Last year’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late was a bold move for Drake, moving away from the ultra-relatable, slightly neurotic rapper-singer and towards something closer to street-minded hip hop, taking aim at critics over dark, brooding beats that were glued together by an adrenaline-inducing energy. It was mafioso rap for the selfie generation,…
Luca Brasi are one of those bands who, when you see them perform live, it’s impossible not to feed off the energy the band generates on stage. The band exudes an ebullient confidence that has been showcased well over their previous two albums and with their latest release, If This is All We’re Going to…
With Feelin’ Kinda Free, the Drones have reasserted themselves as the enfant terribles of Australian music. They’re willing to go where others aren’t, and they bring an unmatched intensity to their music. Anticipation has been building for this release since “Taman Shud” dropped last year, a single that showed that this album was going to…
It’s been two days since Beyoncé unleashed her latest visual album onto the world in the form of Lemonade. Two days since the visual component showed her strutting down a street, armed with a baseball bat and smashing in car windows with a reckless abandon of woman scorned. Two days since she further explored and embraced her Southern…
As a populace, Australia has known Violent Soho have been building towards stardom for the better part of this decade. While their first and sophomore records (We Don’t Belong Here and Violent Soho) received little praise and only minor success, 2013’s Hungry Ghost was the punch-in-the-face and kick-in-the-teeth that rightly put Violent Soho on the…
The world was treated to a surprising (and hard-rock wet dream inducing) announcement early this year – the great man himself, Iggy Pop, was going to release an album of new material. Not only that, but it was to be produced by another rock legend, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles…
This Is How I Let You Down is Montreal-based alternative folk-pop band The Franklin Electric’s debut album. The band is headed up by Jon Matte on vocals, piano and trumpet, with Liam Killen on drums and vocals, Alexis Messier on guitar, and Martin Desrosby on bass. Matte is also the songwriter, plus he produced the…
When British alt-pop band The 1975 came into prominence with the release of their self-titled debut album, their name became synonymous with teenage hipsters across the globe. After two years of touring and tracking their pop rock beats across the world, the band promised a reinvention in the wake of their second album – and…
Kendrick Lamar‘s To Pimp a Butterfly has been hyped as much as it has for some very good reasons and we’re still yet to see how that album will continue to grow, influence, and inspire the next generation of discerning emcees, who will hopefully seek a similar impact to the one Lamar has had over…
Parquet Courts are like that crush you had in high school – they’re smarter, cooler, funnier and more interesting than you and all you can really do is bow down to them and hope their cred will rub off on you. They’ve had a career that would make any discerning punk rock fan blush and…
Sydney based trio RÜFÜS first set disco balls turning in 2010. Following two EPs and a debut full-length album, listeners all around the world were grooving to their smooth indie-electronica music. Sophomore album, Bloom, is a lush progression of the catchy hooks, soaring vocals and entrancing dance vibes that the Sydneysiders have effortlessly disseminated for over five years….
‘Lay down, lay down. Give me someone new…’ is an extremely pertinent lyric to the entire entity and act that is DMA’s. While they’ve definitely drawn a few favourable comparisons during their rise over the past two years, there’s been plenty of conjecture over whether DMA’s are in fact ‘someone new’ or just something recycled…
It has been argued, with varying levels of success, that Simple Plan deviated too far over the past couple of albums. Truth be told, they’ve always clung to the pop flank of pop-punk. Yet when irreverent lyrics and copious amounts of tomfoolery were replaced with love songs and seriousness, punk purists abandoned ship. But Simple…
Straight up, Hymns is as far removed from the Bloc Party that burst on to the scene in the mid 2000’s as possible. Hymns doesn’t have a “Banquet” or “Helicopter”, and slightly misses the mark with its balladry. But, the development and reincarnation of Bloc Party on Hymns obviously didn’t want the band to be…
First off, who is this Pablo to whom Kanye West refers with his album title, The Life of Pablo? Picasso? Neruda? Escobar? Is he inexplicably trying to revive Petey Pablo’s career? Referencing Radiohead’s classic debut? Maybe he is likening himself San Pablo (St. Paul), another biblical reference following the religious megalomania of Yeezus. Most likely…
