Barely eighteen months since the release of one of 2009′s dark delights, the epic Sun Gangs, Finn Andrews the New Zealand bred, England based leader of The Veils has released possibly one of the highlights of 2011 with Troubles of the Brain. Over the course seven songs Finn and his band mates explore less grandiose and orchestral avenues than those on Sun Gangs favouring instead acoustic guitars, simpler arrangements and a lighter air in general. From the upbeat indie-pop describing love’s first rush in “Bloom”, to the bitter flipside of the same theme with the folk/glam rock of “Don’t Let the Same Bee Sting You Twice” to the more familiar Veils emoting in “Wishbone” and “Grey Lynn Park”, it may well be The Veils’ most accessible record yet.

The EP also marks The Veils’ first release on their own label, Pitch Beast Records, after a nine year, three LP tenure on Rough Trade, and forsaking the professional recording studio for Finn’s home studio with production duties handled by Finn and indie producer par excellence Bernard Butler. Chris Berkley tracked down Mr Andrews just before the release of Troubles of the Brain (the title of which is taken from Macbeth) to talk about the differences in recording at home, the reasoning behind an EP instead of an album, going out on his own label and having a fervent fanbase to help that transition.

Why an EP this time around, did you kind of want to break the album cycle? How did you end up with a seven track EP for The Veils?

Seven tracks wasn’t the initial intention but, as is often the case, you just start writing and find it hard to stop once you start. That was kind of it really. They’re just little experiments, all done at home for the first time, and we’re putting it out on our own label so it’s kind of an experiment in complete independence.

So did you wanted to test the waters with an EP?

It could’ve ended up being an album but it just felt like it was a nice structure, a new structure to try, as opposed to the standard ten song commitment.

Were Veils’ productions getting more elaborate as well, is that why you did this at home? I mean Sun Gangs was quite an immense piece of work.

Yeah, I guess it was an experiment really. I wanted to see what it would be like to do it at home and to do it in your own time and without the pressures of money and time and just to make it very organic. I think it’s turned out great.

Did you kind of feel that you were reeling it back in a bit though? The songs themselves are quite short, there’s no “Larkspur” (Sun Gang’s close to nine minute epic).

I suppose it’s a lot more concise and it’s a lot poppier than anything we’ve done before as well so that was kind of fun. Maybe a little gentler too.

Do you say to yourself I’m gonna write some short pop songs, or did they turn out that way? Which way around does that stuff work?

It tends to go completely the opposite way that I intended to go. I think I have gotten better at that as well — trying to be less and less involved in it and just write what you feel you need to and then put it out. Because of the way it was recorded you have less option to go make this huge kind of sprawling song, so I think it’s a slower, more intimate and experienced EP to anything we’ve done.

Did you manage to keep the band line-up for this Veils EP then? Was everyone that played on Sun Gangs involved in this EP or is this much more just a solo project?

It’s kind of a mixture I suppose; I played the drums on a few and Ray’s my relatively new drummer, he plays on a couple, and the other guys came and guested, I suppose, it was more that kind of arrangement.

And their egos are okay with that?

Yeah, they have the best egos really, they were very good about it, it was something I felt I really needed to do as a songwriter, to work in this way. It’s an EP as well so the whole thing’s a little more relaxed.

Because you had taken to releasing home demos on your blog, a year or two ago as well, you’d done this with at least one song, are you kind of enthralled by that idea of having things out more quickly?

Yeah I love it, I love that kind of turnaround and just being able to spend a few days on something and giving it away as well, I’ve been doing quite a bit, just like a Christmas, or a wintery kind of song, just write and record it immediately and you’re not dependent on anyone giving you the green light or needing to get lots of money off someone to record it. I love it.

It’s not a completely solo Veils thing as well, because you’ve reunited with producer Bernard Butler who worked on the first Veils album, right?

Yeah, he did one track on Sun Gangs as well. It was literally because I was learning to record things myself and I wanted someone I trusted and had worked with before to come in towards the end really and make sure everything was sounding okay.

So was Bernard just a glorified instruction manual then or did he have input into the way these songs ended up sounding?

Yes, I’ll try not to phrase it like that. He is great. You do very much run the risk of disappearing out of your own arse, we’ve got a MIDI thing and all that, it’s very easy to never stop working on songs when you have no time limit. He was good to come in and get to the core of what the songs were, really. It was a very simple, we only worked for maybe three or four days.

I guess all those songs were shorter so there was less work to do, Finn? Most of them actually clock in at very close to similar times that are around the 2:30-3 minute mark.

Yeah well a lot of my favourite songs are around that length and I didn’t see any point in swelling them bigger than they needed to be.

As you’ve mentioned earlier, this new Veils EP marks the departure of the band from Rough Trade. It’s a bold new world, was that something that was on the horizon or you wanted to do, or how did that come about Finn, that you guys left the label?

This whole EP has been more like an experiment with the idea that, that if you could do it all yourself and have that quick turnaround and no dependence on other people, that things would just be a lot easier, a lot less complicated and you won’t get bogged down in the album cycle which I always found really counter-intuitive.

And so you’re going okay as a label mogul as well then? Pitch Beast is your label.

I don’t know, it completely remains to be seen. It’s an experiment and we might well go running back to the big fat arms of a record company at some point, but I’d always really regret it if I never tried it.

Also with The Veils you seem to have that luxury now where you have a very fervent fan-base, so there will be people that follow you no matter what label or where a piece of music of yours comes out right, because they’re waiting for it?

Yeah, we’re very lucky with that. It’s totally something that seems wise to make the most of and everything’s changed, you know. The record industry is imploding on itself and no one really knows what’s going on and it seems like a good time to be experimenting a little and not being tied to the old ways.

It must shock to someone like your dad who was in Shriekback and XTC and signed to labels for years to see you working like this, have you spoken to him much about it?

Yes, I think he was delighted with it. It’s something he’d always wanted to do, but it was a lot harder back then to do something like this. I found it quite surprising how easy it is with the technology now to do this, to set up your own label. It’s the thing I think he always wished he could have done, he just hopped from label to label his whole life.

So is this a new beginning then? Are you thinking about making another Veils album and are the rest of the band involved in future plans, or touring or things like that Finn?

Yes, that will be the next thing, I think we’ll be going somewhere very different again for the record. I think we’ve kind of said what we needed to with the EP now, and I guess we need a bit more experimentation before we decide what we’re doing for the next thing. I’d love ideally, you know, it would be great if we could keep it on this label and never look back.

So there are still some ten minute songs left in you as well?

No, I think that’s enough of that as well.

Oh really?

You have to try these things, you know, you can’t pretend like you’ve got it all figured out. You’ve gotta try.

As long as brevity won’t always be the order of the day. You know you’ve never made an album in Australia Finn, so that’s something you should consider as well, maybe number four could be made here?

I’d love to, you’ve got some lovely studios there.

Interview broadcast on Static on 13/01/11. Static can be heard on Sydney’s 2SER (107.3 FM) every Thursday evening (AEST) or streamed at your convenience at Static’s Mixcloud site.

Pink Flag, 2011

8 out of 10 stars

Wire’s Red Barked Tree, is a vast improvement on their last studio outing, 2008’s monochromatic Object 47. Perhaps to second guess critics bassist and primary lyricist Graham Lewis intones “Please, take your knife, out of my, back” on the opener over the top of reverbed minor chords to great effect. He also takes lead on the bass heavy delight “Bad Worn Thing” with a barrage of his trademark surreal non sequiturs such as “Jam sandwich filled with Uzied (Oozed?) peelers/Frisking pimps and dawn car dealers” before segueing into a less abstract chorus.

Although Lewis is Wire’s unsung creative linchpin it is Colin Newman’s voice and guitar, both electric and acoustic, which dominates proceedings. He uses his saccharine vocal tone in “Adapt”, “Clay” and “Smash” which are in the style of “Outdoor Miner” or “15” through a shoegaze filter. Countering this middle aged mellowness are “Two Minutes”, “Moreover” and “A Flat Tent”, Pink Flag style bursts of punk energy which see the simple two chord guitar riffs turned up to eleven and Newman adopting shouted vocals. They surge with a vibrancy bands half their age struggle to compete with and together with the more languid tracks create an album that could sit comfortably next to their original late ’70s triptych (Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, 154). Wire may be thirty-four years into their career but they’re still ahead of both their peers and acolytes.

Yep Roc/Consume, 2011

5.5 out of 10 stars

Gang of Four are less successful in maintaining relevancy with Content, possibly due to this being their first studio album in sixteen years. The first four songs are about as inviting as a migraine, relegating the bass to a more traditional rhythmic role that along with metallic guitars, trebly production and empty sloganeering smacks of Jon King and Andy Gill trying to prove that while they’re no longer young men, they’re still great men, but without the tunes to back it up. “You’ll Never Pay for the Farm” and “I Party All the Time” are an improvement with Gill’s scabrous riffs mirrored by the bass and King singing more memorable choruses. Their grim take on capitalism “A Fruitfly in a Beehive” sees the pace slowed and all instruments given equal space to breathe. Little surprise then that it’s Content’s first standout track. .

Another sees Gill telling a story of a Manchester worker facing unemployment in “It’s Never Going to Turn Out Okay”, although Gill using a vocoder for his one lead vocal is a questionable tact, his regular speak-snarl would be more welcome. “Do As I Say” is the last of a good run and ranks up with “Natural’s Not In It” and “Damaged Goods” with both singer and guitarist trading vocals, in addition to a fabulous scratchy guitar line and fist in the air style chorus. The last pair of songs sit somewhere in the middle of headache inducing and classic Gang of Four and despite couplets such as “I’m in the boozer we’re all drinking fast/Girls with photocopies of their ass” (“Second Life”), are largely forgettable. If “Beehive”’s line “When the true believers die/More and more get born again” is a nod for their next generation of fans, Gang of Four need to up their game considerably or be relegated to a nostalgia act. Content is meant to be pronounced and interpreted as the noun but on balance of the songs here would be better suited to the adjective.

