ChaosResolved
10-10-2005, 05:20 PM
Tracking the Trends: Australian Underdogs
This installment of Tracking the Trends brings the best Australian acts to the forefront, noting on the small country's great ability to produce wonderfully creative and irresistible music. The past half a decade has seen many Aussie bands break out onto the scene in ways unprecedented this side of the pacific. Aided by a booming internet community, these acts have been able to reach a larger audience than that strictly in their homeland, and as a result they are influencing the way music is being made all over the globe. Ten years ago it is unlikely that a band such as Clann Zu would receive much recognition outside the country limits, yet alone have the notoriety to tour Europe or Canada. Now Australia is finally ready to take their claim in the modern rock world. With stunning acts like The Grand Silent System, .hinge, This is Your Captain Speaking, Pivot, and Cog, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world gets of taste of things down under.
The Grand Silent System
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.thegrandsilentsystem.com/images/goaw-biophoto.jpg
Website: The Grand Silent System (http://www.thegrandsilentsystem.com)
Music: The Grand Silent System (www.thegrandsilentsystem.com)
Arguably one of the best bands on the face of the planet, The Grand Silent System have served up five releases that show a undying creative vibe, a mastery over their instruments, unrestrained artistic expression, and a lyrical approach that redefines the word cryptic. Additionally, the band can remix the hell out of its own work. Inaccurately labeled the modern Jethro Tull due to Karen Heath's wicked flute playing, The Grand Silent System is much more unique of a band than critics have labeled the Melbourne sextet. Everyone Lies Alone, the band’s latest release, features a sound as difficult to describe as it is to label. Yet, the only sure thing is that the music is widely appealing and addicting. In a time where the music community is so large and bloated that every band sounds like a slight variation of every other band, The Grand Silent System have reached the pinnacle of their artistic goal and created a sound that is truly their own. If you only pick up one new band this year, The Grand Silent System needs to be it.
It appears as if the future remains uncertain for The Grand Silent System. Still shackled by a blue-collar existence and loosely scattered across Australia, the band finds it increasingly harder to find time to play shows and/or tour. We can only hope that the band picks up some steam in the future, for the lost of this band’s presence would be devastating.
.hinge
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.hinge.com.au/images/band_big.jpg
Website: .hinge (http://www.hinge.com.au)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/hingemusic)
Packing a forceful taste of modern alternative rock, .hinge show exactly to what extent rock music is very much alive and vibrant. This Aussie powerhouse had been slowly moving into the limelight through a series of well-composed extended plays in their native land and waiting until their first full length release to totally blow the top off of the rock world. 2005’s Something to Adore provides just that—an uncompromisingly rigid and passively jarring outing that will send chills down your spine. Adopting a very non-linear approach to a normally straight-forward genre, .hinge’s music brings a new meaning to “organic” as the guitar lines actually feel as if they are alive and free-moving within the band’s musical space. The band’s passion spills out of out the disc as it is unable to contain the band’s energy.
.hinge is currently solidifying the grassroots fan base that they’ve established over the years by heavy touring and spectacular live shows. This is a band that currently has everything going for them and is beginning to pick up momentum which will hopefully carry them across the ocean and to a US tour at some point in the not too distant future. Until that time, the American contingent of their fan base anxiously awaits new material as we continue to adore Something to Adore.
This is Your Captain Speaking
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.thisisyourcaptainspeaking.info/band-small.jpg
Website: This Is Your Captain Speaking (http://www.thisisyourcaptainspeaking.info)
Music: AMO (http://www.amo.org.au/artist.asp?id=2877)
This is Your Captain Speaking is the leader of the pack among Australian post-rock releases for the year. Paying homage to their contemporaries such as The Necks, Silver Ray, Dirty Three, Laura, The Wintership and Because of Ghosts, This is Your Captain Speaking builds on a strong tradition of Australian instrumental music through a near flawless rendering of their craft. Storyboard is an intelligent, complex album that would be a fitting capstone to any band’s career, let alone their premiere into the music world. ’Gathering Pieces,’ the album’s opener, placates the senses with wave after wave of smooth guitar fluttering and gentle metallophone meandering. This eighteen minute behemoth is just the tip of the iceberg as the band continues to march onward through uncharted territory. By the end of the album, there is no doubt concerning the talent of this group of musicians, whom have delivered a masterpiece in its own right.
Storyboard sets the bar high for this Melbourne trio. The band’s first move was well thought out, and if the debut album is any indication, its star will only get brighter as time goes on. It’s difficult to predict the lasting effect this band will have, but if subsequent releases prove as powerful as Storyboard, we may be looking at the next big thing.
