Sleeper – Smart / The It Girl
Putting on our Britpop goggles yet again, Sleeper's debut album Smart and its follow-up The It Girl get the reissue treatment.
Joker’s Daughter – The Last Laugh
Producer Danger Mouse and vocalist Helena Costas come together as Joker's Daughter. It's a mixed deck by all accounts.
Eels – Hombre Lobo
America's rock werewolf Mark Oliver Everett otherwise known as Eels howls twelve songs of desire on his seventh studio disc.
Models – God Bless America
The Post-Punk years in Australia were a mixed ground. The key bands of that era were floundering or disbanding while the second wave was about to hit, bands like Hunters and Collectors, Hoodoo Gurus, The
Jay Reatard – Australian Interview (Static, 2009)
Capping off an incredibly busy year with a singles compilation for 2008, Nashville native Jay Reatard has been relentlessly touring the globe and still hasn't stopped to catch his breath. Recently blowing away audiences in
Sloan – The Double Cross
The best band to come out of Canada, ever, celebrate their 20th anniversary with The Double Cross. It's a Roman numeral thing, y'dig?
Liz Phair – Funstyle
From "Exile In Guyville" to exiled in general. It hasn't been smooth sailing for Liz Phair. In fact you could say things have been downright un-Phair.
The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
Heaven is here, and if the album is half as great as this review, then The Hold Steady should be counting their lucky stars.
Wire – Red Barked Tree / Gang of Four – Content
Wire and Gang of Four wrote the book for post-punk, kind of. Are they still innovators or merely curators with Red Barked Tree and Content?
The Raveonettes – London – 7 September 2009
Pretty in black and pretty and back, The Raveonettes rolled into London this week to play a one-off gig showcasing their forthcoming album In and Out of Control. It wasn't all rape, guns, suicide and stealing cars, but it was near enough.
Friendly Fires – Interview with Edd Gibson & Ed Macfarlane (Static, 2009)
The friendly folks from indie-dance sensations Friendly Fires stroll into Static's studio to talk the good talk about their new single "Kiss of Life", the Mercury music prize and more -- "It’s good to kind of feed off the energy of the crowd: suck them like vampires."
Pernice Brothers – Goodbye, Killer
All killer, no filler, Joe Pernice and Co. turn up the volume and turn in one of their most enjoyable records to date.
Release The Sunbird – Come Back To Us
First solo release from Rogue Wave's Zach Rogue under his new moniker, Release The Sunbird. For those who like their rock wimpy.
Cloud Control – Interview (Static, 2010)
A Tale of Two Cities? Not bloody likely. While both appear on the forthcoming Laneway bill Cloud Control and Rat vs Possum are worlds apart and aren't harbingers of any Sydney or Melbourne scene. Although there are groups of like-minded musical acts in all Australian cities and towns they're is no discernible Sydney sound or Melbourne sound. Cloud Control's indie-folk rubs shoulders with Parades' and Jonathan Boulet's dense polyglot pop while Rat vs Possum's tribal skewed pop sounds share the same general geography as Love Connection's murky shoegaze and Super Wild Horses girl fronted garage. It's not where you come from, it's where you're at.
Kaki King – Junior
More depressing pop dressed up espionage style on the fifth album from this diminutive guitar goddess. "Junior", indeed.
The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
More emotional missives from angry, intense, young American men. What steady diet do they feed you on?