Tag Archives: indie

Clubfeet + Collarbones – The Oxford Art Factory (16.02.13)

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Clubfeet and Collarbones

The Oxford Art Factory was filled to the brim on Saturday night, and this time, everyone was here for feel-good indie pop-rockers Clubfeet.

As soon as Clubfeet took to the stage, the crowd were dancing and swaying rhythmically.

Clubfeet began to gain momentum as of last year after the release of their second album Heirs and Graces. The album has received positive attention from Triple J and music critics alike.

Clubfeet’s live set-list on the night was scattered with gold such as ‘Heartbreak,’ ‘Everything You Wanted,’ and ‘My Shadow’ off the back of the album.

Clubfeet put on a lively gig, but also one of the most relaxed gigs I have been to in a while. By that I mean that the smooth laid-back tunes seemed to keep the crowd in a trance of upbeat, and happy dancing – which, for live shows generally, is actually a rare achievement.

One of the best moments of the night, however, was when Chela joined the band on stage for the song ‘Heartbreak.’ Chela collaborated with the band for the studio version of ‘Heartbreak’ and they both worked just as well with each other in a live setting.

It’s genuinely quite hard to leave a Clubfeet gig without feeling upbeat. If synth-pop is your thing, then this band is definitely not one to miss.

Clubfeet’s indie-electro support act, Collarbones are an interesting duo. With their kooky style and moves, they put on a very entertaining live set.

Collarbones consist of a keyboardist and singer (Marcus White and Travis Cook). As a band, I believe they are thoroughly underrated.

They played tracks from their debut album ‘Die Young,’ which has received a lot of critical praise.

Their music puts me in mind of a cross between Bon Iver, during his earlier days, and The xx.

It is the sort of erratic-tech music that often times can go horribly wrong, but for some reason, Collarbones manage to make it work, really well.

Collarbones ended their gig on a high by playing a track and then proceeding to jump into the audience and dance with audience members.  This is actually the first time I’ve ever seen this happen in a live show and was thrilled.

As a result, they had most people jumping around in delight.

Collarbones are definitely another one to watch out for on the touring circuit.

For Clubfeet’s touring details look here (http://helloclubfeet.com/) and for Collarbones touring details look here: ( http://www.myspace.com/collarbonesband)

Rating: 5/5

 

 

 

The Rubens + Bertie Blackman + New Gods – The Metro, Sydney (21.09.12)

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Friday Night at The Metro, Sydney was an amazing night for everyone. From kick-off, New Gods dumped an atmosphere on the crowd; their indie-pop consumed crowd members, they were definitely well-received.

Just after 8.45pm Bertie Blackman came on with her drummer Manny Bourakis, and grabbed the room’s attention. Her performance was rooted in percussion, with dynamic vocals, and a number of instruments played by Bertie herself. Guitar, keys and drums helped to create a catchy beat that had the crowd on their feet. A great performance.

The Rubens were highly anticipated by the crowd and myself, to no disappointment. The number of people in the crowd seemed to double as they stepped out onto the stage and consumed us with their retro-innovative style. The well dressed, well composed band lived up to their hype, satiating the crowd’s thirst for energy and good, accessible music. Popular track and live anthem ‘My Gun’ had the crowd singing, there was a powerful sense of energy amongst the crowd. The Metro Sydney was a great venue for the genre and for The Rubens, intimate enough to improve everyone’s night, yet big enough to hold a sold-out show.

Overall I admire the line up for this show, and each of the bands’ individual shows. I went to this gig in expectation of The Rubens, without much consideration of the supporting acts, but I was pleasantly surprised. The Australian music industry is booming right now, it’s great to see so many individually incredible bands becoming so successful.

Rating: 4.5/5

Photos from the night are here.

Video Review: Voltaire Twins – Solaris (2012 Single)

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The Voltaire Twins, or Jaymes and Tegan, a new wave band from Perth are celebrating a massive year and their new track/ music video ‘Solaris’ on the back of their new EP ‘Apollo’ is another reason to celebrate.

The track itself is a collision of indie-synth sounds and very much reflects the current trend in the indie world to move away from more acoustic power sounds. Whilst, I’m not sure ‘Solaris’ would stand up in its own right as a hit, I think the direction of this band’s sound is great – a sort of relaxed indie, which you either want to dance to or just chill out on a back verandah with or both.