“The best things in life are free” was first thing I ever heard Greg Dulli sing, albeit mimed on screen by Ian Hart playing John Lennon in Backbeat. I didn’t know who Greg Dulli was or anything other than the name of his band The Afghan Whigs but his voice, as if Lennon had inhaled several Cuban’s and gargled a mouth wash consisting of bourbon and razor blades, tore out of the screen. Apart from the occasional glimpse of the Whigs in NME, I paid them no mind as I let precious few American bands into my UK-pop musical sphere at the time. It remained that way until a couple of years ago when a friend professed her love for Dulli and The Twilight Singers on facebook and I sought out The Gutter Twins’ Saturnalia, his project with long time colleague and friend Mark Lanegan and The Twilight Singers’ Powder Burns, and wrote on her last.fm “he does have a set of pipes on him”. Impressed as I was I parted ways with Dulli again, I still wasn’t ready to delve into those five Afghan Whigs albums.

Until the new Twilight Singers album Dynamite Steps, their first in five years, arrived on my doorstep. I expected a solid album, but not much else. Oh what kind of fool am I? Dynamite Steps is an extraordinarily cohesive album in every aspect: from production to the vocals (Dulli’s own of course and also Mark Lanegan and Ani Difranco on two separate tracks), the masterful songwriting to the clever sequencing . It starts off with a sinister piano melody that morphs into a swirl of throbbing synthesier and drums. From there grunge guitar workouts (“Waves”) give way to piano balladry (“Get Lucky”), Shoegaze meets folk (“The Beginning of the End”) and punchy rock (“On The Corner”). These are all anchored of course by that remarkable voice which ranges from ragged roar to velvety tenor to strained falsetto singing of love, libido, mortality and the devil. A couple of weeks before the release I talked to Greg, a man who has seen more than his share of highs and lows in his twenty odd year career, clearly relaxed and affable, about all things dynamite and twilight, from the gutter to the (guest) stars.

Is there a narrative thread to the album, the first song is “Last Night in Town” and the penultimate song is “The Beginning of the End” and the record as a whole has quite a cinematic quality?

Well I think “The Beginning of the End” being the second to last song is a bit cheeky actually, in a good way. I looked at “Last Night in Town” as a flashback starting a movie with something that happened in the past and the second song begins in real time. I’m always loath to say what I think songs are about because whatever a record is about I like to decide what it’s about as the listener but I realise that I’m anachronistic in a hit and run world.

Ir seems to me a lot of effort went into the selection of songs and the track order for the album.

Yeah, absolutely. The sequencing was kind of key, but I had begun to sequence it as I went. By the end I knew I needed three positions filled. I needed track two (“Be Invited”), three (“Waves”) and ten (“The Beginning of the End”), so those were the last three songs that were written.

Does it bother you that in this digital age people will listen to it out of sequence?

Sure, people will just cherry pick something. I make these things for myself first with the express hope that someone else shares my enthusiasm for what I’ve done. Once it’s finished it’s out of my hands and it’s not mine anymore. I’ve had my time with it and I’ve already begun another record so I’ve kind of moved on now, but I am looking forward to playing the songs live.

So you’re not the kind of artist that gets nervous about what sort of reaction an album will get from the press and the fans.

I think this is my thirteenth record, so I’ve been lifted up and put down and everything in between. So bring it on, whatever the reaction is. I’m hoping of course that people like it and I’ve already seen some early things where people do like it but life goes on either way Caleb!

You’ve said that you’d like to be able to play all of these new songs in concert but apparently there was one song that you didn’t think you would be able to pull off.

I have yet to put the title track on the set list yet because I need to see what we can do with the other songs first so I’ll hold off on that one and see if we can pull that off. I also wonder if we can do the “Beginning of the End” that one is very produced, but it’s not out of the question. The other nine are go. They’re all on the play list.

That must be hefty list that you’ve got now?

Yes, this is our fifth record and combined with the four EPs that we’ve done and the various covers that I’ve got planned this round, there’s a wealth of material. There’s a forty song set list that I’m staring at right now. I’m not going to play forty songs every night but I’ll know forty.

So how do you select the songs? Do you have a dart board lined with song titles and throw darts?

It’s usually me and Scott Ford (bass). We sit down and we go through them and he’ll continually throw songs at me that I don’t really like and I’m like “No!”. He’s a contentious fellow, Scott is, but he keeps me honest. If I was left to my own devices, I always seem to like the songs that people don’t like as much, I like the weirder songs and I love the sad ones too.

I take it there’s no room for any Whigs songs on the set list.

I just did a six week acoustic tour and a third of the set was Whigs songs and it was really fun. That was Greg Dulli. Greg Dulli wrote all those songs — I hate that just spoke in the third person, it just made me throw up in my mouth! — Well I tell you if Scott Ford had his way we would be doing Whigs songs, but that’s just not where I’m at. Those songs get older by the day.

I’m not even going to ask about the reunion because I’ve seen your last couple of answers to that question.

(laughs) There you go.

I want to talk about two musical relationships that have lasted for quite a number of years. First of all Mr Mark Lanegan. How far back does that friendship go?

The friendship itself is probably about twelve years old, but I’ve known him for twenty-two years. We met in 1989 and then we played a couple of gigs together with our former bands, but we both ended up in Los Angeles at the same time and that’s where we started to hang out and play music together. We would just get together and play country songs and blues songs, other people’s songs, and then we wrote a couple of things together. We sing well together, and we’re really good friends. He’s one of my favourite people that I’ve ever met and one of my favourite singers that I’ve ever heard in my life.

He sings on the song “Be Invited” on the new album was that written while on tour with The Gutter Twins or afterwards?

Actually I wrote that alone and I’m playing everything except for what Mark played and what Nick McCabe (The Verve) and Rick Nelson played. I built and sang the song and then first I gave it to Nick, then Mark and then Rick Nelson who put the “Kasmir” strings on it. Then it was done. But it was originally Tommaso Colliva, a friend of mine from Italy who I worked with years ago who over in LA working with Muse and he had some time off and we went into a studio and cut that song in thirty-six hours. Then I farmed out the parts, but on the chorus I needed to bring some weight to it and there was only one person that I knew I was going to ask to bring that weight. That was Mark.

I’m assuming that at some point in the future there will be another Gutter Twins album.

Absolutely. I don’t know when it will be, Mark is making a solo record now and Mark hasn’t made a solo record in a really long time and I think me just as a fan of his I want to hear his thing, and I’ve heard a little bit of what he’s working on and it’s fucking amazing! That dude’s got the Midas touch.

You and Mark are also like minded artists in that you continually collaborate with not only each other but other musicians constantly.

I’ve met so many amazing musicians in my years of doing this and that I have the ability to go to Ani Difranco and Nick McCabe or Petra Haden or Joseph Arthur or Corina Round or Mark Lanegan or any of the people that I have played with it just speaks for my good taste and my good fortune. I sort of imagined The Twilight Singers as me and other singers that I admired and I’ve kept with that all along.

The second musical collaboration is with the label Sub Pop who were obviously important for The Afghan Whigs and you returned to them for The Gutter Twins record and now Dynamite Steps. What makes them a label you keep returning to?

They’re my friends A. B they know me and C they’re extremely good at what they do. Watching them adapt to change over the last twenty-two years has been amazing. From Nirvana to Fleet Foxes, their two biggest bands, who could not be more opposite on the spectrum except they do share great song writers, amazing songs and performances. So I think they (Sub Pop) have excellent taste. They’re really good at what they do and they love me and take care of me. For me to have come back from the wilderness and they open the door and have me come sit in the living room with them.

Returning to Dynamite Steps, “The Beginning of the End” has got this great My Bloody Valentine guitar effect in the intro and chorus. Where you a fan of that band and the shoegaze genre as a whole?

Yeah, I loved them. I loved Slowdive and Ride, I loved that whole sound, the shimmering but heavy weight. To me, that song was like a Loveless wave smashing into “Major Tom” by David Bowie. That was the sort of juxtaposition that I was looking for.

It’s a beautiful contrast, the noise and then the acoustic guitar.

And, after the acoustic, it goes into an almost Curtis Mayfield soul song. That track is extremely schizophrenic and I don’t know where it came from but it was a fun one to do. It was also the final song that I did for the record.

I know you don’t like talking about song themes but with “Never See No Devil”, Greg of all people I would have thought you may have actually seen the devil.

(laughs) Well if you listen, I clearly have seen the devil. There’s no irony going on there!

That song wrote itself, I was just a vessel. There have only been five songs in my entire life that I’ve written all at once: That one (“Never See No Devil”), “Front Street” by The Gutter Twins, “Tonight” by The Afghan Whigs, “What Jail is Like” by the The Whigs and “Love” by The Twilight Singers being the others.

You’ve already announced European tour dates but of course there’s a lot of fans waiting for American dates. Is there any chance of an Australian tour?

American tour dates will be announced this week. I know what those are. Australian tour dates I don’t know, I hope so. I want to come there.

You were last out here for Splendour in the Grass with The Gutter Twins in July 2009.

Right, but we played acoustically. For me to bring the big band over I have to pay.  It costs so much to come over there or I can come over and play acoustic style or whatever. I love Australia, in fact the second time I came I loved it even more than the first time. The first time I was there it was raining the whole time so I didn’t really feel like I saw it.

Oh yeah, Australia can do that to you.

Well if you go anywhere and it’s just raining all the time what do you see but rain? When I came for Splendour and the sideshows it was incredibly beautiful and I had a great time in all three places.

In case you were wondering, yes I have since listened to all of the Afghan Whigs output, Gentlemen being the current favourite, but still think Dynamite Steps is the best album Dulli has done. Certainly it’s the best album to listen to if you’ve yet to become acquainted with the man and while not free it’s certainly one the better things in life.

