Niek

New album: Emma Russack & Lachlan Denton || Something Is Going To Change Tomorrow, Today. What Will You Do? What Will You say?

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

Emma Russack and Lachlan Denton are prolific songwriters from Melbourne. Somehow, between recording with their respective bands (Snowy Band, The Ocean Part, Pop Filter and others), they find time to write records together. Something Is Going To Change Tomorrow, Today. What Will You Do? What Will You say? is their latest collaborative project, their fourth (!) in three years. How do they do it? Well, combine friendship, a desire for writing honest pop music, and efficiency – the record was recorded in about 12 hours on tape.

The result is 26 minutes of laid back indiepop tunes with beautiful melodies and harmonies (listen to Long Road for example). Some have an old timey country feel to them (Still Life), some are more folky (Oh Alice, Authenticity), whereas SIGTCTT and WWYDWWYS provide slacker rock mirror images to start and close the album. And then there is Grass Is Greener, which is 100 seconds of indie pop perfection.  SIGTCTTWWYDWWYS  is out now on Bobo Integral (EU) and Spunk Records (AUS).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Spunk Records

New album: Andrew Taylor and The Harmonizers || Andrew Taylor and The Harmonizers

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

What did you do during the lockdowns? Did you hybernate bingewatching series all day? Did you work out more? Read more books? Took a lot of walks? For some of us, the restrictions hindered our well-being and proactivity. For others, the lockdowns unlocked opportunities, time and energy to get creative. Count Andrew Taylor in the latter category. The Scot, who also fronts the indie pop powerhouses Dropkick and the Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, started turning the randomly recorded audio clips, melodies and chord progressions on his phone into actual songs, which he recorded solo in his garage. Soon after, more songs were recorded with the help of his brother Alastair, Ian Grier (also of Dropkick) and long-time collaborator Iain Sloan. They called themselves The Harmonizers.

Within a couple of months, Taylor had about 40 songs which he originally planned, depending on their musical direction, as blueprints for a new solo record, or a Dropkick or Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness record. Early 2021, Taylor decided to pick the best songs from the previous year for a proper vinyl, CD and digital release – with The Harmonizers re-recording and improving the songs that had none of their prior input. I’m grateful he did. The 14 songs on the self-titled record are warm and pleasant, and you have to admire Taylor for being so prolific without making any concessions to the quality of the songs. The melodies are smooth yet jangly, the harmonies are gorgeous, and the balance between more uptempo tracks and more subdued ones is about perfect. It’s classic indie (power)pop for fans of Teenage Fanclub and Wilco.



Andrew Taylor and The Harmonizers is available for streaming on Bandcamp. The CD and LP will be available early December. Pre-orders are up now.
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Pedico || 4 To The Floor

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Pedico is one of my favorite discoveries this year – I wrote about the band earlier this year. Pedico’s music is essentially a tribute to the Ramones and The Beach Boys presented in a lo-fi and uncomplicated manner exclusive of any pretention.

This week the band released a new EP called 4 To The Floor. The EP art features two naked women skateboarding which may be NSFW, but definitely is an improvement compared to their last cover which displayed two barely dressed old dudes BBQ’ing. The music is just what you’d expect from Pedico. Fast, straightforward and insanely catchy and fun.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The On And Ons || Back For More

By / / Power Pop / 2 Comments

Ready for some classic powerpop from Australia? Meet The On And Ons, a veteran three-piece featuring the brothers Glenn and Brian Morris (on guitar and drums respectively) and Clyde Bramley (bass). With members having performed in bands like Hoodoo Gurus, Screaming Tribesmen and Paul Collins Beat, it’s clear these guys know what they are doing. If you need more proof, check out the band’s latest release Back For more.

The powerpop of The On And Ons is grounded in ’60 pop. The band knows how to jangle, to psych, to rock and roll and to harmonize. And in doing so, they manage to sound way bigger than a three-piece. I usually prefer my powerpop in a more punked-up-straight-out-of-the-garage version, but it’s hard to find fault with Back For More. This is ear candy born out of top notch songwriting and musicianship.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Citadel Records

New album: Kid Gulliver || Kismet

By / / Indie Pop, Power Pop / 1 Comment

Kid Gulliver is one of those bands that keep popping up in my bandcamp mails, releasing a new song every couple of months or so. The only reason I haven’t written about the band before is because we prefer to cover full releases that you can…well…add to your wantlist. With the release of Kismet, which is Kid Gulliver’s debut full length despite being a band for around 7 years, the band finally promoted from band-to-watch to add to wantlist. Kismet conveniently collects the songs that Kid Gulliver have slowly but steadily been recording and releasing in the past two years – all remastered to fit on one album.

The powerpop of Kid Gulliver is college radio friendly, and the band has a talent for writing melodies that are insanely catchy. My favorite song on the record is I Started A Joke, which I had no idea is actually a Bee Gees cover – thanx Josh Rutledge for pointing this out. But Kismet is stacked with Kid Gulliver originals that are massive hits. I am particularly fond of Stupid Little Girl, Susie Survived Chemotherapy, Beauty School Dropout, and Forget About Him. Kismet is out now on Red On Red Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Mäsh || Mäsh

By / / Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Mäsh are a classic rock-‘n’-roll outfit from Berlin. Last year, Mäsh released two singles that showed a lot of potential. Their first full length makes good on that promise, and shows a band on a roll ready to conquer stages all over Europe and beyond.

