Brisbane: great bands, free samplers

I've said it over and over again on this blog, but Brisbane has one of the best live band scenes in Australia, maybe even the world. And it's really pretty at night:

No matter what kind of music you're into, there's a handful (or more) of people making it in Brisbane. Most of them aren't that well known; but for every Regurgitator and Custard we get a band like SixFtHick, who've been playing just as long, put out as much good music and are chronically underappreciated. But that's not stopping them, they still keep making music and playing shows.

And shows is really what Brisbane is all about. I'm constantly surprised that when I head to a local show how the crowds can be bigger than a lot of international touring bands I've seen. How these bands from Brisbane end up being more well known in other places (like the Saints and the Go-Betweens anyone?) but still call Brisbane home.

This love of the Brisbane musical scene and local bands is obviously not just shown by me, as two free music samplers have been released highlighting some of the best bands Brisbane has to offer.

The first is Sounds Like Brisbane. A mix for more of the hipster side of Brisbane. It has everything: hip-hop, indie, electronica, mathrock, punk, folk, even old school rock and roll... everything that appeals to the hipster in you and me. It also does a great job of showing how diverse Brisbane's musical side really is.

You can get it for free right here.

It features some of Brisbane's best bands; Texas Tea, Regurgitator, I Heart Hiroshima and the Medics to name a few. But the highlight to me would be the instrumental mathrock magic that is Mr Maps. I've heard this name bandied around Brisbane and the internet for the better part of 6 months now, but I've not been motivated to listen to them. Luckily they have a track on this compilation and now I'm hooked.

The second free sampler appeals to the 50% of me that isn't hipster: it's punk and hardcore. Brisbane's punk and hardcore scene is second to none. I'm going to shows almost weekly in this scene, and that's just a small fraction of it.

You can get the link, and a nice little blurb, from this Swedish Hardcore blog (now there's a blog post I've been writing slowly for the past year or so: Swedish music (particularly hardcore)).

I've seen 90% of those bands live, most more than once. With most of them I've yet to hear recordings of their music. So this was an excellent chance to listen to them in a more quiet setting than the multitude of venues I've experienced them all in the past. The mix was put together by a dude in Fires of Waco, who's band really stands out as a highlight of this mix (and their album came out last week too, get on it). There's even some classic Brisbane hardcore on the mix, in the form of Dick Nasty, who've been playing together since before I first moved to Brisbane as a pre-pubescent.

These two samplers are really just the tip of the iceberg. I can think of so many other bands that should be included in this. And it just makes me proud, as a music fan, to be living in such a great city.

I Heart Hiroshima

As I've mentioned on this blog in the past, one of my favourite local bands is I Heart Hiroshima. They have an interesting take on lo-fi indie with 2 intertwining twangy guitars, a stripped back simple drum sound and 3 vocalists: 2 male and 1 female.

After releasing their second album the Rip in 2009, they went on tour and then buggered off to Germany to pull a Bowie and find themselves/write new music/have fun/whatever. Little has been heard from them in the last 6 or so months, until Susie, the drummer, randomly turned up as the new Philadelphia Grand Jury drummer on their recent tour, which is still ongoing.

Susie, on her Twitter, let it be known that the rest of I Heart Hiroshima will be in town while she's touring and that there will be a show! January 29 at Woodland. 18+. Hopefully they'll be showcasing some of their new stuff in this homecoming show.

MySpace

Philadelphia Grand Jury new drummer

Philadelphia Grand Jury are about to return home to Australia to do a quick tour, including November 19th at the Hifi. And before their tour kicks off, they've got a new drummer. The band says:

“This will probably come as a shock to a lot of people, but we’re extremely sad to say that Calvin Welch won’t be drumming with us in Philadelphia Grand Jury any more. No-one is angry, but it simply hasn’t been working. Calvin has a wife and children to support and being in a totally independent band with a lot of hard touring to come over the next few years and it just wasn’t viable to keep going with the current setup.

Berkfinger and I are both extremely grateful for the excellent times we’ve had with Calvin and there is always a chance of all of us doing stuff together again in the future, as it seems that none of our drummers can stay away from us for too long!”

“Susie Dreamboat (who you should know from the uber-cool Brisbane band I Heart Hiroshima) has come straight from Berlin to join us on the road in the UK and will be with us throughout the USA and Australian tours. It might seem otherwise, but we’re pretty lucky with with drummers, because Susie is freaking amazing.”

That's right, the drummer from my favourite Brisbane band, I Heart Hiroshima, will be taking over the sticks. She's a very fun person and always adds a lot of humour to her shows. And here's one of my favourite songs by I Heart Hiroshima:

Female lead noise

I saw the movie Scott Pilgrim vs the World over the weekend and I loved it for two reasons: it's nerdy video game references and it's music-dorky hipster music references. Sadcore? I lost it at that point. Over all, the music in it was such a highlight for me. When it wasn't using the Zelda theme, it had music by the made-up band Sex Bob-omb who played simple noise garage rock. The kind with 3 instruments, all distorted and played fast, and yelled and distorted vocals. I've always had a soft spot for that kind of music. You can download one of the tracks from the movie here: http://fusion45.com/scott-pilgrim-v-the-world/ to see what I am on about.

But as I was driving around the next day, listening to 4ZZZ, they played a song of the same genre that made me even more in love with the sound. The difference was, it was a female singer. The song The Message, by Brisbane locals the Grates is a great example of female-lead distorted noise-garage rock (or whatever the hell it is called).

The Grates "Message" Music Video

Jeremy MySpace Video

Of course, these days they are slightly poppier. But this was the first song I heard by them and the one I still love the most.

The first song I ever heard in this style was from the first EP from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The song, Art Star was also the first I had ever heard from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and I swooned. I've not been able to really get into them after hearing Karen O scream her heart out on that EP and then seeing how they changed their sound. Get it here.

I don't know much other bands in the genre, but it seems Australia has quite the talent for it. Another one of my favourite local bands is I Heart Hiroshima, who, although a bit more quiet and laid back, still like to rip into the raw sound a lot. They've got 3 vocalists, only one being a female, but you still get a lot of her singing. Neutron Pop Song, an earlier single, is a great example of it. You can get the track here.

My all time favourite band, that kept this sound going, is actually from Canberra and Melbourne. Young and Restless. I picked up their CD at the LifeLine bookfest a few years back (unfortunately after they broke up) and I was blown away. Don't let the little Indonesian lead singer fool you, she just blows you away with her almost-post-hardcore style. A great example from their only album is Police! Police!

I am going to look more into this type of music, because I just love it. And it makes the female lead singers absolutely beautiful in my eyes. If you know any other bands, please let me know.