Dynamite Steps is out now through Sup Pop (via Inertia in Australia).

Photo: Dani Canto (slideshow)

Gang of Four’s “We Didn’t Sell Out We Bought In” Australian Tour

Feb 24 – Auckland – The Powerstation +
Feb 25 – Brisbane – The Hi Fi *
Mar 01 – Sydney – The Gaelic *
Mar 02 – Melbourne – The Corner (sold out) *
Mar 08 – Perth – The Bakery #

+ with guests Kody and Bic (NZ)
* with guests I Heart Hiroshima (Brisbane) and Rebuilding the Rights of Statutes (China)
# with guests Injured Ninja (Perth)

See Consume for ticket and further details.

In the meantime see a sprightly 55 year old Jon King and Andy Gill (and the other newer and younger recruits) play “Never Pay for the Farm” off Content for a bemused if enthusiastic David Letterman.

Melbourne’s Big Scary, recipients of our Who The Hell Are They…? Q&A last year will be hitting the road in support of The Four Seasons compilation album for their first headlining national tour in March. Tom Iansek and Jo Syme will be playing new single “All That You’ve Got” from that compilation and possibly even newer songs as the band are currently in the studio writing Big Scary’s proper album due for release later this year.

Big Scary’s “Four Seasons In One Week” Tour

25 Mar – Sydney – Spectrum
26 Mar – Brisbane – Ric’s Cafe (supporting You Am I)
01 Apr – Melbourne – East Brunswick Club
02 Apr – Adelaide – Ed Castle Hotel

See www.bigscary.net for more info.

Let’s be honest Scot-poppers Belle & Sebastian’s last effort Write About Love was released to generally mixed reviews but in concert they have a wonderful fifteen year back catalogue to plunder full of gems which Webcuts saw first hand in a Hollywood cemetry (“the performance in the graveyard was cheeky and wonderful.”) and at Stockholm’s Popaganda festival. They return to Australia for the first time in what seems like forever but is probably only five years. With shows selling out right left and centre it would be a good idea to BUY a ticket NOW.

Belle & Sebastian Australian “I hate my job I’m working way too much” Tour

Mar 07 – Brisbane – The Tivoli
Mar 09 – Sydney – The Metro
Mar 10 – Sydney – Opera House (Concert Hall)
Mar 12 – Melbourne – The Forum (sold out)
Mar 14 – Melbourne – The Forum
Mar 16 – Adelaide – Her Majesty’s Theatre
Mar 18 – Perth -  Astor Theatre (sold out)
Mar 19 – Perth -  Astor Theatre

See Michael Coppel for more details.

Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Tipped off by Everett True, Pris are a four piece from London featuring Cat on vocals, Agatha on guitar, Mary on bass and “Sleeperbloke” Sam on drums. Self described as “‘The musical equivalent of being punched in the face repeatedly” they’re actually more pop than punk, imagine Blondie with an attitude problem and cockney accents, Manics before the mid-life spread and Kenickie sans big bones. 

Their paean to pop magazines and the substance that sticks them on your walls “Blu-Tack Baby” manages to diss The Klaxons in the middle eight while they get super catty and possibly libelous on the stuttering “All That Glitters is Not Pearl Lowe”, which is especially cheeky considering they’re not that far removed from Lowe’s Britpop group Powder musically (cf Deep Fried). “Icon on a motorbike” mixes C86 guitar and girl-group “do do, lah lah lah”‘s to great effect but it’s “Thesaurus” that maybe the best distillation of Pris so far, punkish chords and a speak-sung verse combine with a killer melody in the chorus about… actually I’m not sure but does it really matter?

Already they’ve managed to piss off a group of Manic Street Preachers fans, a band they supported recently, apparently for the audacity of being a little rough and ready live and sharing the same management (shock! horror! that’s never happened before in the history of pop music), so they’re doing something right. Honestly how could you not love Pris? Their singer Cat Gordon answered our questions just like you’d expect, rapid fire, a bit snarky and in all CAPS, but that looked rubbish in courier font. Instead imagine each response being shouted at you by a young blond vixen with pop smarts, an abundance of hairspray and a micro-miniskirt and you’ll get the idea.

01. Who are you?

I’m Cat, the singer and fishnet tight ripper in Pris. We’re from London. Pris is named after the prostitute replicant in Blade Runner a film by Ridley Scott. We’ve been playing for 6 months 6 days and 10 glittery seconds.

02. What do you sound like?

Hormonal pop gutter post punk.

03. What do friends say you sound like?

We don’t have any friends.

04. Full-time musicians or wage slaves?

Florence Welch and all of The Vaccines probably lived in their trendy hubs in Shoreditch or trendy squats — whatever the kids do these days — before they were signed, taking expensive drugs and only get up after 12pm. We have to work the office/bar to earn money for hairspray and high heels. Our Mums and Dads don’t own art galleries or 5 storey houses where we have a floor to ourselves but then in Florence and Vaccines defense they might need the space to keep all those vintage winkle pickers and rare vinyls of ’60s garage bands.

05. Current career highlight?

Why thank you, I only had them done last week.

06. Favourite decade for music?

This decade is full of rich c*nts writing songs on fiddles and cellos and calling themselves ‘nu folk’ so we wish it was the 1970s as Buzzcocks say “Everybody’s happy nowadays”.

07. Best mood for songwriting?

We don’t claim to be Chris Martin or Thom Yorke, we’re musicians in the very loose sense. Songwriting is for losers.

08. The last song you/the band wrote?

‘Crying after Kennedy’ inspired by Marilyn Monroe and her love affairs but also relating to everyday female yearning for that perfect relationship yet realising that it might not exist and so you end your life, because you really just can’t cope, because at the end of it you’re probably going to die alone and that is even worse.

09. Which 3 musicians would you invite round for dinner?

Bono, the singer of the Editors, and Bob Geldof and feed them a piece of mama’s poison pie.

10. Worst gig ever played?

Windmill Brixton, too many drinking games.

11. Favourite band anecdote?

When Alan McGee saw Welsh language band Super Furry Animals play; he said ”I think you’re great but would be better if you sang in English”, they said ”We were singing in English!”.

12. Five favourite albums?

The Clash – The Clash
Hole – Live Through This
Manic Street Preachers – Generation Terrorists
The Cure – Boy’s Don’t Cry
The Buzzcocks – Love Bites

13. Your biggest rock and roll fantasy?

Shirley Manson.

14. Goals for the next 12 months?

Live fast, die young.

15. First time listeners, where should they start?

”It doesn’t matter if we never meet again, what we have said will always remain, if we get through for two minutes only it will be a start” – The Jam, “Start”! X

In complete contrast to a month ago when it was “precipitation nation” at Sunset Sounds, Brisbane’s fourth St. Jerome’s Laneway festival could’ve been subtitled “Boiling Brisvegas”. We predict that in twenty years local dermatologists will be doing a roaring trade based on the day’s UV damage. While at the same location as the previous two Laneways, in the industrial area of Fortitude Valley, the layout had been substantially rearranged since our last excursion which proved confusing initially. Unlike many festivals who fill their bills with a series of mediocre acts and a couple of heavy hitting headliners, Laneway 2011 had a remarkably consistent quality, in fact it was almost too jam packed with “must sees”, so regardless of the weather it was always destined to be a scorcher.

Rat Vs Possum are the first act to break in the Car Park Stage; a daunting task when you realize people are possibly only here so they can be shaded from the raging afternoon sun. Pint-sized Daphne Shum immediately proves to be completely engaging to watch, complimented by the bizarrely ‘80s clad Matt Kulesza. Together their vocals are backed by the ambient blips and harmonies the Melbourne band is fast becoming known for. “Animals”, a highlight of the set, sees each band member madly thrashing synchronized rhythms on their respective sets of drums. The atmosphere this creates is euphorically intense and although it’s a shame there aren’t more people around to appreciate it, it gives those who are a taste of what the band is capable of.

Beach House has the unenviable position of playing with the afternoon sun beating down on both the crowd and straight onto Victoria Legrand and Alex Scully (the touring drummer is spared). The wistful organ of “Walk in the Park” washes over the crowd, and along with Victoria’s gravelly Christie McVie like vocals, sets the tone for the rest of the Teen Dream heavy set. Legrand may have the prerequisite cool leopard style shades but with a thick white coat, possibly borrowed from Bryan Ferry, on top of a black collared shirt, I can’t help think she must be absolutely baking. Maybe ice bricks have been sewn into the seams though because Victoria maintains her cool and barely breaks into a sweat. I leave after Scully’s slide guitar during “Silver Soul” sends much needed shivers down my spine, and head for a more shaded space as for Hot House, er Beach House, it’s a case of right band, wrong time.

That’s not to say I wasn’t intending to watch The Antlers, it was always on the cards as their beautiful if slightly disturbing Hospice rates highly at Webcuts. Peter Silberman slings his guitar over his neck like an oversized necklace due to its only periodic use, instead he chooses to use his arms and hands for more important activities such as emoting (a.k.a. mincing) throughout the set. Luckily he’s got a sonorous falsetto, imagine Conor Oberst repeatedly whacked in the testicles, but it means a lot of the musical heavy lifting is left for the drummer and keyboardist who can only fill so much space. A new song is aired which places more emphasis on groove but it’s the quiet/loud histrionics of “Sylvia” (“Sylvia, get your head out of the oven” rings throughout the baking arena rather ironically) and the infectious indie-folk of “Two” that hit home. Emote away Peter but pack a bassist and extra guitarist next time perhaps.

