Category Archives: Review

The Drums “The Drums” – EP Review

Review: Natalie Salvo
The Drums are a young band from New York City who – like The Strokes before them – received a lot of hype very early on. But as their debut EP, Summertime! And now eponymous debut album have proved, this indie pop quartet are more about basking in the sunlit glow of a California beach than being inspired by yellow cabs or shopping on fifth avenue.

The guys ooze retro cool and like Peter Hook’s bass playing in Joy Division and New Order, their sound makes an immediate impact gaining your attention quickly with its old-yet-fresh style. But it seems this quality is also the group’s pitfall because when spread out over 12 songs, it becomes too repetitively simple and the buzz does tend to wear off a little. Like summer itself, you miss it when it’s gone but after enough humid 40+ degree days you can’t wait for winter or at the very least, autumn.
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Black Label Society “Order of the Black” – LP Review

  Review: Lana Harris

Zakk Wylde is known as one of the metal world’s best guitar players, particularly
when talking shredding abilities. He was Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist for two decades, and didn’t let decadence overcome discipline – as well as working and touring with Ozzy, he completed an album a year from 1999-2006 with his side project, Black Label Society (BLS). BLS have their guitars firmly wedged in heavy metal/ hard rock – think Alice in Chains, a bit of Ozzy’s influence apparent in the vocals. But now Wylde’s no longer with Ozzy, and Order of the Black is the first album release by BLS in four years.

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Interview with JOHN 5 [Audio]

Interview: Ben Hosking
There aren’t many guitarists out there displaying as much originality and commitment to their craft as John 5.

Long known as the axeman behind such artists as Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, he’s also played with such luminaries as Rob Halford, David Lee Roth and Paul Stanley. When he’s not touring with Zombie, he’s playing session work with artists from a wide range of styles including Ricky Martin and recording his own solo albums; such as his latest effort, ‘The Art Of Malice’ which is available now.
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Bec Plath “At The End of the Night” – Single Review

Review: Victoria Nugent

  This soft single is the latest release from Brisbane vocalist Bec Plath, best known for her vocals with local band The Bloodpoets. At The End of The Night follows Plath’s 2009 debut EP Unrequited, and gives a taste of what we can expect from her next EP.

The single starts with a smooth yet strong piano intro with guitar kicking in shortly before Plath’s melodious vocals. During the chorus, Plath’s vocals take on a slightly sharper edge, building in intensity before softening again for the verses. The piano remains a subtle but constant presence throughout the song, which flows effortlessly through key

changes which add to the track’s originality. Plath’s lyrics are introspective comments about living in a stressful world to which many people would be able to relate. Her vocals are imbued with both honesty and a sense of heart that makes listening seem like a deeply personal act. The music meanders for a while, almost seeming a bit lengthy, before coming to a powerful crescendo towards the end of the track, and then fading out softly. At The End of the Night is a slow-burner with a lot of emotion, and worthy addition to any compilation.

Bec Plath – At The End of the Night is available at iTunes:
Bec – Bec Plath

Related Posts:
CD Review: Bec Plath “Unrequited”

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Bastardfest @ The Globe Theatre, Brisbane – 28 August 2010 – Live Review

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Blood Duster
[Photo: Stuart blythe] 		  Review: Hannah Collins

Bringing together some of Australia’s most notable and long standing metal acts; Astriaal , Pod People and Blood Duster ; The Globe Theatre opened their doors on Bastardfest last Saturday to let the shred ignite the stage and appease those curious enough to have been lined in entry.

Punters of all shapes and sizes graced the venue and packed the bar, but although The Globe seemed full up, it was more of an illusion caused by the tinned sardines hovering in the foyer when in reality we were quite short of a sell out. Numbers may be have been lacking but it contributed only, to make the experience more personal.

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The Cat Empire @ The Tivoli, Brisbane with Clairy Browne and The Bangin’ Rackettes – 25 August 2010 – Live Review

Review: Victoria Nugent

  It may have been mid-week, but that didn’t deter the crowd at The Tivoli who flocked to see The Cat Empire perform on their Cinema tour.

