Tag: Geelong Australia

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bella Deer Shares Anthemic Shipwreck Coast”

Back in 2021, acclaimed Geelong, Australia-based singer/songwriter and musician Bella Deer released pop hit tune “Care Too Much,” which was a finalist in that year’s APRA AMCOS Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition and last year’s Nashville-based International Songwriting Competition.

Building upon a growing international profile, the rising Aussie artist has opened for the likes of Mia Dyson and Thirsty Merc. She has also made the rounds of the international touring schedule, playing at Ferrara Buskers Festival.

The Aussie artist’s latest single “Shipwreck Coast” pairs her attention grabbing, powerhouse vocal with a lush and anthemic arrangement featuring twinkling and arpeggiated synths, arena rock friendly hooks and choruses and enormous power chords. While revealing an artist, who can craft a remarkably catching 80s-inspired hook, “Shipwreck Coast, is inspired by the Aussie state of Victoria’s coastline, which features shipwrecks near Loch Ard Gorge. But it also talks about how the Geelong-based artist feels called by the state’s coastline.

“I was driving one night and felt drawn to the coast. When I feel overwhelmed, I find myself there,” Bella Deer says. “Coastlines in Victoria hold a strange power, although they’re wild and fierce they’re also healing and a perfect place for contemplation.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: ORB Shares Trippy Motorik Groove-Driven “You Do”

The members of Geelong, Australia-based outfit ORB — Zak Olsen (vocals, guitar, bass), David Gravolin (guitar, bass) and Jamie Harner (drums) — have had a lengthy career, starting in earnest with a lengthy stint in their first band as teenagers, The Frowning Clouds. Since starting ORB, the Aussie trio have released two albums, 2017’s Neutrality and 2018’s The Space Between, which they supported with a European and North American tour opening for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard back in 2019. 

The band’s long-awaited and highly-anticipated album, the Tim Dunn-produced Tailem Bend is slated for a July 12, 2024 release through Fuzz Club globally and through Flightless Records in Australia. The band didn’t intend for six years to pass without an album, but there’s little in life that happens as expected — or as desired. Much like all of us, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a monkey wrench into their plans. And then add side pursuits and the other vagaries of daily life that we all know too well. 

Tailem Bend derives its name from a quiet South Australian town, whose name caught the band’s collective eye while on tour. For the band, the name conjured images of some long lost prog rock act; however, the town’s name reportedly is derived from the Ngarrindjeri word “thelim,” referring to a sharp bend in the nearby Murray River. Written over the course of 2021 and 2022 and finished in the studio early last year, Tailem Bend‘s material is saturated in vintage warmth and depth while showcasing a bold leap forward in their sound and approach that’s not a complete departure: Continuing to be anchored around their unerring knack for being tunefully hypnotic, the album’s material sees the trio infusing heavy doom-leaning jams with a lighter psych pop sensibility and funky rhythmic grooves. There still fuzzy power chord-driven riffs, but the material also features some mellower passages and a renewed focus on rhythm and space. 

A deep sense of shared history also informs the album’s material. The Aussie trio reunite with Tim Dunn, who produced several Frowning Cloud albums. The album also features guest spots from former Frowning Cloud bandmate and current frontman of Banana Gun, Nick van Bankel (conga); The Murlocs‘ Callum Shortal, who often plays live shows with ORB (guitar); Leah Senior’s Girlatones‘ and Baby Blue’s Jesse Williams (piano) and Emma Bailey (backing vocals) and Ashely Goodall (backing vocals). 

Last month, the Aussie outfit shared two singles from the album “Can’t Do That”/”Morph.”

The A-side “Can’t Do That” is an expansive jam anchored around fuzzy blues-tinged power chords, a funky and mind-bending, motorik-like groove paired punchy hook that channels a synthesis of Thin Lizzy, Ram Jam‘s “Black Betty,” Black Sabbath and jazz fusion. “‘Can’t Do That’ started out from a demo of mine,” the band’s David Gravolin says. “Tried to sound like W.I.T.C.H., ended up sounding like Thin Lizzy.” The band’s Zak Olsen adds that “Lyrically it’s about having self-respect in low times.”