Pivot
Sydney, Australia
http://www.musicnsw.com/images/releases/38.jpg
Website: Pivot (http://www.pivotisagoodboy.com/)
Music: Pivot (http://www.pivotisagoodboy.com/)
Melding together Australian bands Triosk and Gold Mice, Pivot is a more experimental outing for this bunch of musicians. Completely instrumental in presentation, Make me Love You is an album filled with electronic loops and sampling and anchored in heavy instrumental improvisation. While Pivot may draw comparisons to 65 Days of Static or Squarepushers, the Australian side of the coin branches off by laying down very smooth and mellow music, unlike their neighbors whom are content to push their way onto the market with aggressive and or jarring compositional forces. Everything develops naturally on Make Me Love You; nothing looks suspiciously out of place and as a whole the album flows brilliantly from beginning to end.
Make Me Love You was an album that was over 5 years in the making. We can only hope that future releases by Pivot are more frequent, but if time is of the essence to perfecting their sophomore release, then so be it.
Cog
Sydney, Australia
http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/gas/images/5/cog_feature.jpg
Website:Cog (http://www.cog.com.au)
Music: Cog (http://www.cog.com.au)
The long awaited debut album from Australia’s hottest progressive rockers delivers the goods. Cog’s The New Normal reset the standards for Australian hard rock groups as well as showing the rest of the world that rock was not dead down under. It would have been noteworthy enough if the band had simply produced an album that worked well within the existing modern rock formula, but The New Normal is much more diverse than most progressive rock outfits dare to be. Whether it be the cool stylings of ’Run’ or the aggressive tendencies of ’Silence is Violence’, The New Normal is an undeniably impressive release.
Of the five bands listed, Cog has seen the most success in their native country, but have yet to really break out overseas. Perhaps the rest of the world is not ready for their breed of progressive rock, but one day it will be, and when that day comes we will be able to feel the rumblings of the beginning of the Australian invasion.
R.I.P
Clann Zu
http://www.clannzu.com/images/clannzu_van.jpg
Website: Clann Zu (http://www.clannzu.com)
Music: Clann Zu (http://www.clannzu.com)
Any coverage of Australia would not be complete without mention of Clann Zu, a band we all hated to see breakup. May their impact on music never be forgotten.
That wraps up this edition of Tracking The Trend. Don't miss the next edition where more great underground rock will be uncovered from all around the world...
~Jordan Volz
This installment of Tracking the Trends brings the best Australian acts to the forefront, noting on the small country's great ability to produce wonderfully creative and irresistible music. The past half a decade has seen many Aussie bands break out onto the scene in ways unprecedented this side of the pacific. Aided by a booming internet community, these acts have been able to reach a larger audience than that strictly in their homeland, and as a result they are influencing the way music is being made all over the globe. Ten years ago it is unlikely that a band such as Clann Zu would receive much recognition outside the country limits, yet alone have the notoriety to tour Europe or Canada. Now Australia is finally ready to take their claim in the modern rock world. With stunning acts like The Grand Silent System, .hinge, This is Your Captain Speaking, Pivot, and Cog, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world gets of taste of things down under.
The Grand Silent System
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.thegrandsilentsystem.com/images/goaw-biophoto.jpg
Website: The Grand Silent System (http://www.thegrandsilentsystem.com)
Music: The Grand Silent System (www.thegrandsilentsystem.com)
Arguably one of the best bands on the face of the planet, The Grand Silent System have served up five releases that show a undying creative vibe, a mastery over their instruments, unrestrained artistic expression, and a lyrical approach that redefines the word cryptic. Additionally, the band can remix the hell out of its own work. Inaccurately labeled the modern Jethro Tull due to Karen Heath's wicked flute playing, The Grand Silent System is much more unique of a band than critics have labeled the Melbourne sextet. Everyone Lies Alone, the band’s latest release, features a sound as difficult to describe as it is to label. Yet, the only sure thing is that the music is widely appealing and addicting. In a time where the music community is so large and bloated that every band sounds like a slight variation of every other band, The Grand Silent System have reached the pinnacle of their artistic goal and created a sound that is truly their own. If you only pick up one new band this year, The Grand Silent System needs to be it.
It appears as if the future remains uncertain for The Grand Silent System. Still shackled by a blue-collar existence and loosely scattered across Australia, the band finds it increasingly harder to find time to play shows and/or tour. We can only hope that the band picks up some steam in the future, for the lost of this band’s presence would be devastating.