A quick 200 metre stroll later I catch the latter half of Warpaint’s set and it’s amazing what a difference having two guitarists and a bassist makes in a large festival space. Unlike Beach House these ladies are working up a visible sweat, with the last vestiges of the afternoon sun still having an almighty kick in its tail. They’re from LA though so they’re prepared and dressed accordingly, and don’t really give a damn anyway, as each member of the group are in their own little world spending more time with their eyes closed than open. The layered guitar lines and shared vocals are compelling but it’s Jenny Lee Lindberg’s brooding bass (and hip swaying) and Stella Mozgawa’s complex drumming that prove to be the focal point. Drawing on The Fool for most of the set including a sparse “Majesty” and Exquisite Corpse‘s more rousing “Elephants” to end, their laidback ambient take on post-punk is beguiling but I’m left wishing I’d was seeing them in a club with great lighting design. Oh, and air conditioning, that’d be nice too.

Group consensus is to ditch Blonde Redhead to see Ariel Pink, mainly due to the Redhead’s last album Penny Sparkle being widely panned but I dissent, having never seen the band in concert, and the gamble pays off from the get-go. Blonde Redhead, along with Les Savy Fav are the elder statesmen/women of the festival, having been at this for close to twenty years and they’ve honed their live performance to a fine art. Retina burning lighting, and the most expansive sound of the festival with the three piece New Yorkers augmented by a bassist and keyboardist, they hit all the right buttons. Even the two songs from Penny Sparkle which bookend the set are beefed up and sound better than on record. It’s the songs from 23 and Misery is a Butterfly though, such as the trance like “Dr Strangluv”, the reedy “Falling Man”, and aptly titled “Melody” which has co-lead vocalist Kazu Makino and the audience shaking their bodies in rapture.

Over on the Car Park Stage watching Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti is like the adult version of the Emperor’s New Clothes. A sizeable crowd has accumulated to watch the abomination of a waste of a tea time slot. Ariel Pink are the epitome of scenester cool, the new kooky band that you must love somehow ‘cause they’re doing something different. What they actually give us is their lesson in how simply dressing up and acting a little craaazy should be enough. Sadly it’s not. The tunes feel like unfinished jams, recorded at an acid peak before the comedown realisation, forgetting that time signatures and singing in tune are sometimes a good idea. If they were an art installation it would be understandable but really I just wander off bored and uninterested.

If I told you the highlight of the day was watching a chubby bald man wandering through a crowd wearing only tiny jean shorts and pink tights, while painted silver and singing noise rock in people’s faces you would be within your rights for wondering what the fuck happened. Well Les Savy Fav and frontman Tim Harrington happened. Never have a band been more apt for a festival than this Brooklyn five piece. The band consist simply of blistering indie rock punctuated by Harrington’s at times barely audible vocals, but that’s understandable because he’s busy multi-tasking as he climbs poles and rummages in his props bag for his next low rent fix. The set is mostly drawn from recent album Root for Ruin, although “Patty Lee”, “What Would Wolves Do?” and the rather appropriate “Let the Sweat Descend” also get an airing. Even without the on and off stage antics the band sound great but while they play the tightest of concerts, never dropping a beat, you are left transfixed by Harrington for what he’s going to do next. Ending the set hoisted aloft on a crowd barrier like an indie messiah, while screaming “Let’s Get Out of Here!”, Les Savy Fav leave us with the biggest grin and for half the crowd silver hand prints on random body parts to wear for the rest of the evening.

Popping out of the Inner Sanctum, yeah it’s a stage name, to grab a drink and some food it’s time to kick back and catch some of Cloud Control. On the day’s smallest stage and down a side street from the rest of the action the place is packed, and unsurprisingly so. Hailed by some as Australia’s next big thing Cloud Control don’t disappoint. Their blissed out folk rock is the perfect foil to the indie and electronica elsewhere on the bill. They have everyone eating out of the palm of their hand and look completely assured for a band who has only recently released their debut. Who’ll take bets next year they are higher up on the bill?

You will perhaps remember that Foals snuck into this year’s Triple J hottest 100 at number 98. This low position doesn’t seem to correlate at all with the amount of crowd buzz before they take to the Alexandria Street stage. As soon as the first chord is struck, the lush and distinctive sound of Foals’ guitar effects cut through the wash of red lights and fog, all the while frontman Yannis Philippakis struts about the stage to spur the crowd on. Tracks from their debut Antidotes, “Olympic Airways” and “Cassius”, are instantly recognizable and serve to generate a solid response and momentum amongst the audience. The expectation for “Spanish Sahara” is high, the negative space of its opening filled with chants to the lyric “it’s future rust and then it’s future dust”, only for the song to later swell to its zenith with Philippakis’ vocals erupting against Jack Bevan’s thunderous drum backing. At the close of the Foals set there is a mass departure through the adjacent exit gates despite there still being several bands to come, proving that at least for some, Foals would’ve been a worthy headliner for Laneway 2011.

Heading back in the Inner Sanctum, Canada’s Holy Fuck show that with electronica you don’t necessarily need expensive visuals to keep a crowd interested. Stripped down to simply a drummer, bass player and two guys on every weird and wonderful electronic instrument you can think of, and some you haven’t, Holy Fuck play like a proper live band should. Leaving a trail of fuzzy bass and feedback their scatterbrain noise seems almost discordant at times but considering their name is unsurprisingly apt. Machine gun drums go off and is joined by complex soundscapes from keyboards that resemble kids toys. Whatever, it sounds great. The energy given off by these guys is intense and half way through the set even the most cynical watchers near me have been won over. It’s not supposed to be pretty but they show that even the most experimental of music can be danceable. Heck even Tim Harrington is pulling shapes in front of me.

Ending the day with Cut Copy seems like a bit of a letdown. Recently released album Zonoscope seems to be well received from a mini straw poll of three people we speak to, but translating this to a headlining slot may take some work. Confession time: I’ve never been the most overt fan of the band, but they are an Australian headliner at an Australian festival which is increasingly rare these days so deserve some support. Unfortunately they come across like a danceable Coldplay, a bit too safe and bland. If Cut Copy were a colour they would definitely be beige and neutral, like Switzerland. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that per se but what I want from music is something that will kick me up the arse, make me take notice, change my mood, lose my pants… you get the picture. From the cheesy lit up door they walk through to come on stage, to the hackneyed pub singer hand gestures of frontman Dan Whitford it does seem like they have put a lot of thought into their performance, it’s just when it comes down to it their music just doesn’t cut it. They tell us it’s the first night of their world tour. Hopefully by the next time they roll round the show will be a bit more risqué and the setlist more compelling.

It’s nearing midnight and while it’s cooled down the humidity clings to us like silver paint so we trudge through the gates, past the irritated police officers trying to control the thousands of jaywalkers (hey, good luck with that officers) and reflect on the indie dream bill of the day and come to the only logical conclusion that for Laneway next year Les Savy Fav have to headline. And the year after that and the year after that…

Full Photo Gallery on facebook

Text: Lee Gwyn (Rat Vs Possum, Foals), Garry Thompson (Ariel Pink, Les Savy Fav, Cloud Control, Holy Fuck, Cut Copy), Caleb Rudd (All others)

Photos: Lee Gwyn

The first time I heard of Foals was in early 2008 when an old friend mentioned the name “Foals” when talking about new bands to listen to adding, “I think you’d like them”. As he knew my tastes, specifically my shoegaze/Britpop obsession, I took notice and promptly sought out Antidotes from the Oxford quintet. Ostensibly an indie rock record it took cues from the weirder sides of post-punk: the danceable bass lines of Gang of Four, the shouted/sung vocal style of Wire, the skeletal guitar lines and brass of early Hunters & Collectors and the rhythms of Talking Heads combining them with more modern maths rock timings and percussion, unsettling synthesizer and obtuse lyrics with a predilection for avian creatures, flight and insects. It wasn’t an easy listen but it was a totally unforgettable one.

So to say expectations were high for their second album Total Life Forever, both personally and from the listening community at large, would be stating the exceedingly obvious but from the grandeur and exquisite melancholy of “Spanish Sahara”, the frenetic indie-pop of “This Orient” to the dance funk of “Miami” it met and exceeded them with uncommon ease. Total Life Forever elevated Foals into the rare league of artists who maintain credibility with a more accessible sonic palate, and thus gaining a larger listening base, whilst still remaining true to their experimental pop principles. Chris Berkley spoke to bassist Walter Gervers while the band was in Australia for the St. Jerome’s Laneway festivals and as it turns out some recording on the sly.

Is the Australian summer heat is treating all you poor pale boys in Foals okay?

Yeah, it’s factor fifty plus at the moment! It’s kind of killing us but, it’s amazing. Couldn’t have picked a better time to come over, actually.

You guys in Foals actually snuck back into Australia a couple of weeks ago and not to soak up the sun, but to do some work. You’ve sort of been ensconced in Sydney in the studio, right?

Yeah it’s been great, we’ve been just doing some work with a pal of ours called Jono at this studio in Sydney just for a couple of weeks. We thought basically we’d come out early before the shows started, not only to get over the jet lag but actually get some stuff done, get back to the studio before we forget any new bits and bobs that we’ve got going for the next record.

This pal of yours, this is Jono Ma from Lost Valentinos right? Who had done remixes and stuff like that in the past for you guys.

The very same.

Was he at you to come over and get you in the studio or did just work out that way?

Well it kind of worked out that way. His brother, Dave, has done the majority of our videos and photos and various things with us and we’ve known him for years so it just made sense to go with someone we knew and we’d met Jono a few times. It just seemed like fun and a good opportunity for him to do some engineering for us and we’ve been really pleased. It’s kind of cool to be recording bits and pieces already, it’s very early stages, everything is in it’s infancy, but it feels like we’re buying ourselves some time which is great.

I mean the last Foals album Total Life Forever came out less than twelve months ago, so this is not a proper actual recording of an album, this is you guys just getting some ideas down is it?

