Here are our top picks from new releases in the past week, selected by indie-rock-god (not actually, but fangirl none the less), Taylor Yates. This Tunesday we’re back in the indie-rock sector with a splash of electro. Enjoy the likes of Flowertuck, Claws & Organs, Banoffee, Saintseneca and Hayden Calnin.
‘Sunshower’ – Flowertruck
As soon as I heard this track, I was brought back to the days where I used to wear all black and thought I was a mod. I cut myself a straight fringe and exclusively listened to bands like The Smiths and The Libertines. This track is sort of like a modern (see what I did there?) take on mod music. This jangly, upbeat tune is enough to make anyone wanna pull out their skinny jeans, and the guitars make you feel like having a beer in the sunshine. If that’s not enough for you, the slightly-shouty-in-the-right-places vocals keep the vibe in track, and the duelling male/female vocals in the chorus and bridge (and sometimes in the shouty bits) remind me slightly of The Wombats’ ‘Lost In The Post’, and break it up just the right amount.
‘Alphabetti Spaghetti’ – Claws & Organs
My favourite thing about this song is the subtle build up of grunge-y-ness at the start. It has mostly-spoken vocals from female vocalist, Heather Thomas. Thomas’ vocals sound like she’s mostly bored in her near-monotonous voice. But, the even though the guitars also sound like they’re bored, the drums lift it all up and tie this piece together. If I could describe the attitude of this track in one word, it’d be “cool”.
‘With Her’ – Banoffee
This one’s the odd one out this week. But I couldn’t not include it. A long-time fan of Banoffee myself, I was obviously quite excited to see she’s released some new material, considering it’s been a while since her last release. After a bit of sampling in the beginning, the track transitions into feather light keys, then just keeps further transitioning as the song goes on. Around 1/3 of the way in, it suddenly changes. If you weren’t 100% paying attention, you’d probably be under the impression that it was a different song entirely. Banoffee also gets bonus points for the originality of this track – sure, people have blended keys and synths before, that’s always been a thing. But like this? Absolute must listen.
‘Sleeper Hold’ – Saintseneca.
This track’s another genre-jumper. It does tend to stick around the indie-rock sector, but every now and then it’ll jump out into elements of punk and folk. I love the clanky-ness of this track. Just everything sounds loud and clunky, and then there’s the female singer’s voice which is sweet and smooth, and every now and then the vocals change when the harmonising gets involved, and then suddenly it’s matching the chunkiness of the other instruments. Before you know it, there’s a vocals swap, and the male vocalist is woo-ing you with his smooth tone, and then you’re back at pretty sweet vocals again. This one will keep you captured the whole time, just by the all-over-the-place nature of it alone.
‘White Night’ – Hayden Calnin.
Because Hayden Calnin is from Melbourne, you can’t help but wonder if this song is actually about White Night when you listen to it. But once you get over that ponder-sesh, you realise that this doesn’t sound like the Hayden Calnin you knew at all. He’s taken a new direction and I’m seriously digging it. Moving on from the ghostly/layered vocals and moving into a more synth-driven sound, it actually sounds more wholesome than his previous stuff, like he’s found his feet and it’s all come full circle.