The B-side “Morph” features some heavy yet melodic, Black Sabbath-like riffage paired with Olsen’s reverb-soaked Ozzy Osbourne-inspired delivery singing some trippy lyrics. Play loud, smoke some ganja and then vibe out!

While the previous singles were Black Sabbath-inspired riff-driven rippers, Tailem Bend‘s third and latest single, the Can-like “You Do” features a 70s prog rock-meets-psych rock, wah-wah pedaled motorik groove, syncopated percussion, bursts of fluttering flute and shimmering Rhodes paired with cooed vocals. At its core, “You Do” continues a run of expansive and vibey material that’s perfect to blast in your car while on a lengthy drive — or to play while getting high.

“Just like the Murray River of Tailem Bend, a small rural town with a name that made us think of some lost prog act when we passed it on tour, ‘You Do’ is one of the many sharp turns on the new record. It features our old Frowning Clouds bandmate Nick vanBakel (now of Bananagun) on congas and Ashley Goodall on backing vocals.”

The animated video by Luke Player fittingly features 70s-styled animation that brings Schoolhouse Rock to mind, that also riffs off on fairy tales and fables: We see Humpy Dumpty sitting on a wall, knights encountering a dragon, the band playing in a lysergic headspace and more.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

The members of Geelong, Australia-based outfit ORB — Zak Olsen (vocals, guitar, bass), David Gravolin (guitar, bass) and Jamie Harner (drums) — have had a lengthy career, starting in earnest with a lengthy stint in their first band as teenagers, The Frowning Clouds. Since starting ORB, the Aussie trio have released two albums, 2017’s Neutrality and 2018’s The Space Between, which they supposed with a European and North American tour opening for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard back in 2019.

The band’s long-awaited and highly-anticipated album, the Tim Dunn-produced Tailem Bend is slated for a July 12, 2024 release through Fuzz Club globally and through Flightless Records in Australia. The band didn’t intend for six years to pass without an album, but there’s little in life that happens as expected — or as desired. Much like all of us, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a monkey wrench into their plans. And then add side pursuits and the other vagaries of daily life that we all know too well.

Tailem Bend derives its name from a quiet South Australian town, whose name caught the band’s collective eye while on tour. For the band, the name conjured images of some long lost prog rock act; however, the town’s name reportedly is derived from the Ngarrindjeri word “thelim,” referring to a sharp bend in the nearby Murray River. Written over the course of 2021 and 2022 and finished in the studio early last year, Tailem Bend‘s material is saturated in vintage warmth and depth while showcasing a bold leap forward in their sound and approach that’s not a complete departure: Continuing to be anchored around their unerring knack for being tunefully hypnotic, the album’s material sees the trio infusing heavy doom-leaning jams with a lighter psych pop sensibility and funky rhythmic grooves. There still fuzzy power chord-driven riffs, but the material also features some mellower passages and a renewed focus on rhythm and space.

A deep sense of shared history also informs the album’s material. The Aussie trio reunite with Tim Dunn, who produced several Frowning Cloud albums. The album also features guest spots from former Frowning Cloud bandmate and current frontman of Banana Gun, Nick van Bankel (conga); The Murlocs‘ Callum Shortal, who often plays live shows with ORB (guitar); Leah Senior’s Girlatones‘ and Baby Blue’s Jesse Williams (piano) and Emma Bailey (backing vocals) and Ashely Goodall (backing vocals).