The video accompanying ‘Solaris’ was recently banned from Youtube for graphic scenes of nudity. Without getting into a debate over censorship, there is no question the video is raunchy. But the video’s overt sexual nature and ambiguity makes it all the more interesting to watch.

Rating: 4/5

Voltaire Twins – Solaris from Voltaire Twins on Vimeo.

The band are hitting the road very soon, so watch this space for details: http://voltairetwins.com/
 

Texas Tea – Heart Says Yes (Head Says No) (2012 Single)

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‘Indie-folky-goodness’ is a term used a lot when describing the Brisbane indie-folk duo Texas Tea. I can’t help but think this is quite apt, but there is a raw, grittiness that this band brings that almost puts me in mind of the American country music scene – well back in the days of Johnny Cash.

One of the things I love most about the band’s lead singer, Kate Jacobson, is that she ‘sings Australian.’ If you’re not quite sure what I mean by that, think Missy Higgins. There’s no way this band could be mistaken for American country music singers, yet their Australiana blends so well with the genuine country music feel.

The newly released single ‘Heart Says Yes (Head Says No)’ which is available for free download on their website, is not a big move away from their previous collection of songs under the album name Free Tracks. But with great raw, Aussie music like this, why would you really need to change?

Rating: 4/5

Live Review: Matt Corby + Alpine + We Are The Birdcage – The Metro Theatre, Sydney (15.06.12)

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Written by Jemma Nott

It took a while before Matt Corby finally reached the stage after a long night of great indie and folk-y dance tunes, but as he did the crowd went wild.

I couldn’t help but feel swept in the excitement surrounding me in the mosh pit. Matt instantly took the crowd aback as he started with one of the more soulful and sad songs featured on his EP Into the Flame. A hush fell over the mosh pit as we all became captivated by the raw energy and emotion this man seems to put into every word that leaves his mouth. And it sounds so good.

A few more songs in and we begin to hear the back stories behind some of his work. It’s no secret that Matt Corby doesn’t like to get too personal in interviews when it comes to the meanings behind his songs, so it felt like a special treat for The Metro as he went on to describe the song ‘Big Eyes’ as being about a surrealistic dream and a reflection of his own current stage in life. The crowd laughed as he explained that ‘Big Eyes’ is often mistaken for something “deep and meaningful” when it’s actually because of his dream about a sentient being – “maybe God” which “would probably have big eyes.”

Of course we were all hoping for a special appearance by Kimbra on this song, as she has done around the country lately at some of Matt’s sets, however, his friend Bree accompanied him instead. Bree Tranter along with many other of Matt’s musical buddies accompanied him onstage that night and are predominantly the same friends who helped him to record the same songs in the studio.

There is definitely something about Matt Corby that just simply and effortlessly wins over a live audience. There is a simple vulnerability and charisma that goes along with his onstage personality. Bree also added to the sweetness of the atmosphere, as what seemed like her nerves and raw honesty, worked well alongside Matt.

One thing is for certain, this guy has definitely grown up since good ol’ Aussie Idol and I thank my lucky stars as I’m sure many Matt Corby fans do that he hasn’t taken the same route as other idol contestants.

I would definitely recommend staying tuned for his new album, which he will be going back into the studio to record after he has finished hitting the road. We received a preview of what might be on the new album and if that is anything to go by he is still making plenty of indie winners, accompanied by a bit more of a classic Aussie rock feel. Definitely worth looking out for.

I’m not going to lie when I first heard Alpine, I thought that they were an underground European Indie collective. But that’s because the first time I heard them was alongside a list of other great British indie collectives, during my regular trawls through the online world for relatively undiscovered indie music.. I was right, except these guys are true blue Aussies!

With two female lead singers, “girl band” doesn’t even begin to describe these guys. There is a keyboard, guitar, drums, bass and the two women are pulling out cow bells and tambourines surreptitiously throughout songs. (Not too mention the rest of the band are made up of men).

Their sound is definitely fresh and many of their songs are such an infusion of sound the entire Metro Theatre was shaking under the pressure. But it works, very well.