.hinge
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.hinge.com.au/images/band_big.jpg
Website: .hinge (http://www.hinge.com.au)
Music: Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/hingemusic)
Packing a forceful taste of modern alternative rock, .hinge show exactly to what extent rock music is very much alive and vibrant. This Aussie powerhouse had been slowly moving into the limelight through a series of well-composed extended plays in their native land and waiting until their first full length release to totally blow the top off of the rock world. 2005’s Something to Adore provides just that—an uncompromisingly rigid and passively jarring outing that will send chills down your spine. Adopting a very non-linear approach to a normally straight-forward genre, .hinge’s music brings a new meaning to “organic” as the guitar lines actually feel as if they are alive and free-moving within the band’s musical space. The band’s passion spills out of out the disc as it is unable to contain the band’s energy.
.hinge is currently solidifying the grassroots fan base that they’ve established over the years by heavy touring and spectacular live shows. This is a band that currently has everything going for them and is beginning to pick up momentum which will hopefully carry them across the ocean and to a US tour at some point in the not too distant future. Until that time, the American contingent of their fan base anxiously awaits new material as we continue to adore Something to Adore.
This is Your Captain Speaking
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.thisisyourcaptainspeaking.info/band-small.jpg
Website: This Is Your Captain Speaking (http://www.thisisyourcaptainspeaking.info)
Music: AMO (http://www.amo.org.au/artist.asp?id=2877)
This is Your Captain Speaking is the leader of the pack among Australian post-rock releases for the year. Paying homage to their contemporaries such as The Necks, Silver Ray, Dirty Three, Laura, The Wintership and Because of Ghosts, This is Your Captain Speaking builds on a strong tradition of Australian instrumental music through a near flawless rendering of their craft. Storyboard is an intelligent, complex album that would be a fitting capstone to any band’s career, let alone their premiere into the music world. ’Gathering Pieces,’ the album’s opener, placates the senses with wave after wave of smooth guitar fluttering and gentle metallophone meandering. This eighteen minute behemoth is just the tip of the iceberg as the band continues to march onward through uncharted territory. By the end of the album, there is no doubt concerning the talent of this group of musicians, whom have delivered a masterpiece in its own right.
Storyboard sets the bar high for this Melbourne trio. The band’s first move was well thought out, and if the debut album is any indication, its star will only get brighter as time goes on. It’s difficult to predict the lasting effect this band will have, but if subsequent releases prove as powerful as Storyboard, we may be looking at the next big thing.
Pivot
Sydney, Australia
http://www.musicnsw.com/images/releases/38.jpg
Website: Pivot (http://www.pivotisagoodboy.com/)
Music: Pivot (http://www.pivotisagoodboy.com/)
Melding together Australian bands Triosk and Gold Mice, Pivot is a more experimental outing for this bunch of musicians. Completely instrumental in presentation, Make me Love You is an album filled with electronic loops and sampling and anchored in heavy instrumental improvisation. While Pivot may draw comparisons to 65 Days of Static or Squarepushers, the Australian side of the coin branches off by laying down very smooth and mellow music, unlike their neighbors whom are content to push their way onto the market with aggressive and or jarring compositional forces. Everything develops naturally on Make Me Love You; nothing looks suspiciously out of place and as a whole the album flows brilliantly from beginning to end.
Make Me Love You was an album that was over 5 years in the making. We can only hope that future releases by Pivot are more frequent, but if time is of the essence to perfecting their sophomore release, then so be it.
Cog
Sydney, Australia
http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/gas/images/5/cog_feature.jpg
Website:Cog (http://www.cog.com.au)
Music: Cog (http://www.cog.com.au)
The long awaited debut album from Australia’s hottest progressive rockers delivers the goods. Cog’s The New Normal reset the standards for Australian hard rock groups as well as showing the rest of the world that rock was not dead down under. It would have been noteworthy enough if the band had simply produced an album that worked well within the existing modern rock formula, but The New Normal is much more diverse than most progressive rock outfits dare to be. Whether it be the cool stylings of ’Run’ or the aggressive tendencies of ’Silence is Violence’, The New Normal is an undeniably impressive release.
Of the five bands listed, Cog has seen the most success in their native country, but have yet to really break out overseas. Perhaps the rest of the world is not ready for their breed of progressive rock, but one day it will be, and when that day comes we will be able to feel the rumblings of the beginning of the Australian invasion.
R.I.P
Clann Zu
http://www.clannzu.com/images/clannzu_van.jpg
Website: Clann Zu (http://www.clannzu.com)
Music: Clann Zu (http://www.clannzu.com)
Any coverage of Australia would not be complete without mention of Clann Zu, a band we all hated to see breakup. May their impact on music never be forgotten.
That wraps up this edition of Tracking The Trend. Don't miss the next edition where more great underground rock will be uncovered from all around the world...
~Jordan Volz