To celebrate the album’s announcement and build some buzz on the album, the members of ORB recently shared “Can’t Do That”/”Morph.” The A-side “Can’t Do That” is an expansive jam anchored around fuzzy blues-tinged power chords, a funky and mind-bending, motorik-like groove paired punchy hook that channels a synthesis of Thin Lizzy, Ram Jam‘s “Black Betty,” Black Sabbath and jazz fusion. “‘Can’t Do That’ started out from a demo of mine,” the band’s David Gravolin says. “Tried to sound like W.I.T.C.H., ended up sounding like Thin Lizzy.” The band’s Zak Olsen adds that “Lyrically it’s about having self-respect in low times.”

The B-side “Morph” features some heavy yet melodic, Black Sabbath-like riffage paired with Olsen’s reverb-soaked Ozzy Osbourne-inspired delivery singing some trippy lyrics. Play loud, smoke some ganja and then vibe out!

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising Aussie Electro Pop Artist Alice Ivy Teams Up with Imbi the girl and BOI on a Feminist Anthem

Annika Schmarsel is a Melbourne-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and electronic music artist, best known as rising Aussie electro pop sensation Alice Ivy. Schmarsel is the daughter of West German immigrants, who settled in Geelong, Australia in the late 80s — and interestingly enough, the rising Aussie electro pop artist can trace the origins of her music career back to a trip her family took to the ancestral homeland when she was 12: during that trip her grandmother taught her some guitar chords and her uncle taught her how to play Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” 

As a high schooler, Schmarsel was a member of a 25 member soul big band and a musical project by the name of The Sweethearts. In 2014, Schmarsel relocated to Melbourne to study for a music industry degre, and was introduced to the music software, Ableton. She also learnt about influential electronic producers. including J. Dilla. 

In early 2015, Schmarsel released her debut single as Alice Ivy, “Charlie.” And over the next handful of months, Schmarsel released a handful of attention-grabbing singles, the which helped Geelong-born, Melbourne-based singer/songwriter, electronic music producer and electronic music artist win 2016’s Triple J Unearthed’s Listen Out competition. Building upon a growing national profile, Scharmsel release her full-length debut I’m Dreaming to critical applause in her native Australia and elsewhere. 

Schmarsel’s highly-anticipated Alice Ivy sophomore effort, Don’t Sleep is slated for a July 17, 2020 release through Last Gang Entertainment, and the album finds the rising Aussie producer cementing a reputation for simultaneously being a producer and tastemaker, who has proven to be equally adept at uncovering new dimensions to the sound and approach of established, household names and for helping to break new talent — in particular, female and non-binary producers and pop artists. The album finds her collaborating with a who’s who of up-and-coming Aussie talent, including Thelma Plum, Ecca Vandal, Ngaiire, Safia’s Benjamin Joseph, Odette, Bertie Blackman and Imbi the girl among others. 

Interestingly, Don’t Sleep’s second and latest single, is the swaggering album title track “Don’t Sleep,” which finds Scharmsel teaming up with Imbi the girl and BOI. Sonically, the track is a perfect taste of what the listener should expect from the album: a slick synthesis of dub, trap and alt pop, centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, atmospheric electronics, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, reggae riddims, a soaring hook, tons of irie vibes and a decidedly feminist, girls and non-binary people to the front spirit.

“‘Don’t Sleep’ is one of those songs that came out of nowhere! Imbi, Boi and I were in the studio on the last day of a songwriting camp (shoutout Ricochet!) and at the start of the session we were all feeling pretty burnt out,” Alice Ivy explains. “But something special happened between us and I think it had a lot to do with how inspired we were feeling after a week at an all-female/non-binary camp. We came up with a super powerful song and it’s definitely one of my favourite collabs I’ve ever been a part of. The lyric, ‘Our bodies are ours so keep your hands away’  hits me every time I hear it.”