Yeah, it’s getting ideas down, just recording some bits before we forget them because we have a tendency as a band to jam new things and quite often in sound checks when we’ll be in a rush and we’ll be like “Oh you’ve got to remember that thing that we did!” and stuff gets lost. So it’s kind of important to document these things.

Come on, there’s even those voice recorders on iPhones now, there’s no excuse for not recording something all the time!

True, that is very true. Yannis has just got Logic going so we can actually fiddle with parts and actually do things proper!

So you’re slowly joining the twenty-first century are you?

(Laughs) It’s taken us a while but yeah. You see us walking around with those boom boxes!

Each Foals album has been recorded far from your Oxford home, I mean you did Antidotes in New York and you did Total Life Forever in Gothenburg. Do you need to go away to think about recording Foals now? Is it hard to do it at home?

It’s not that it’s hard to do; I just think it’s really healthy for us to go away on an expedition somewhere with an aim to not come home until we’ve finished the record basically. It’s nice to be away from distractions, it’s nice to let the environment where you go to have an effect on the record, which it definitely has in the last couple of albums and it just gives you an opportunity to work elsewhere and meet other people and be out of your comfort zone.

I think that’s what you need to be doing when you’re making an album because then the studio becomes home, it becomes headquarters and it’s more productive rather than going down the road to London a couple of days a week and then breaking out of studio mode as it where. You’re just completely engulfed in it which does make it hard work and it does mean that sometimes you do lose focus as well because you’re listening to too much and you’re there too much but it’s worked for us so far.

For both those first two Foals albums you guys used outside producers, both of whom coincidentally enough had been in other bands like Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio did the first record and Luke Smith from Clor did the second one, are you thinking about using an outside producer again for the third Foals album or are you ready to actually go it alone?

We’ve actually been talking about this already, but it’s always good to have an outside influence and an outside perspective and someone to stop us over working things and point us in the right direction. Because as much as we’ve learnt as a band we don’t know everything by any means and it’s really healthy to have somebody there who can say “Trust me, this song needs to go in this direction, let’s strip this out, stop noodling around” that kind of thing, and I think that if we were to do it amongst the five of us we’d never be satisfied and we’d just keep re-working songs and we wouldn’t leave things alone. So maybe in the future when we learn a bit more restraint then we’ll do that but I think definitely getting a relationship with a producer and with the engineers as well is incredibly important and it affects the records, usually.

Even if sometimes that can be fraught, because I know famously that you guys didn’t end up using the mix that Dave Sitek did for Antidotes, but it’s still healthy to have that person in there initially offering ideas and being the peacemaker sometimes when you guys in Foals are making a record?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Dave was so valuable for that and for advice to how to operate as a band. We hadn’t even made a record before and it was all quite alien to us and we felt the pressure a lot as well as people were waiting to see if we could actually make a good first record so he was really good at kind of tutoring us in the right direction. With Luke as well doing Total Life Forever, he had such good ears and a good head for sound and he was all about the quality of the recording like the input going into tools, or going into the desk, it needed to be of a high quality so we’d do a lot more live takes with all of us in the room and actually trying to nail it, play the song all the way through rather than going into a booth one by one which can be little bit soulless at times. He really made us work hard for it and it was quite tough graft but it was great. Without people doing that we’d probably just operate in a sphere that we were comfortable with.

And to that end, how cerebral an experience is putting a Foals album together and how much of it is gut instinct? I mean, you guys are probably quite a thinking man’s band, do you put a lot of thought into the way that Foals’ music turns out on record?

Yeah, definitely. We have quite a weird relationship with each other, the five of us, without being able to articulate to each other we really know what kind of direction we want once things start rolling. Yannis obviously writes all the lyrics and he’ll explain things and we’ll be on board so it’s really sort of a group thing but it’s always very difficult to explain, if that makes sense? We say to each other we all know what this song needs to do; we just may not be able to do it yet.

I’m quite envious that you guys in Foals get lyrics explained to you by Yannis, he should be doing that in a broader term. There should be lecture tours!

(Laughs) Yeah, I know! It’s very important to be on board with everything like that.

I think also lyrically though he also likes being that little trapped in an enigma as well, doesn’t he? It must be nice sometimes to not have to explain himself to the broader populous.

Sure, I think things get diluted a bit if they’re explained too much. Some things should just be left for people to make of them what they will. Often the lyrics don’t have huge messages behind them, he uses a lot of imagery in them which is just helping paint a picture. I think sometimes people read too much into things, but that’s fine.

(Laughs) Well you guys must be doing something right because you’re nominated for five NME Awards so people are getting it in some way.

Yeah I was thrilled about that; we’ve never won anything before so maybe we will this time.

I reckon this is your year for prizes, let’s make it happen!

Let’s hope so! To be honest it’s been such a good year anyway and we’re just so pleased that the album has been so well received that kind of stuff it’s not what makes it for us at all, but it would be funny if we got something!

Photo: Lee Gwyn (slideshow, thumbnail) from Brisbane Laneway.

Interview broadcast on Static on 03/02/11. Static can be heard on Sydney’s 2SER (107.3 FM) every Thursday evening (AEST) or streamed at your convenience at Static’s Mixcloud site.

The bait and switch. It’s a classic ploy where you advertise one product but deliver another. Cut Copy have employed a version of this for their third long player Zonoscope baiting us with two singles that aren’t representative of the album as a whole. Released mid 2010 “Where I’m Going” indicated the band were going for a straight ahead indie pop direction, somewhere between The Kinks and The Chills, full as it was of twangy riffs, a big sing-a-long chorus and a simple companionship theme. Then later that year “Take Me Over”, with its “Down Under” thieving bass and percussion, was a daft(punk) summer pop song. The remainder of Zonoscope is for the most part the most dance-centric Cut Copy has been since their sampledelic debut EP one decade ago.

Before people take issue with the Department of Consumer Affairs citing a breach in the Trade Practices Act we should examine what the switch has left us with. Current single and album opener “Need You Now” is an atypical Cut Copy track, a six minute slow burn epic that rewards repeated listens with lead singer/songwriter/producer Dan Whitford delivering a strong vocal. “Pharaohs & Pyramids” begins a batch of songs that combine tribal house with synth pop with mixed results also starting a half baked Egyptian-cum-apocalyptic thread, begun with the fantastical cover art.

“This is All We’ve Got” (the album’s original title perhaps?) is slice of catchy rock, mining Phil Spector’s wall of sound production and “Leader of the Pack”’s drum pattern while “Alisa” combines inventive guitar lines with twinkling keyboards and a huge string soaked chorus, a strong candidate for the next single. As good as they are, both are hampered from having Whitford’s vocals buried in the mix, perhaps to disguise the “written on the back of a postage stamp” lines, as while Whitford is a compelling melodicist he’s a lousy lyricist. Songwriters like Martin Gore, Neil Tennant and Vince Clarke showed they could have the depth of any rock poet. Dan was obviously too busy cribbing their synth lines to also study their lyric sheets.

This vacuousness reaches a nadir on fifteen minute album closer “Sun God” which essentially boils down to “Please, please, please won’t you give your love/Are you going to me your love?/Your love won’t be enough” in the verse and then a shouted “You’ve got to live!/You’ve got to die!/So what’s the purpose of you and I?” in the chorus. Again musically its pretty good at least for the first seven minutes before getting lost in its own epic house arse. Thus in essence Zonoscope is a missed opportunity. The moments of brilliance are hampered by mixed production, terrible lyrics, schizophrenic songs styles and a nonsensical overall theme. Whatever side of the indie-dance camp Cut Copy want to plant themselves in, even if it’s on the fence, some semblance of care and thought into those tenants of a pop album would be appreciated next time, lest we really do contact Consumer Affairs Victoria.

“Melody Day” and “Odessa” are easily two of the best singles of the last five, maybe ten, years. Both are penned by Daniel Snaith a.k.a. Caribou, and while recognisable as coming from the same artist, Snaith’s androgynous vocal sees to that, they are very different in feel. “Melody Day” combines an euphoric melody with whip sharp snare drumming that masks the disillusionment of the narrator’s relationship while “Odessa” is more musically paranoid, with disturbing animal like electronic screeches tempered by the soothing “She can say, she can say, she can say/Who knows what she’s gonna say” of the chorus. Not an artist prone to repeating himself “Melody Day” comes from Caribou’s second album 2007′s Andorra which took ’60s psychedelic pop and merged it with complex rhythm patterns, the latter from his LP from last year Swim, which saw Snaith heading into a denser electronic direction while still retaining a fair amount of pop smarts.

Caribou with long time friend Kieran Hebden better known as Four Tet will soon be the Antipodes for a series of shows but late last year Chris Berkley caught up with Snaith whilst on the never ending Swim tour where Dan took time out to talk about the art of Caribou live versus recording, his electric friends, how some people perceive Swim to be a dark album and thoughts on how not to win over the doom metal crowd.

Did you ever envisage Caribou as this non-stop traveling circus like it’s become, Dan?

It’s happened kind of gradually. After the last album we toured a lot and every time we have so much fun and there’s fun things to do so we say yes to them.

But it must feel like it’s working live as well.

It’s working really well this time actually. It’s by far the show that I’m most happy with since we’ve started. All of the newer more electronic elements are fitting together really nicely.

I don’t know if you’d call it a gradual thing but it seems like you’ve really developed into this live act and it almost seems like there’s a different edge to you how you now make the records. Does it feel like a separate thing to make a Caribou album and then take it out on tour?

Yeah it really does. It feels like two totally different things especially because it’s just me making the records for the most part. But it’s not like when we go on tour and it’s me and some hired musicians. We’re a real cohesive unit, we put the show together all four of us equally. The songs have taken on lives of their own, they’ve totally developed a lot since the versions that are on the record.

So how conscious do you have to be of doing that when you’re making a Caribou album? I thought after the Andorra tour when you did feel like a real live band to watch and you all had the yellow Thunderbird cravats on and that sort of thing, you’d actually take those people in the studio to make an album, but you kind of drew a line in the sand for the latest Caribou record and still went back in on your own.