As the evening kicked off, Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes warmed up the crowd with their soulful stylings. Clairy Browne had a powerful presence as frontwoman, with an Amy Winehouse

style beehive and a deep, dulcet voice. The three Bangin’ Rackettes crooned backing vocals at the side of the stage and the band provided old style soul music to flesh out the sound, with punctuating saxophone. Champagne featured bright keys, rounded saxophone beautifully melodious verses and a less polished but more upbeat chorus. The band’s unique cover of Bang Bang from Kill Bill was a standout song, with the tempo slowed right down, giving it a more mournful sound than one would think possible. One memorable moment was the duet between Browne and her sister Natalie (one of the Bangin’ Rackettes) about not letting a man treat you badly, the classy soul punctuated by more modern one fingered gestures. T he group’s sultry sensual cover of a Tina Turner number, complete with red lit silhouettes further emphasised the band’s great range. Browne was at her powerfully smooth voiced best with Stephanie, a bitter song about the dangerous woman trying to steal your man. Clairy Browne and The Bangin’ Rackettes make music that is purely intoxicating, combining dirty doo-wop with sultry soul, slow hips and unison fingersnapping.
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[Photos: Cody Alexander]
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Midnight Juggernauts “The Crystal Axis” – CD Review

Review: Natalie Salvo

  Batten down the hatches, the Midnight Juggernauts ‘difficult’ second album, The Crystal Axis appears to be anything but that. Instead, it uses analogue harmony walls and experimentation aplenty to craft 12 striking tracks (well 11 plus an overture) with a destination of the sun’s core. Onboard we journey via new tangents and those crazy panoramic retro screens of old.

The trio employed a lot of live experimentation to get here. The jams err on the side of prog rock and spaced-out sonic landscapes. They billeted together in a remote and isolated house on the NSW

coast with only synthesisers, keys, guitars, drums, racks of pedals and other electronic gizmos for company. The jams even found their way into the recording process and at times this adds a unique character to the music, while at other moments feels as though a bit too much fat was left on the bone.
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Junip “Fields” – Album Review

Review: Natalie Salvo
If ever there was a group that embodied the spirit of quality over quantity, then Junip’s it.

The trio – made up of José González (vocals, guitars), Elias Araya (drums) and Tobias Winterkorn (keys) – have released a few singles and EPs; taken a 5-year break (where the former toured his solo work); and are now on the verge of releasing their debut album, Fields. It took a lot of effort to get here (although it was by no means the longest spell – Guns N’ Roses anyone?) but in this case people will declare it was a labour of love well worth the wait.

González and Araya have been making music together since they were 14, having started creative life as a hardcore group. In 2010 they’ve taken a different musical route, improvising together to find song sketches and in particular, looking for beats and guitar patterns that stood out for their overall groove and melody. The result is 11 nu-folk and pop songs borne out of patience, perfectionism, inspiration and sheer bloody mindedness.
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Goodnight Owl “Goodnight Owl” – EP Review

Review: Natalie Salvo
Goodnight Owl started life in a bedroom, graduated to various recording studios and a church in Melbourne, and the result is a folktronica quartet content on blurring the lines between musical genres. Peel away the layers and you have five songs on a self-titled debut EP that have too many ambient noises and electronic beats to be strictly pop, yet also boast too many tender, heartfelt moments to be strictly the former.

The group have been likened to The Postal Service, Sigur Ros, Bon Iver and Band of Horses and they admit their music can take you in one of two directions. Like being faced with a road less travelled, on the one hand there is the promise of the embrace of the dawn while the alternative is an adventure into the dark
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HELLYEAH! “Stampede” – CD Review

Review: Ben Hosking


Hellyeah – Hellyeah		   Many metal fans were surprised to see Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott take to the drum stool again after the murder of his brother, Dimebag Darrell Abbott in 2004. He’d famously declared he’d never play again and no one really blamed him either.

However, as early as 2000, a select few members of up and coming metal groups Mudvayne and Nothingface had started making plans to form a supergroup. The initiating members recorded a demo and approached Vinnie Paul about joining. After first declining the offer, he finally joined the band 18 months later; commenting that, “Everybody had their head in the right place and that let’s-tear-the-world-a-new-ass attitude“.

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PVT (Pivot), Seekae, AXXONN @ The Zoo, Brisbane 19 August 2010 – Live Review

Review: Denis Semchenko
As is the rule with The Zoo on school nights, there’s only a handful of people inside the room by the time AXXONN – aka Brisbane electronic music artist Tom Hall – announces his appearance by producing a series of bleeps from his keyboard and laptop. Not deterred by lacking crowd numbers, he quickly fills the sonic space with heady drone-electro, hitting one cutting, heavily-sustained synth chord after another. As the kick drum gets more insistent and bassy, the lucky few listeners in the room begin to “get into it”, rewarding each track with progressively louder applause. Hall’s one-man show may not involve much antics to ensure an enthralling viewing experience, but the music itself makes for an excellent listen.
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Jesus Christ Superstar @ Playhouse Theatre, 20th August 2010 – Live Review

Review: Lana Harris

Rocking great guitar riffs fill the sold out venue, slow notes trembling across the grey walls of a ruined cathedral set, preparing the audience to receive the voice of Tod Strike. As Judas, he opens the narrative by launching into ‘Heaven on Their Minds’, a song which allows Strike to demonstrate a truly commanding voice and worthy of one of the lead roles in this production.