Sydney four-piece The Jezabels have progressed in leaps and bounds following their 2007 debut. With four awards under their belt, the band has enthralled listeners with innovative soundscapes and lyrical prowess. Weaving between different genres their latest release, SYNTHIA is a product of stunning composition and production. A cohesive body of work, each track maintains individuality…
Their first album in four years, The Waterfall is a bracing return for My Morning Jacket, that will reaffirm them in the canon of indie rock. It’s graceful and lyrically robust, while still maintaining the positive vibes of the group. It’s been a while coming, but throughout the album’s run time, it proves a stellar…
Back in 2013, Savages released a critically acclaimed album, Silence Yourself – a post-punk gem that even had its own manifesto as part of the cover art. The anticipation was high then for Adore Life, an album devoted entirely to love songs. Luckily, Savages have lived up to the hype and delivered another excellent LP. The album begins with the scorching…
For a while there, it seemed like Blackalicious would be no more – they burst out of the blocks in the early noughties with three classic LPs, before a decade-long silence after 2005’s The Craft. But back in 2015, the duo broke their hiatus in a big way with Imani Vol. 1. The album is not…
Sydney-based former Novocastrians, Love Parade, released their second album, Shake On The Mission, earlier in 2015 and it’s one of the sneakiest albums I’ve heard in a while. I’ve found myself randomly humming or singing tunes from the album at the oddest of times, usually when I’m supposed to be deeply engrossed in something heinously…
Mystery Jets have been a slowly growing force ever since their debut in 2006. Since the release of debut LP Making Dens, the London act have continuously changed their style and scope, while maintaining the roots of who they were when it all began. From the young and earnest Twenty One, to the synth led…
There seems to be a growing trend in the entertainment industry of over-hyping. Some new whatever comes out, or is announced, and it whips everyone into a frenzy just thinking about the potential for a new whatever-the-hell-is-being-hyped. Unfortunately, the other growing trend is letting those who are hyped up for something down, and as a…
2015 was a good year for hometown hero Courtney Barnett, who went from an indie darling into a huge success story and Grammy nominee. 2015 was also kind to the label she started, Milk! Records, when a year of growth and huge sales of Courtney’s debut album was rewarded with an AIR award for Best Independent…
They’re contenders for the APRA Song of the Year and they recently dropped into Falls Festival for a set or two. Let’s take a look back at Hiatus Kaiyote‘s sophomore album that propelled them further than they thought they could go. That’s right, we’re talking about future-soul, funk time travellers Hiatus Kaiyote and Choose Your…
Disaster, dilemma, gloom and an absolutely dreadful time: It’s what Daughter do. And to be frank, they do it way too well for you to not be at least a little bit concerned about the band members’ wellbeing. Daughter, the London based trio consisting of vocalist Elena Tonra, Swede Igor Haefeli, and Frenchman Remi Aguilella,…
It’s impossible to review ★ (Blackstar), David Bowie’s 25th and, devastatingly, last album, in any subjective way given the tragic events that have passed since its release. Lyrics, especially from the title track and “Lazarus”, are now refracted through his death and are hard to interpret without his illness in mind. But, for the record, I bought…
Horror My Friend may have taken a while in crafting this beast of a debut record but the wait is most certainly worth it; the Adelaide band has come out guitars thrashing, confident and ambitious – the trio has harnessed some well established post-punk/90’s rock influences in producing a record that isn’t scrappy. It’s aggressive…
LA noise band HEALTH officially released their third studio album Death Magic earlier in the year. The hiatus between their previous album Get Color and the new Death Magic has paid off. These guys have been dipping their toes into numerous projects over the years, from game soundtracks to video collabs with greats like Eric…
Australia’s sweetheart Troye Sivan has finally unleashed his talents into the stratosphere with his debut record Blue Neighbourhood. Primarily known for his YouTube channel, Sivan is not just another vlogger who earns an income from doing the Chubby Bunny challenge – he has expressed his personal journey into adulthood in a collection of songs that prove the…
Angsty pop-punk isn’t a new thing. It isn’t a bad thing. It will always have a place within the lives of adolescents trying to find something to connect with. And frankly, I’m not ashamed to admit that some of my favourite times listening to music now is when I revisit the music I listened to…