Somehow I think that will always work best for me. The way I make a record is I spend a year by myself working at home constantly, just sifting through ideas rather than an intense period in a recording studio. I like that slow pace of me just doing things on my own schedule and I co-ordinate things. There are collaborations on this record but they are me planning it out in advance and then working together for a couple of days rather than always being involved with people throughout the whole process.

You must yearn for a bit of human contact here and there, because I know Luke from Born Ruffians did vocals on one of the tracks on the album.

That came about from we just did this ATP New York show last year, there was a fifteen piece band and he was part of that, and Luke is a friend. We toured with Born Ruffians a fair bit, and just hearing him sing when we were rehearsing for that big show just made me think. There was a song that I had recorded a vocal for that I wasn’t happy with I was thinking who should sing that song, I asked Luke and he was up for it.

Do you ever get those grand visions if you’re making a record on your own, are you that guy that sits there and thinks “Oh I should try and get in touch with Bryan Ferry” or someone more legendary or are you happy to keep it local?

Yeah, I’m kind of wary of.  I’m always more worried about trying to collaborate with somebody like Cluster or whatever, heroes of mine.

They say your heroes let you down Dan.

Well that’s exactly the thing that I’m afraid of, but then Marshall Allen, leader of Sun Ra’s Arkestra, played with us at this ATP show that we did last year and that was so the opposite, he was so affirming and inspiring , the best experience of meeting one of your idols that I could imagine.

Was he aware of the Caribou back catalogue then or is he still not completely up to what you’d done?

He had never heard a second of Caribou music before he stepped on stage at the show, and he was incredible! If he can do that, more power to him.

I guess in tandem with taking the band on the road these days and having those kind of shows, does it feel like it’s become more of a joyous experience, the kind of records your making as Caribou anyway? I guess the earlier stuff, the Manitoba material was a bit more introspective, do you feel like even with the Swim you are making things that are more joyous and meant to be played out, for people to hear out?

It’s funny because people have said exactly the opposite to me! That this is the kind of dark sounding record.

People think this is dark? It’s a joyous album!

From my perspective they all are because they’re all the process of making music which is such a joyous celebratory thing for me, I always get a thrill out of it. I like music that has a culmination of some kind of melancholy next to some kind of euphoric feelings, so that’s my perspective on it but people always hilariously tell me polar opposites of how they respond to music.

What kind of nights in are people having if they think it’s a dark album?

I don’t know, maybe they just listen to Abba or something the rest of the time.

There seems to be a great camaraderie as well, this year especially, almost like this holy triangle where you have done some Four Tet remixes you’ve done some Hot Chip, you guys all seem to be bouncing off each other. Do you feel like when you get out on the road there is some kindred spirits around as well Dan?

Definitely, but not because a musical alliance or something but because those are friends of mine. Kieran’s Four Tet is the guy who got my music released in the first place now we’re close friends and Hot Chip we saw them at Electric Picnic at Ireland last night and Jeremy from Junior Boys mixed part of the record. Fuck Buttons and Born Ruffians, I guess we’ve just ended up touring with and becoming friends with. I’ve always been kind of wary of being part of a scene or too closely associated with any particular sound, but they’re just this growing family of musical friends that has developed over the years. It’s really nice.

I guess everybody has been pretty consistent as well in terms of making interesting records and keeping on keeping on.

I won’t just have anybody as a friend!

(Laughs). How are you with the Doom Metal community? Have they embraced you yet?

We’ll see, I like some of those records. This jacket that I’m wearing is a rainbow gradient! I don’t think that would go over so well with the Doom Metal fraternity.

It’s a definite festival jacket though, it’s easy to find you in something like that. It’s good to see you’re teaming up with Four Tet to come to Australia. You’re not doing shows together it’s strictly you’re doing your thing and he’s doing his, right?

As far as I know we won’t be on stage together but the shows are together.

I think you should be planning your stage invasions during Kieran’s set right now!

I’ve always thought he needs a couple more drum kits as part of his show.

Caribou and Four Tet Australian/NZ Tour 2011

12 Feb, Splore-City, Auckland
15 Feb, The Zoo, Brisbane
16 Feb, The HiFi, Melbourne
16 Feb, The HiFi, Melbourne (Midnight Special)
17 Feb, The Metro, Sydney
18 Feb, Playground Weekender, Wisemans Ferry, NSW

For more details/tickets visit Feel Presents

Interview broadcast on Static on 28/10/10. Static can be heard on Sydney’s 2SER (107.3 FM) and via the Internet (www.2ser.com) every Thursday evening (AEST).

Chris: Joining us on Static this evening it's a great pleasure to have tracked down, in a field in England, Dan from Caribou! Welcome along sir!

Dan: Thanks for having me.

Chris: How is your festival season going and how are you holding up?

Dan: We're holding up OK, I think we're like thirty-five festivals in.

Chris: Already?

Dan: Yeah we've got one more weekend and then it's back to North America for more touring touring.

Chris: Also I just noticed there is a seventy date tour or something lined up between now and the end of the year for Caribou, you're an absolute force!

Dan: Yeah, we're crazy. Looking at that list of dates has made us all feel a bit nauseous! I think it's should be fun.

Chris: Did you ever envisage Caribou as this non-stop travelling circus like it's become, Dan?

Dan: It's happened kind of gradually. After the last album we toured a lot and it's just every time we have so much fun and there's fun things to do so we say yes to them.

Chris: But it must feel like it's working live as well.

Dan: It's working really really well this time actually. It's by far the show that I'm most happy with that we've done. All of the new more electronic elements integrated into it just feels like everything is fitting together really nicely.

Chris: 'Gelled' as they say in some circles.

Dan: That's the word!

Chris: It seems like, I don't know if you'd call it a gradual thing but it seems like you've really developed into this live act and it almost seems like a different edge to you now the way that you make the records as well. Does it feel like a separate thing to make a Caribou album and then take it out on tour?

Dan: Yeah it really does. It feels like two totally different things especially because it's just me making the records for the most part, but it's not like when we go on tour it's me and some hired musicians. It's like we're a real cohesive unit, we put the show together all four of us equally. The songs have taken on lives of their own, they've totally developed a lot since the versions that are on the record.

Chris: So how conscious do you have to be of doing that when you're making a Caribou album because I kind of thought after the Andorra tour when you did fell like a real live band to watch and you all had the yellow Thunderbird cravats on and that sort of thing, I thought you'd actually take those people in the studio to make an album, but you kind of drew a line in the sand for the latest Caribou record and still went back in on your own.

Dan: Somehow I think that will always work best for me. If there are collaborations on the record it's going to be probably I'll work with people for a period but the way I make a record is a year of me working at home constantly, just sifting through ideas rather than an intense period in a recording studio. I like that slow pace of me just doing things on my own schedule and I co-ordinate things. There are collaborations on this record but they are me planning it out in advance and then working together for a couple of days rather than always being involved with people throughout the whole process.

Chris: You must yearn for a bit of human contact here and there, because I know Luke from Born Ruffians did vocals on one of the tracks on the album.

Dan: That came about from we just did this ATP New York show last year, there was a fifteen piece band and he was part of that, and Luke is a friend, we toured with Born Ruffians a fair bit, and just hearing him sing when we were rehearsing for that big show just made me think. There was a song that I had recorded a vocal for that I wasn't happy with I was thinking who should sing this song, I asked Luke and he was up for it.

Chris: Do you get ever those grand visions if you're making a record on your own, are you that guy that sits there and thinks 'Oh I should try and get in touch with Brian Ferry' or someone more legendary or are you happy to keep it local? Especially to get a Canadian band on the record, Dan?

Dan: Yeah, I'm kind of wary of, I'm never had any of that. I'm always more worried about trying to collaborate with somebody like Cluster or whatever, heroes of mine.

Chris: They say your heroes let you down Dan.

Dan: Well that's exactly the thing that I'm afraid of, but then Marshall Allen, leader of the Sun Ra's Arkestra, played with us at this ATP show that we did last year and that was so the opposite, he was so affirming and inspiring , the best experience of meeting one of your idols that I could imagine.

Chris: Was he across the whole Caribou back catalogue then or is he still not completely up to what you had done?

Dan: He had never heard a second of Caribou music before he stepped on stage at the show, and he was incredible! If he can do that, more power to him.

Chris: I guess in tandem with taking the band on the road these days and having those kind of shows, does it feel like it's become more of a joyous experience, the kind of records your making as Caribou anyway? I guess the earlier stuff, the Manitoba material was a bit more introspective, do you feel like even with the latest Caribou album you are making things that are more joyous and meant to be played out and for people to hear out?

Dan: It's funny because people have said exactly the opposite to me! That this is the kind of dark sounding record.

Chris: People think this is dark? It's a joyous album!

Dan: From my perspective they all are because they're all the process of making music is such a joyous celebratory thing for me always, I always get a thrill out of it. I like music that has a culmination of some kind of melancholy next to some kind of euphoric feelings, so that's my perspective on it but people always hilariously tell me polar opposites of how they respond to music.

Chris: What kind of nights in are people having if they think it's a dark album?

Dan: I don't know, maybe they just listen to Abba or something the rest of the time.

Chris:There seems to be a great camaraderie as well, this year especially, almost like this holy triangle where you have done some Four Tet remixes you've done some Hot Chip, you guys all seem to be bouncing off each other , are you kind of aware of other bands that are on the road and making in the same kind of music as you do you feel like when you get out on the road there is some kindred spirits around as well Dan?

