMahon about this time in 2017, you sensed there was something special about this unassuming artist standing behind her guitar and microphone. In support of The Jezabels at Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel, Angie was fresh off the back of being crowned that year’s winner of the Josh Pyke Partnership for up…

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Album of the Week: Jordan Rakei’s Origin is an impressive blend of art, technology, politics and soul

London-based Australian musician Jordan Rakei has just dropped his new album, Origin, his third, and first since the release of Wallflower back in 2017.  Initially I came to this album on a bit of a whim, unfamiliar with Rakei’s past output, but drawn in by plaudits from the likes of Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin….

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Album Review: Emotions flow freely as Meg Mac gives us all a little bit of Hope

Hope can be a genuinely hard thing to find these days, but can often be found in the places we don’t think to look. Meg Mac’s new album offers us a quiet moment of hopeful reflection, and also brings with it a gentle reminder of her vocal and lyrical talent. Recently coming off the end of…

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Album Review: Polish Club – Iguana (2019 LP)

Here’s a fun fact: despite the commonly held belief that they can do it whenever they please, Iguana’s can only change colour when placed under stress or basking in the sun. Now that I’ve dazzled you with my Year Seven standard understanding of the animal kingdom, you must know that just like Iguana’s, Polish Club…

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Album of the Week: AURORA – A Different Kind Of Human (Step II) (2019 LP)

Enigmatic, ethereal and endearing AURORA, has at last released the response to her call, A Different Kind Of Human (Step II), following up her 2018 release Infections of a Different Kind (Step I). Like many artists of this moment, more and more performers are turning their lyrical focus towards ecological themes, and cries to save the Earth….

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Album Review: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets take you on a trip with And Now For The Whatchamacallit

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets (PPC) walk a delicate line between some of the magnates of their genre, eliciting the Australian sounds of Tame Impala and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, while creating an unshakable reverence to early psychedelic king, Jimi Hendrix. And Now For The Whatchamacallit is a further exploration of this while allowing PPC…

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Album Review: Breaking down Barriers with Frank Iero and the Future Violents

Frank Iero is back with his third solo album, performing with new band The Future Violents. Barriers is a reinvention of sorts for the former My Chemical Romance guitarist, featuring fourteen tracks that all circle around the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Inspired in part by a 2016 Sydney car accident…

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Album Review: Crooked Colours’ LP Langata bridges the magic of Vera with new flair

Since Crooked Colours‘ release of Vera back in 2017, the trio has become something of a ‘tour de force’ within Australia’s production scene. Vera, built around a profound introduction of their sound, was the perfect launching pad for the group; with outstanding singles such as “Come Back To You”, “Vera” and “I Hope You Get It”…

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Album of the Week: Alex Lahey – The Best Of Luck Club (2019 LP)

You know the old American show ‘Cheers’? The one set in the aptly named ‘Cheers’ bar, featuring Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, Woody Harrelson and everyone’s favourite radio show hosting psychologist (well before he couldn’t work out what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs). Anyway, the bar that is Cheers is the place you…

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Album Review: Kim Churchill’s I Am (2019 EP) finds the brilliant balance between the warmth of summer and life

Even a week after the release of Kim Churchill’s new EP I Am, I still have positive, yet complicated, feelings about an EP that has provided me with a little solace in a life that has recently taken a turn for the busier. I’ve particularly enjoyed the juxtaposed nature of the collection, with its moments…

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Album Review: Fire and Whistle Theory – Take Me Alive (2019 EP)

Three years since the release of their debut EP, Golden Guns in 2016, Brisbane blues rockers Fire and Whistle Theory, have released their sophomore EP Take Me Alive. Featuring a collection of tried and tested crowd favourites and new songs, the band took a live approach to the recording, hoping to capture a raw, genuine…

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Album of the Week: Nick Murphy’s Run Fast Sleep Naked forms an experience of enlightenment

Although Nick Murphy (formerly known as Chet Faker) has been consistent in releasing new singles over the past few years, Friday saw the release of his first album, Run Fast Sleep Naked, since 2014. The Melbournian artist has spent four years travelling around the world, recording content in places where he felt the most creatively…

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