  This reimagining of the original production of Jesus Christ Superstar (first performed in 1971) has a pared back, post apocalyptic set that doesn’t change, and puts the focus on the singing, as does the score – which tells the whole narrative by using more than 20 songs to move the story forward. Not a single piece of dialogue is presented without a backing melody. The basic storyline is easy to follow – easier if you’re familiar with the story of Jesus, because even though this is a post apocalyptic version of a musical first performed in the seventies based on an interpretation of a book written centuries ago, the plot is still the basic biblical storyline of Jesus gets famous, Jesus is betrayed by jealous best friend, Jesus is crucified as a result of the backstabber.

The post apocalyptic setting of this tale makes it easy to draw parallels between this and the lives of modern day celebrities. The scenes where the supporting cast forms a mosh pit as Jesus sings boost the resemblance.

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Art Vs Science @ The Hi-Fi, Brisbane – 13 August 2010 – Live Review

Review: Lauren Sherritt


[Photo: Stuart Blythe]		   Anticipation levels high, crowds of dance-hungry fans packed Brisbane’s Hi-Fi Bar last Friday night to experience Art vs. Science’s much talked about ‘Magic Fountain’ live show. The night was cold and crisp and the excitement in the air palpable as hundreds of fans headed to the great venue for some high quality Australian entertainment.

They were first greeted by Sydney-siders Jinja Safari, who gave a solid set and got the audience members who had turned up earlier moving with their light electro-tunes. After a short break Tim and Jean appeared and really showed the crowd a thing or two about rocking out. It was hard to tell whether the musicians or the crowd were getting more into it, but it was clear that both were getting a lot out of the music as excitement levels began to rise and the venue began to fill. After performing their more well known tunes “Veronica” and “Come Around”, Tim and Jean gracefully departed the stage, curtains closing, leaving the rest of the night for the headline act Art vs. Science to fill.
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How to Destroy Angels [EP] – CD Review

Review: Ben Hosking

  It didn’t take Trent Reznor long to begin making music again after shutting the doors on Nine Inch Nails last year. In fact, news was already surfacing about his new project around the time of his marriage to Mariqueen Maandig in October of 2009. The newlyweds didn’t just join in holy matrimony – they joined in musical harmony as well, forming How to Destroy Angels (HTDA), together with programmer/producer Atticus Ross (Korn/NIN/Coheed and Cambria).

Trent is no stranger to forward-thinking when it comes to the release and promotion of his music. 2005’s ‘With Teeth’ was streamed on NIN’s

MySpace page before its release and 2007’s ‘Year Zero’ saw Reznor creating elaborate ‘alternate reality’ games that fell in line with the concept of the album and leaked several tracks into the world prior to the album’s release. ‘Ghosts I-IV’ and NIN’s final album ‘The Slip’ were both offered as free downloads on the band’s website as well as part of deluxe physical limited-edition packages with phenomenal success.
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David Campbell – The Broadway Show @ Concert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane 7th August 2010 – Show Review

Review: Lauren Sherritt

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[Photos: Charlyn Cameron]		   There are some musicians who blow us away with their musical talent and prowess, and there are some who whisk us along on a journey of high entertainment and fun. In a live show, David Campbell has a rare and optimum marriage of both features. His showmanship is second to none, his voice stunning and his persona endearing, making it a treat to watch him perform.

Campbell’s QPAC appearance on Saturday the 7th of August in ‘The Broadway Show’ began with an old favourite and ended with a well deserved standing ovation. The full orchestra, conducted by Guy Simpson, were positioned on stage as the audience filed in, and it wasn’t until the Concert Hall was darkened and the orchestra playing that Campbell himself appeared for a rousing rendition of “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ ”. With the show to promote his new CD, titled On Broadway, Campbell performed nearly every track from the album and a few more, and it was clear that he was overjoyed to share each of the eighteen songs he performed with the audience.
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