Dan: Definitely, but not because a musical alliance or something but because those are friends of mine. Kieran's Four Tet is the guy who got my music released in the first place now we're closest friends and Hot Chip we saw them at Electric Picnic at Ireland last night and Jeremy from Junior Boys mixed part of the record and Fuck Buttons and Born Ruffians, I guess we've just ended up touring with and becoming friends with. I really like that, it's not a sense of, I've always been kind of wary of being part of a scene or too closely associated with some particular sound, but they're just this growing family of musical friends that has developed over the years is really nice.

Chris: I guess everybody has been pretty consistent as well in terms of making interesting records and keeping on keeping on.

Dan: I won't just have anybody as a friend!

Chris: (Laughs). How are you with the Doom Meal community have they embraced you yet?

Dan: We'll see, I like some of those bands records. This jacket that I'm wearing which since this is audio interview, is a rainbow gradient! I don't think that would go over so well with the Doom Metal fraternity.

Chris: It's a definite festival jacket though, it's easy to find you in something like that! It's good to see you as well now you're teaming up with Four Tet to come to Australia next time around.

Dan: That's right, it's an unconfirmed rumour but I can't tell you any specifics.

Chris: Come on, can you not confirm or deny?

Dan: We're coming, yeah.

Chris: And are you not doing shows together it's strictly you're doing your thing and he's doing his, right?

Dan: As far as I know we won't be on stage together but the shows are together.

Chris: I think you should be planning your stage invasions during Kieran's set right now!

Dan: He needs a couple more drum kits as part of his show, I've always thought!

Chris: Never enough! We might have a listen now to some one else who has had a go at one of Caribou's songs, we'll have a listen to the Jack Tennis remix of “Sun”. Is this one of the unsolicited remixes that you got thousands sent to you or is this the actual solictied one?

Dan: No, this was unsolicited. This is the amazing thing about that competition, we had a remix competition for the song “Sun” that got hundreds of responses, but not only that but people who didn't even submit they're still turning up! They didn't even submit to the contest but have just been playing around with the parts and it surfaces online somewhere and people are like tell me they've heard it at some club or something, it's really amazing.

Chris: Have you been out in a club somewhere and been like 'Oh this is a really great song' and then realised it's your song?

Dan: No, I've only been out, since this album came out, at our concerts pretty much every single night since then!

Chris: Well there's a lot between Australia and now so wish you luck for the next few months and let's have a listen to this Jack Tennis remix on Static thanks for the talk Dan.

Chris: Joining us on Static this evening it's a great pleasure to have tracked down, in a field in England, Dan from Caribou! Welcome along sir!

Dan: Thanks for having me.

Chris: How is your festival season going and how are you holding up?

Dan: We're holding up OK, I think we're like thirty-five festivals in.

Chris: Already?

Dan: Yeah we've got one more weekend and then it's back to North America for more touring touring.

Chris: Also I just noticed there is a seventy date tour or something lined up between now and the end of the year for Caribou, you're an absolute force!

Dan: Yeah, we're crazy. Looking at that list of dates has made us all feel a bit nauseous! I think it's should be fun.

Chris: Did you ever envisage Caribou as this non-stop travelling circus like it's become, Dan?

Dan: It's happened kind of gradually. After the last album we toured a lot and it's just every time we have so much fun and there's fun things to do so we say yes to them.

Chris: But it must feel like it's working live as well.

Dan: It's working really really well this time actually. It's by far the show that I'm most happy with that we've done. All of the new more electronic elements integrated into it just feels like everything is fitting together really nicely.

Chris: 'Gelled' as they say in some circles.

Dan: That's the word!

Chris: It seems like, I don't know if you'd call it a gradual thing but it seems like you've really developed into this live act and it almost seems like a different edge to you now the way that you make the records as well. Does it feel like a separate thing to make a Caribou album and then take it out on tour?

Dan: Yeah it really does. It feels like two totally different things especially because it's just me making the records for the most part, but it's not like when we go on tour it's me and some hired musicians. It's like we're a real cohesive unit, we put the show together all four of us equally. The songs have taken on lives of their own, they've totally developed a lot since the versions that are on the record.

Chris: So how conscious do you have to be of doing that when you're making a Caribou album because I kind of thought after the Andorra tour when you did fell like a real live band to watch and you all had the yellow Thunderbird cravats on and that sort of thing, I thought you'd actually take those people in the studio to make an album, but you kind of drew a line in the sand for the latest Caribou record and still went back in on your own.

Dan: Somehow I think that will always work best for me. If there are collaborations on the record it's going to be probably I'll work with people for a period but the way I make a record is a year of me working at home constantly, just sifting through ideas rather than an intense period in a recording studio. I like that slow pace of me just doing things on my own schedule and I co-ordinate things. There are collaborations on this record but they are me planning it out in advance and then working together for a couple of days rather than always being involved with people throughout the whole process.

Chris: You must yearn for a bit of human contact here and there, because I know Luke from Born Ruffians did vocals on one of the tracks on the album.

Dan: That came about from we just did this ATP New York show last year, there was a fifteen piece band and he was part of that, and Luke is a friend, we toured with Born Ruffians a fair bit, and just hearing him sing when we were rehearsing for that big show just made me think. There was a song that I had recorded a vocal for that I wasn't happy with I was thinking who should sing this song, I asked Luke and he was up for it.

Chris: Do you get ever those grand visions if you're making a record on your own, are you that guy that sits there and thinks 'Oh I should try and get in touch with Brian Ferry' or someone more legendary or are you happy to keep it local? Especially to get a Canadian band on the record, Dan?

Dan: Yeah, I'm kind of wary of, I'm never had any of that. I'm always more worried about trying to collaborate with somebody like Cluster or whatever, heroes of mine.

Chris: They say your heroes let you down Dan.

Dan: Well that's exactly the thing that I'm afraid of, but then Marshall Allen, leader of the Sun Ra's Arkestra, played with us at this ATP show that we did last year and that was so the opposite, he was so affirming and inspiring , the best experience of meeting one of your idols that I could imagine.

Chris: Was he across the whole Caribou back catalogue then or is he still not completely up to what you had done?

Dan: He had never heard a second of Caribou music before he stepped on stage at the show, and he was incredible! If he can do that, more power to him.

Chris: I guess in tandem with taking the band on the road these days and having those kind of shows, does it feel like it's become more of a joyous experience, the kind of records your making as Caribou anyway? I guess the earlier stuff, the Manitoba material was a bit more introspective, do you feel like even with the latest Caribou album you are making things that are more joyous and meant to be played out and for people to hear out?

Dan: It's funny because people have said exactly the opposite to me! That this is the kind of dark sounding record.

Chris: People think this is dark? It's a joyous album!

Dan: From my perspective they all are because they're all the process of making music is such a joyous celebratory thing for me always, I always get a thrill out of it. I like music that has a culmination of some kind of melancholy next to some kind of euphoric feelings, so that's my perspective on it but people always hilariously tell me polar opposites of how they respond to music.

Chris: What kind of nights in are people having if they think it's a dark album?

Dan: I don't know, maybe they just listen to Abba or something the rest of the time.

Chris:There seems to be a great camaraderie as well, this year especially, almost like this holy triangle where you have done some Four Tet remixes you've done some Hot Chip, you guys all seem to be bouncing off each other , are you kind of aware of other bands that are on the road and making in the same kind of music as you do you feel like when you get out on the road there is some kindred spirits around as well Dan?

Dan: Definitely, but not because a musical alliance or something but because those are friends of mine. Kieran's Four Tet is the guy who got my music released in the first place now we're closest friends and Hot Chip we saw them at Electric Picnic at Ireland last night and Jeremy from Junior Boys mixed part of the record and Fuck Buttons and Born Ruffians, I guess we've just ended up touring with and becoming friends with. I really like that, it's not a sense of, I've always been kind of wary of being part of a scene or too closely associated with some particular sound, but they're just this growing family of musical friends that has developed over the years is really nice.

Chris: I guess everybody has been pretty consistent as well in terms of making interesting records and keeping on keeping on.

Dan: I won't just have anybody as a friend!

Chris: (Laughs). How are you with the Doom Meal community have they embraced you yet?

Dan: We'll see, I like some of those bands records. This jacket that I'm wearing which since this is audio interview, is a rainbow gradient! I don't think that would go over so well with the Doom Metal fraternity.

Chris: It's a definite festival jacket though, it's easy to find you in something like that! It's good to see you as well now you're teaming up with Four Tet to come to Australia next time around.

Dan: That's right, it's an unconfirmed rumour but I can't tell you any specifics.

Chris: Come on, can you not confirm or deny?

Dan: We're coming, yeah.

Chris: And are you not doing shows together it's strictly you're doing your thing and he's doing his, right?

Dan: As far as I know we won't be on stage together but the shows are together.

Chris: I think you should be planning your stage invasions during Kieran's set right now!

Dan: He needs a couple more drum kits as part of his show, I've always thought!

Chris: Never enough! We might have a listen now to some one else who has had a go at one of Caribou's songs, we'll have a listen to the Jack Tennis remix of “Sun”. Is this one of the unsolicited remixes that you got thousands sent to you or is this the actual solictied one?

Dan: No, this was unsolicited. This is the amazing thing about that competition, we had a remix competition for the song “Sun” that got hundreds of responses, but not only that but people who didn't even submit they're still turning up! They didn't even submit to the contest but have just been playing around with the parts and it surfaces online somewhere and people are like tell me they've heard it at some club or something, it's really amazing.

Chris: Have you been out in a club somewhere and been like 'Oh this is a really great song' and then realised it's your song?

Dan: No, I've only been out, since this album came out, at our concerts pretty much every single night since then!

Chris: Well there's a lot between Australia and now so wish you luck for the next few months and let's have a listen to this Jack Tennis remix on Static thanks for the talk Dan.

Dan: Cool and see you in a bit!

Dan: Cool and see you in a bit!

