Sometimes an album comes along that resonates. Something that sounds immediately relevant and is so unmistakably honest, that no matter your musical taste, there’s a deep founded respect and due reverence noted. Drum Media called it “a classic pop sense that doesn’t get bogged in its own vision of itself” (Aug 08). Rip It Up Magazine were straight to the point: “In an age of downloads and ringtones, Skipping Girl Vinegar stand out from the pack”.
Skipping Girl Vinegar are proud to announce the release of their debut album Sift The Noise. An alt acoustic saturation of melody and pop hook described by the band as ‘music from cold places’, Sift The Noise was recorded in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and studios across Melbourne – as well as ‘The Lookout’, a beach shack in Aireys Inlet. The album was mixed and mastered in London, New York and Nashville by Adrian Bushby (Ben Kweller, Gomez, Foo Fighters), Greg Calibi (Bob Dylan, John Lennon, David Bowie) and Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, Bob Evans) respectively.
After some serious six figure major label & indie offers in Australia and a groundswell of international interest in the group rivaling that here in Australia, Skipping Girl Vinegar made the decision to maintain their independent route and release via their own label Secret Fox, Melbourne indie label Popboomerang & MGM distribution.
Where hi-fi swagger meets lo-fi sway, Sift The Noise features the single’s One Chance and title track Sift the Noise. The album has been a study in perseverance. SGV singer / guitarist and primary songwriter Mark Lang explains: “Each stage has been a process of sifting the noise around us to try and find new clarity in each step forward. We discovered the art of focusing through the noise, chaos and drama but it took hard work, dreaming big, and many sleepless nights. From major labels offers, industry heavyweights traveling half way round the world to see us play in make shift lounge-rooms and hard-drive failure where the album was almost completely lost – to a lack of money, friends surrounding and backing us, mishaps and detours. A longer journey than we expected but one that has brought us to places we would have never otherwise arrived“.
The roots of Skipping Girl Vinegar are deep and intrinsically entwined. Hailing from Melbourne (they take their name from the city’s iconic 1930’s neon sign; Audrey the Skipping Girl) SGV is brother/sister Mark and Sare Lang and their respective childhood friends Chris Helm and Amanthi Lynch. With the release of their debut album, the buzz surrounding Skipping Girl Vinegar is indisputably palpable. So what’s the story & why the buzz?
Late last year, only eighteen months in the making, a groundswell of interest in Skipping Girl Vinegar had already seen them rack up an incredible list of supports from The Lemonheads (USA), Something For Kate, The Shout Out Louds (Sweden) and Bob Evans to Angus & Julia Stone. But the match to the paraffin was the release of their debut single One Chance. An infectious rambling international introduction, One Chance was added to high-rotation on Triple J and swooped on by alternative radio and ABC stations Australia (and indeed world) wide. RAGE promptly chose One Chance’s accompanying animated clip as their first-ever ‘Indie Clip Of The Week’. The clip then charted in JTV’s ‘Top 20’, and on it rolled. J Mag featured the band in their final issue of 2007, Triple J showcased them as a ‘Next Crop’ artist during Ausmusic Month and the support spots continued with the likes of Wedding Parties Anything, Angie Hart, Little Birdy and Oldman River.
One Chance was the Australian itunes ’single of the week’ Tue Aug 5th 2008 but August 08 also saw the release of SGV’s second single, the title track from the album. Sift the Noise the single was also promptly added to triple J rotation and again, featured as a RAGE ‘Indie Clip Of The Week’. Reviews of the track right across Australia were rapturous. Rip It Up Magazine in Adelaide and Rave Magazine in Brisbane both made it their respective ‘single(s) of the week’ and press in Sydney, Melbourne and all other capitals were no less receptive.
But it is to the impending release of Sift The Noise the album that the attention now falls, an album that deserves an attentive listener, revealing further layers with each spin. In Mark Lang’s words: “We coined the title “Sifting the Noise” – the noise is those things that attempt to distract you and lead you astray from pursuing the heart of what you are attempting to do. At each stage of the process, from the writing to the preproduction, to the recording, to the mixing, to the animation film clips and the artwork; we have found great difficulty as we have chosen to dig deeper in search of finding something more. We have approached each stage in a seasonal context, so that we could focus ourselves and harness our creativity as deeply as we could … limiting the distractions.
By focusing and appreciating the rigour required to stretch ourselves as writers and recording artists we learnt to become ok with the chaos and continuous uncertainty. This album has travelled far, from the humble surroundings of our living-rooms, across the world – to where it was completed, on a snow filled wintery day in Nashville.”
Skipping Girl Vinegar‘s debut album Sift The Noise is in stores now through Popboomerang / Secret Fox / MGM.
www.skippinggirlvinegar.com / www.myspace.com/skippinggirlvinegar
National Tour Dates
Album Tour Show
Friday 10th & Saturday October 11th @ Greenfest, Brisbane
Main Stage Fri & Sat Night / www.greenfest.com.au – FREE ENTRY
Brisbane Album Launch
Sunday October 12th @ The Powerhouse, Brisbane
w’ Dan Parsons – FREE ENTRY / 3pm-5pm performances
Canberra Album Launch
Saturday October 25th @ The ANU Bar, Canberra
w’ special guests – Tickets: $10 / 8 pm start
Sydney Album Launch
Sun Oct 26th @ Spectrum, Sydney
w’ special guests – Tickets: $10 / 8 pm start
Album Tour Show
Wednesday October 29th @ The Old Drouin Butter Factory, Drouin
w’Todd Cook – Tickets: $20 / Doors at 7:30pm
Melbourne Album Launch
Fri Oct 31st @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
w’ Ollie Brown (Art Of Fighting), Georgia Fields – Tickets: $15 +bf or $18 at the door / Doors at 8:30pm
Album Tour Show
Saturday November 1st @ The Portland Festival, Portland
Venue: Portland Bay Festival Main Marquee, Bentinck Street Lawns, Bentinck Street, Portland.