I should preface this right now by saying that the record in question isn’t for the faint of heart. If you’re looking for sweet sounds, close this page and come back later in the week. Consider this a temporary respite. It’s simply that Oberon will likely find itself in my top five Australian releases of the year so I figured I’d better write something on it so that when that list appears there isn’t gross public outcry. “What!? Why haven’t didn’t you mention it then, tossbag!?”. The band is made up dudes from Parades, I.I, Jonathan Boulet, Light Giant and Sleepyhands. Plot that on a genre graph why don’t you.

Look, let’s get this out in the opening early: I’m smitten with this record. I’ve been listening to it constantly and unabridged for the past two weeks, declaring it the bees balls and mostly sweating on anyone who’ll listen. Amongst this I’ve wondered how folks that have never been purveyors of heavier music have picked up on this record so excitedly but I think the answer is simple enough; Oberon transcends traditional genrefication. Snakeface refuse to attend to your heavy music heart using the tried and tested formula. Here’s a list of features that are absent on Oberon:

For better or for worse, Oberon has somehow managed to position itself outside the spectrum of heavy music, at least in my eyes. It could be the absence of the earlier listed features or it could be some other unidentifiable anomale. There are moments where I know I should say “this smells like Converge” but I don’t, and I don’t know why. So you can keep your Northlanes, your Dream On Dreamers and your freshly cut cookies, I’ll have Oberon thanks.

The record opens with the Spaghetti Western brooder ‘Listen Up’. What I actually thought was electric guitar I’ve since discovered to be vocals auto-tuned so as to be unrecognizable and the effect is disquieting to say the least, and indeed, the most. It’s disconcerting and a worthy introduction before the meat arrives in track 2 ‘Devil’s Leap’, which is the first the first of the the record’s decelerations of grit. ‘Devil’s Leap’ is a lurching drunk, wandering the streets shouting obscenities while his late life, years-of-green induced neuroses lend themselves to voices in his dome.

‘Cash Grab’ is a more straight down the line nadcrusher laced with societal rage. “When was the last time you looked at your surroundings?”. Probably not recently enough. The track swells and swells with a third voice making its entrance before the vocal swarm takes over then the wave once again crashes back into uncertain twings and twangs punctuated by silence as much as noise. The song crushes out before it can build into the mosh part that kids have saved their best two-step for and I think that’s why I’m appreciating this record so damn much. There’s no pavlovian moments where Snakeface buy into the prevailing way of things. Somehow modern hardcore has convinced itself that the only way to demonstrate anger, sadness, rage or guilt is with more noise. Not so Snakeface. The tracks ‘Oberon’ and ‘Oberon ii’ are interludes between the interludes, both backed by a single resounding, organ tone. Ergo, the album rings out with of the run-down, the poor and the underfoot. Let’s also take a moment here to welcome ‘ergo’ to the Sound Doctrine word family. A great debut appearance.

A good portion of the record is centered on throbbing riffery, notably tracks like ‘Scum’ and ‘Occupy’ though this isn’t to be confused with “crushing guitars” which are thankful absent. ‘Occupy’ is a brash call to action prefaced by the slamming of a rusted door, that places the entirety of the song in abandonded country yard, probably in the deep of night, and if the house’s occupants are anything like the band members they’re touching themselves inappropriately. Distortion swells until it swallows.

I think music pundit Joe Hardy put it best when he said that this record contains “a tangible sense of Australian identity that feels neither contrived or forced, nor cringeworthy”. At no point during the 29 minutes that is Oberon did I feel like Snakeface were trying to demonstrate a sense of Australianism yet the record is unmistakeably Australian.

Oberon: $10/$10

Head to the Snakeface bandcamp to get a hold of the digital release or pre-order the vinyl/documentary combination which will ship in a little over a week.

It’s proving more and more difficult to keep up with our young friend Jacob Rohde at present since he seems to be releasing tunes like a regular David Guetta (which is to say frequently, not lazily). The new one (though there’s been a few since we last touched base) is called ‘People’ and features the tinkling of wind chimes sampled among some R&Beats. It’s certainly his most polished recording to date so it makes sense that I present it in conjunction with his brand new moniker ‘Bocaj’ which I was able to discover using an online anagram solver, is Jacob backwards. It’s like word warp up in here! Go on then, give it a go.

Oh dude, you’re going to love this. My buddy recommended I listen to this tune and I’m glad I did because it’s taken up semi-permanent residence in my braincave and I don’t even care. You’re probably already familiar with Major Lazer, the collaborative duo of Diplo and Switch and you might already know the Dirty Projectors but have you heard the two in tandem!? You’re soon to. Amber from the Dirty projectors has teamed up with Major Lazer on this one and now the history books will have to be rewritten. Tear out the pages that suggest a big tune wasn’t released on the 15th of April because they’re now factually inaccurate. This post is pissing off encyclopedia manufacturers world-wide but they say you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs, am I right? So with that said, let’s make a wholesome breakfast out of those history books. Download it free.

Lift up your faces and bathe in the warmth that is ‘New York City’ by Nashville’s Among Savages. No hipster credibility here, just wholly accessible, very easy to listen to, comfortable, warm, rolling music. I was going to end with something more concrete than ‘music’ but to paint this as ‘indie-pop’ doesn’t seem right. It just feels a little more timeless than what one would usually associate with the term. When I say accessible though, I really mean accessible. For fans of Copeland, Sleeping At Last etc. Don’t think I’m trying to distance myself from it though, I’m posting this song because I’m all about it. It’s actually quite a bittersweet thing, this song, telling of a New York that promises much but delivers not.

It’s just the thing I need to make me feel slightly more ok about having risen at 430am this morning to watch Manchester City vs Manchester United in what is likely the season deciding clash, only to find that it’s to be played at 430am tomorrow morning. Do I dare rise twice? I’ll leave you on that cliff-hanger.

Among Savages – New York city

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Among Savages – Sun Greets The Sky

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Really, truly, you should listen to and even purchase the whole record, called Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind. Hell, even their EP (on which you’ll find ‘Sun Greets The Sky’) is great. Do yourself a favour. 10 discovery points to Sam Manchester. [UPDATE: The EP is available under a ‘pay what you want’ system on Noisetrade. Enjoy]

The Falls are a two piece from Sydney that appear to have pretty equally portioned male and female vocals. While I have nothing negative to say of the female vocals I really like the dude’s voice and when the two come together it’s generally a good time. Anyway, that’s all beside the point. They are a fairly straight down the line folk outfit sans gimmicks and frills. It’s simply a pair of voices mingling over what is for the most part just an acoustic guitar, and as it has for hundreds, nay thousands of artists through the years, it just works. The highlight from their “four track demo”, which strangely only features three tracks is ‘Home’, a song that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes release. They may not be breaking down the door of musical ingenuity but there’s an authenticity residing in their simplicity that will speak to even the most folk-jaded soul.

They’re playing a whole swathe of shows over the next few months, including a residency at the Art Gallery of NSW’s Art After Hours, which I will be clearing my schedule to attend. If you live in Bathurst then you’d be a fool to miss their show with Packwood at the Australian Fossil & Mineral Museum which will be both a fun night out and a geological adventure.

The Falls – Home [DOWNLOAD]

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[EDIT: I’ve had this one in the bank for a little while now and since the time of writing, the shows mentioned, Fossil based or otherwise, have already taken place. AND there were no strings in the version I was listening to at the time.]