 |
A Black Muscle car careens down a desert highway. Mountains, Rattlesnakes and cacti are a blur as a man swigs a bottle of whisky and accelerates. A scantily‐clad woman shifts in the passenger seat and runs her hand down the man’s chest as he grips the wheel. The sun goes down and the night creeps in ‐ they are one mile closer to Home… |
Diamonds and Dust (out now, released September 15 on iTunes), the new 5‐track EP from Brisbane’s Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, takes the listeners on a long journey, fraught with danger and a hint of sex . It was launched on Saturday 9th October at The Step Inn, Brisbane, to a capacity crowd, coinciding with the start of The Fumes’ national headline tour.
Key Tracks featured on the EP are ‘Home’ (a tribute to the boys’ hometown, Rockhampton), ‘Behind That Smile’ (a dancey ode to the things hidden and not said in relationships) and ‘Swampdance’ (a track dedicated to decadence and excess.)
Diamonds and Dust has been receiving regular airplay of all five tracks on community radio stations across Australia. The leading single off the EP ‘Home’ was the 8th most requested song on Australian Community radio for August 2010 (AMRAP). The 2nd single ‘Behind That Smile’ received a Highly Commended in QMusic’s QSong Awards in 2010. The EP also debuted at #14 on the Australian Blues Roots Airplay Charts for September 2010.
Since its inception, Transvaal Diamond Syndicate has supported Australian Blues/Roots legends Dallas Frasca, Ash Grunwald, Mexico City and now The Fumes and Canadian act Elliot Brood, along with appearing at a number of Queensland based festivals. Audience participation has become a staple of the live show, often with 8‐10 people taking the stage to play all manner of musical instruments in an attempt to invoke the tribal nature of the Transvaal along with the fiery two‐piece.
Two tours of Queensland have gained them a loyal fan base around the state, with national radio play ensuring that their sound has begun to pervade ears as far wide as Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia Queensland and Western Australia.
TDS comes in the form of a dirty‐as‐hell sound with a traditional resonator guitar driven hard through distortion and diversified by wailing slide guitar backed up with heavy rock drumming. Two vocals generate a blood‐red intensity spurred on by anger, lust, sweaty masculine swagger and a sound that turns heads and arouses primal urges.
Diamonds and Dust is available digitally on iTunes as well as limited edition physical copies from the TDS MySpace page.
myspace.com/transvaaldiamondsyndicate
facebook.com/transvaaldiamondsyndicate
youtube.com/transvaalds
—-
* ‘Home’ was the 8th most requested track on Australian community radio in August 2010 AMRAP
*2nd most requested track in the Blues category – August 2010 AMRAP
* Single ‘Behind That Smile’ received a Highly Commended at the 2010 QSong Music Awards
* EP ‘Diamonds and Dust’ debuted at #14 on the Australian Independent Blues Radio Charts
* Transvaal Diamond Syndicate currently sitting at #16 on the Myspace Independent Australian Blues Artist Charts
* Interviewed and played on ABC Radio (Capricornia, Toowoomba, Wide Bay and Gold Coast – Sep 2010)
PRAISE FOR TRANSVAAL DIAMOND SYNDICATE
“They’re right up there with contemporaries The Fumes and Dan Sultan” – Who the Hell
“Their music has more hooks than a pirate convention – paired up with plenty of sax and some downright nasty drums packaged together by growling vocals. Grab a bottle of JD and throw down some straw… These guys are just dirty!” – Walk of Shame Blog, BondiFM
“Bristling take no prisoners blues rock with muscular riffs and dynamic drums” – Bill Johnston, Time Off Magazine