H²0 is essential for most life on the planet. Humans are comprised of around 60% water while the Earth’s surface consists of 71%. For the third Sunset Sounds festival in Brisbane that seemed to edge up to the 90th percentile. Water and its offspring mud was totally and utterly inescapable. It came down in sheets, hell it came down in slabs. Even those who came with waterproof clothing were completely soaked not just to the bone but to the very marrow. Sunset Sounds became Sunless Sounds, Soggy Sounds and Mudset Sounds. It brought out the worst in some people and the best in others. Still the show went on with artists, organisers, workers and observers alike all having a role to fulfill. Let us begin ours:

Day One – 5 Jan 2011

The prospect of noise pop darlings Sleigh Bells performing in daylight on a main stage (the unfortunately named Riverstage) doesn’t seem to affect them much. If we were looking at effort Sleigh Bells would win band of the day. Unfortunately with Alexis Krauss’s vocals are way down in the mix, it’s actually all pretty muddy sounding. Trying to crane to hear it’s not apparent where the backing track ends and the live music starts. Admittedly the kids down the front lap it up like parched dogs but it is the fuzzed out guitars that rasp so much on record that completely sail over this hill I’m standing on. In a sweaty tent they would raise the roof but here they simply don’t deliver.

One of the biggest crowds of the day greets Cold War Kids and it’s no surprise when they rip through a set mostly lifted from debut Robbers and Cowards. The band are tighter than a ducks proverbial and don’t miss a beat for their entire set, even when the clouds that have threatened so far decide to begin to do their worst. As a definition of ironic, when the worsening weather changes from a damp shower to torrential rain, it had to be during “Hang Me Up to Dry”. No one seems to mind though and to be honest it seems to galvanise the crowd more resulting in the obligatory festival sign a long to “We Used to Vacation”.

Meanwhile at the opposite side of grounds, New Zealand’s blandest export Pip Brown a.k.a. Ladyhawke takes flight. The “difficult second album” cliché is proving true as her second LP that ditches the synths for more guitar is just starting to be recorded some two years and a half years after her debut. The new songs on offer today lend credence to Brown’s claim of a new direction but replacing derivative electro-pop with by the numbers rawk’n'roll isn’t a step forward as such and the crowd award them the cool reception they deserve. The singles are received more positively but when confronted with band and crowd chanting the words I quickly realise how utterly banal the lyrics to “Back of the Van” and “Paris is burning” actually are. “My Delirium” is the only redeeming song of the set, and indeed her career, but it’s not enough for Pip to soar. Ladyhawke? More like Ladysquawk.

After a break The National take to the same stage to not only a rapturous welcome but to a crowd packing in every inch of available space. From the outset it’s clear that the band is playing no ordinary phone-it-in festival set. It’s a home crowd to these guys and the energy and passion from the band are plain to see. Matt Berninger looks emotional at points especially during “Squalor Victoria”, and the addition of a horn section only adds to the mood. While the beginning of their set relies heavily on songs from last year’s High Violet, “Abel” and “Mr November” are just as well received. No one seems to care that what was once torrential rain has now ramped it up a notch to whatever adjective comes next. Berninger certainly doesn’t as he steps off stage and walks through the crowd for “Terrible Love”, leading a chorus of fans that join in to every word. It’s a fantastic set and I can’t help wondering why they were not headlining.

After such a cracking set we head on over to catch what’s left of Public Enemy’s set, promoted as a 20 year anniversary of Fear of a Black Planet, just in time for “Fight The Power”. It’s all a bit cabaret and becomes impossible to listen to the tail end  while dodging the increasing numbers of idiots sliding down the Riverstage hill in the mud. When Flava Flav ends their set with a five minute discourse on how we can all help to rid the world of racism and separatism it seems apt that even in the worsening weather no one seems to move a muscle until he’s finished.

So then it’s left for Interpol, New York’s premier proponents of gloomy introspective rock, to lift the dampened spirits of festival goers. Still the rain, which hasn’t abated, might actually enhance the mood and it’s amazing to see the number of punters that have chosen to remain but then the impact of Interpol’s first two albums on the Gen Ys who make up the majority of the crowd, not yet born when the likes of Wire, Gang of Four and The Chameleons first emerged, can’t be underestimated. Interpol of course aren’t naive to their legacy so base the set heavily around those albums and Antics in particular. And who can blame them with epics like “Evil”, “C’Mere”, “Say Hello To The Angels”, and particularly “Take Me On A Cruise” (another song of huge ironic value) sounding expansive and thrilling. The new album is milked for its stronger tracks including the delay pedal switched to overdrive opener “Success”, the heavenly reverb of “Lights” and the paranoia inducing “Memory Serves”.  Throughout Paul Banks stands stoically in his Brokeback check shirt and mullet and Daniel Kessler glides around the stage like a guitar wielding elf. New bass recruit David Pajo can’t match Carlos Dengler’s stage presence but close your eyes and you can’t tell the difference. Interpol may have nothing left to prove but do they want to be the post-punk revival Oasis, forever relying on the strength of their first two albums? If not, album five better be a blinder. With the throbs of set closer “Not Even Jail” still echoing we make our way up the hill in an attempt to get out of the slippery slope lest it becomes our own jail and find a taxi driver who will pick a water logged festival reviewer up.

Day Two  – 6 Jan 2011

For most of today the rain eases to little more than a drizzle, praise the heavens, but the moisture of yesterday has made the grounds into a field of mud and mini lakes of foul looking water. I momentarily flashback to Glastonbury 1998 but soldier on valiantly in the Somme-like trenches.

At the Garden stage The Soft Pack has few surprises in store; they ply their fare of solid garage rock which is pretty faithful to their recorded versions. “C’mon”, “More or Less” and especially closer “Answer to Yourself” are three minutes gems with the right mix of riffs, melody, vocal harmonies and aggression. Despite originating from San Diego, I hear Australian garage acts of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s such as The Screaming Tribesmen and Radio Birdmen in The Soft Pack’s sound which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Later on the same stage Peaches performs a DJ set and while I’d have preferred the full she-bang I figure the Peaches concert experience is 80% spectacle and 20% musicianship at the best of times anyway. Scant regard is given to whatever tinnitus inducing 2011 version of electroclash she actually is playing, instead all eyes are on her and in particular her multi-breasted — as in rubber breasts — suit. She’s stands behind an ominous sci-fi style mixing console and remains reasonably static instead letting her two leather clad dancers, one of either gender, to gyrate and strip for visual appeal. While it’s cheaper than a visit to Love & Rockets (the Brisbane strip club, not the band) it’s not easy being sleazy at this hour of the day and my attention drifts to the crowd getting down and dirty in the mud instead.

After observing various mud slinging and mud bathing by punters in-between sets the The Morning Benders’ euphoric pop is the perfect prescription. The band is appreciative of the audience turnout for their final show of their first tour here as the constantly beaming face of Chris Chu attests. A cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” is welcome for many reasons including its punchy rhythm, Chu’s capability of hitting the same key that Stevie Nicks once did and its appropriate lyrical content (“When the rain washes you clean you’ll know” – oh yeah, I knew). It’s the bouncy, hand clap friendly single “All Day Day Light” and sing-a-long closer “Excuses” which ends with Orr on his knees singing at the top of his lungs sans-microphone that brings home how much The Benders put into their show. As if by magic soon after Chris finishes an actual sunset is glimpsed at the top of the hill, or was it a dream?

With the ultra violet interlude just a memory I catch the end of Washington’s tenure along with seemingly everyone else who braved the festival today. The local singer gone over to the big leagues has divided critics over the question of which side of the indie/pop divide she falls on but the people are voting with their feet and crowd and performer are loving every second of it. A cover of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” that segues into one of her piano powered anthems is somewhat obvious but that along with a version of The Divinyls’ ode to onanism “I Touch Myself” which has the multitudes in a lather.

It’s tempting to categorise Sweden’s Junip as merely acoustic troubadour José González with a full band to flesh out his sound. It’s also pretty much on the money. This is not altogether a bad thing though as the problems of González solo, namely his distinctive but narrow vocal range and repetitious tempo are mostly negated with Junip. Abetted by band mates Elias Araya on drums and the seemingly octo-handed Tobias Winterkorn on keys there is also an additional percussionist/multi-instrumentalist and bassist. As a five piece Junip create a plethora of textures and enough rhythmic diversity to combat any folk fatigue. In fact so easy it is to get lost in the vortex of sound it’s with some effort I pull myself away…

…and end the festival with Melbourne icon/legend/singer-songwriter stalwart Sir Paul Kelly. I first discovered “Dumb Things” in the late ’80s after it appeared in Yahoo Serious, a song which could have served as my soundtrack in the years since, but never have I seen the man in concert. “Careless”, “Before too Long” and “To Her Door” are universal stories that transcend eras or locations underpinned by sharp melodies that resonant just as much now as they did twenty years ago. Suited and booted the man cuts a lean figure and he has the smarts to surround himself with a seasoned band that includes Vicki and Linda Bull on backing vocals and Even’s Ashley Naylor on guitar. There are a few lulls, specifically when one of the Bulls sings the Raymond Carver inspired ballad “Everything’s Turning to White”, but the Kelly takes back the reigns for a snarling “Sweet Guy” and it’s with some regret I leave, rather appropriately, during “Deeper Water”.

Exhausted but elated at the same I trudge home to a hot shower and wondering how the hell I’ll get the mud off my shoes. Of course the rain continued long after Sunset Sounds ended. Less than a week later there would be mass flooding in Brisbane and the already sodden grounds would be totally engulfed by water. Any complaints of too much rain at the Sunset Sounds are now seen as petty in the scheme of things as I realise how lucky we got to see the festival at all. Just next year I’ll be praying for a little more sun to go with the sounds.

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Words: Garry Thompson (Sleigh Bells, Cold War Kids, The National, Public Enemy). Caleb Rudd (all others).

Photos: Caleb Rudd except Interpol: Lee Gwyn and Public Enemy (Slideshow): Matt Palmer