Directed by May Tusler, the recently released video for “Don’t Sleep” follows Schmarsel, Imbi and BOI dancing and rocking out to the song, while a collective of young Junior Motocross riders race and tear shit up. “It’s an empowering song… so obviously I had to recruit a bunch of junior motocross riders to tear it up in the video!” Schmarsel explains. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aussie Punk Trio The Chats Release a Mischievous Visual for Mosh Pit Ripper “The Clap”

Coolum, Australia-based punk trio The Chats — Eamon Sandwith (vocals, bass), Josh Price  (guitar, vocals) and Matt Boggis (drums) — can trace its origins back to when its members started the band in their friend’s bong shed back in 2016, when the band’s members were still in high school. 2017 saw the release of their debut EP, Get This In Ya, which the band recorded in four hours. The following year,  the band quickly rose to national and international attention with the release of “Smoko” and its accompanying video. Dave Grohl loved the video for “Smoko” so much that he wound up showing it to Josh Homme, who then asked the Aussie punk trio to open for Queens of the Stone Age during their Australian tour that year.

The Chats also won the attention of the legendary Iggy Pop, who asked the band to open for him during his Australian tour last year. (Reportedly, he peppered the band with questions like “What’s a smoko?” and “What’s a dart?”) Adding to a momentous year, the band toured across Australia, the UK and their first Stateside shows — with their Los Angeles show being attended by Home, Grohl and Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner. They closed out last year with a return UK tour, selling out London’s O2 Forum. 

Understandably, the past couple of years have been a whirlwind for the rapidly rising Aussie punk trio: the band has spent that time balancing touring, writing songs and whenever their gigs took them to Victoria, stopping by engineer Billy Gardner’s Geelong-based studio to recording the material they had written. And as a result, it took the band 18 months to record their highly-anticipated full-length debut High Risk Behaviour, which is slated for a March 27, 2020 release through the band’s own Bargain Bin Records/Cooking Vinyl Australia. “If we’d just done a week and slogged it out we could have had an album before now but we just kept going in there and making newer and better songs so it’s hard to put a stop on it,” the band’s Sandwith says in press notes. “Some of the songs were first-take and we were like, ‘That’s good, whatever’ We’re really not perfectionists.” (Interestingly, although, the band found themselves in the middle of a bidding war between a couple of major labels, they were determined to continue to do everything their own way, steadfastly maintaining the DIY ethos they started with.) 

The Aussie punk act’s full-length debut, derives its title from personal experience: the band’s Matt Boggis has routinely been hassled by local police for skating in places he shouldn’t be — and he’d frequently get tickets listening the offense as “High Risk Behaviour.” The album’s 14 songs clock in at a total of 28 minutes with about half of its songs not even reaching the two-minute mark. ““I don’t want to make the songs boring, so I just keep them short and sweet,” Sandwith says of their creative process. “We try not to think about it or complicate it too much. You don’t want to force it or the song’s going to turn out crap.” Reportedly, the end result features  material that’s centered around a three-chords-is-probably-one-too-many approach, Sandwith’s partially spoken, partially  sung vocals while displaying youthful exuberance and drunken rowdiness. (Yes, in some way, FIDLAR does come to mind — but Aussies are crazier.) “I think they’re good songs,” says Sandwith. “And at the end of the day, if I like it then fuck it, who cares if other people do?”

Clocking in at a little over two minutes, High Risk Behaviour’s latest single “The Clap” is a cretinous bit of punk rock, centered around scuzzy power chords, shouted call and response vocals and a mosh pit friendly hook that makes the band — and in turn, the song  — sound indebted to to ’77 era punk, complete with a snotty, zero fucks given air. Featuring the band’s Josh Price taking on vocal duties, the song is a mosh pit friendly ripper that’s partially a cautionary tale about a sexual encounter gone very wrong and a sexually transmitted infection that’s painful and just doesn’t seem to leave. 

Directed by Matt Weston, the recently released video for “The Clap” finds the band’s Price heading to the clinic in severe pain. Of course, while trying to get treatment, the doctors are completely disgusted by Price’s condition. But they find the time to treat him — in a  way that seems painful, repulsive and absurd. Much like the song itself, the video is fucking hilarious.