The two lead women definitely carry the entertainment part of the band. Jumping around on stage and wearing American-Indian-inspired face-paint, I am almost put in mind of Crystal Castles, but minus the fairly annoying vocoder. All these guys rely on is definite raw talent.

The crowd were definitely won over by this enthusiastic pop-collective and their most popular songs right now ‘Village,’ which was also the song featured in Misfits, and ‘Hands’ went over well with the crowd.

These guys will want to get you jumping up and down, and, really, why should you fight it? Just dance, but to Alpine…not Lady Gaga. Unless you’re into that.

These guys have just came off their “Hands Across Australia Tour” at the start of the year and have been taking it on the road again with Matt Corby. Next Aussie tour, these guys are definitely worth keeping in mind.

We Are the Birdcage are a relatively understated two-piece, with ukulele. This band definitely win the award for cuteness for the night.

However, I’m not sure whether it is the understatement of a two-piece with the soft voices, ukulele and acoustic guitar but these guys left little impact on my psyche. Of course, they had the hardest job of opening the show, but they didn’t deliver in originality or in live-show charisma.

The fact that their performance is quite raw and vulnerable meant that it was soft enough to draw people in, but they didn’t translate any of the more emotional side to their music.

They had plenty of fans in the crowd, but the audience wasn’t very captivated by We Are the Birdcage. In fairness, their closing song was definitely a stomper and they had people humming along.

I find, however, with all the great indie presences out there, We Are the Birdcage aren’t bringing anything hugely different to the table. If I closed my eyes that night these guys could have been any folky, indie band on the planet. They don’t seem to have a musical signature yet and nor do their live performances, and without it, they tend to drift towards seeming like just another cute pair with a uke.

Review Score: 4/5

For more information on Matt Corby please visit his official website www.mattcorby.com.au

Bluejuice + Loon Lake + The Cairos – The Metro, Sydney (13.04.12)

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Written by Liza Moscatelli

Bluejuice at Metro Theatre, Sydney (Photographed by: Liza Moscatelli)

To celebrate the release of their latest and third studio album Company, which dropped on 11/11/11, Sydney based rock band Bluejuice made their way to local Sydney venue Metro Theatre on their second show of the Company National tour. Supporting the headliners were Melbournians Loon Lake and Brisbane based indie-pop quarter The Cairos. This was an All-Ages event which already had the venue filling right from the start. It was instantly anticipated that it was going to be a good night. It also appeared that there was going to be some serious flavours from a triad of three talented acts coming from three major Australian cities.

The first support act to warm up the stage saw The Cairos playing “Shame” which has gained popularity across Australia. It wasn’t too difficult to see that they warmed up the audience well playing familiar chords from their latest six-track EP Colours Like Features.

The following act Loon Lake set foot on stage playing popular songs including “Bad To Me” from their debut EP Not Just Friends. However, one must say that although Loon Lake and The Cairos have developed a decent fan base and have created a name for themselves, it was evident that the majority of the audience were there to see the headliner – and it wasn’t difficult to see their loyal fans as they desperately weaved to the front of the stage.

Energy rose as Bluejuice erupted on stage and obviously appeared to deck it out in luminous flourescents and didn’t forget to pimp out their instruments. They wore an abundance of fluorescent and odd-looking attire including black capes and green fluorescent glasses frames – without the lenses. They played a string of familiar tunes from their two previous albums including “Broken Leg” as well as some more recent tracks from their latest release such as “On My Own”. It was definitely a vibrant and fascinating experience especially as it was my first time to watch a band play live in pitch black with nothing but black lighting and fluorescent – everything! There was definitely a late 80s to 90s retro feel to the night. Not to mention they had their video clips playing behind them to add to the affect.

Bluejuice know how to rock a crowd as they had people from the audience continuously jumping and singing songs word-for-word. Their set ended after an anticipated encore. I was sure that they left a great impression on the crowd as peoples’ faces lit up and smiles all around kind of gave it away. As I headed out of The Metro some random chick behind me stated to her friend “That was the most fucking awesome gig I’ve ever been to!”. So there you have it. If you get a chance to make it to one of their shows, do so!

Review Score: 4/5

For more information on Bluejuice National Tour and tickets visit http://bluejuice.info/shows