Mäsh’s self-titled debut LP is a tribute to the boot-stomping, fist pumping, and glam struttin’ hardrock of the Seventies. It’s the kind of music that probably will never be fashionable or hip, but when executed well provides something more important: good vibes all around. And boy, do Mäsh know how to combine Chuck Berry guitar licks with gang vocals and catchy melodies.  The lads in Mäsh either share a parent with the guys in Giuda or Faz Waltz, or have a similar record collection, because their musical DNA definitely overlaps.

From album opener Nico, it is clear that this is a feel good record. The bands sounds tight, and the production is crisp. This is the kind of record that sounds good regardless of the playing volume, but is best experienced ALAP (As Loud As Possible). Mäsh is out now on Wanda Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Wanda Records

New single: Rabbit || Gone

By / / Power Pop, Punk / 2 Comments

There is still something magical about discovering awesome music from the other side of the planet with just a couple of mouse clicks. I am talking about Rabbit, a four-piece from Tasmania (Hobart). Rabbit has only been together for a year, but jumpstart their career with a 3-song debut 7″ full of electric and exciting powerpop. Recorded with Zac Blain of A. Swayze & The Ghosts, the single announces the arrival of Rabbit through a megaphone rather than a whisper. The three songs on the Gone single are loud, and singer Maggie Edwards attacks these songs with full conviction.

What makes the songs work well though is the band’s sense of melody. In a recent interview with Gimmiezine, the band’s songwriter and guitarist Bobby K. cites The Nerves, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Records, Vibrators, The Soft Boys, The Only Ones, Television Personalities, Buzzcocks, The Motels as primary influences and namedrops Oz punk acts like Celibate Rifles and Birdman and Saints as well.  I can also see fans of Royal Headache digging the music and guitar work of Rabbit. Good taste does not automatically translates to good music, but in the case of Rabbit it most definitely does. Gone is out now through Rough Skies Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Control Freaks || Get Some Help

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

You may know Greg Lowery from his work in Supercharger, The Rip Offs, The Infections, The Zodiac Killers and his label Rip Off records. In recent years, he has devoted his talent to The Control Freaks, a band that plays garagepunk’n’roll that sounds trashy, mean and catchy.

Get Some Help follow the band’s first two rippers Mindless Entertainment (2017) and She’s The Bomb (2019). If you liked those two albums, you are guaranteed to like Get Some Help as well. It’s more of the same, which is exactly what you should hope for in the case of Control Freaks who have that special kind of talent to write songs that are straightforward and yet so memorable. Songs like Gonna Be A Riot, My I.Q., I.C.U. and Popgun are a treat for any fan of rock’n’roll that is uncomplicated and real. Get Some Help is out now on Dirty Water Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Compilation || SLN-210: 10 Year Anniversary Compilation

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Snappy Little Numbers operates out of Denver and have to be one of the hardest working labels out there. Or maybe they are extremely efficient? Anyhow, it seems that they have a couple of new releases out each month and not just digital. To celebrate its 10th year anniversary, this week the label released a 30 song compilation of past, present, and future bands they have worked or will work with. We covered quite a lot of the bands on the comp including Autogramm, Jiffy Marx (who contributes a very fun rendition of one of my favorite Resonars songs), Hooper, Spells, Friends of Cesar Romero, State Drugs, and The Animal Steel. But, if I’m not mistaken, most (if not all) of the songs are comp exclusives.

Snappy Little Numbers’ roster is very broad, even though most of their bands fall under of the many subgenres of punkrock and alternative rock. A consequence of SLN’s broad focus is that you are unlikely to fall for each of their releases. However, on a comp like this, the varied roster actually works to the comp’s advantage. Listening to this compilation is like finding a radio station you don’t want to switch off, and driving another block because you want to find out what the next song is. Cool stuff from a cool label. Happy Birthday SLN, Keep doing what you do!

30% of every compilation sold (both physical and digital) will be donated to Stop AAPI Hate (20% – stopaapihate.org – USA) and Elimin8Hate (10% – elimin8hate.org – Canada).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || SLN

New album: McBain || Hard Being Us

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

McBain are Ame, Ale & Enri from Italy (Milano), who formed in 2015 out of a shared love for old school pop punk and The Simpsons. Having released their debut album Revenge in 2017, they took a different route with the follow-up. Hard Being Us consists of three EPS that were released throughout the year. Each of the EPs showcases the perspective of one the band members. It’s a cool endeavour fully in line with the punk ethos which values both individuality and a sense of community.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of this project is how similar the three EPs sound. It’s way more consistent than I expected, but in a good way. It illustrates how well the interests and ideas of each band member are aligned. Expect short and fast pop punk bursts – the total playing time of the 15 songs is 20 minutes. Check out my favorite track of each EP below.




Hard Being Us is released in a highly limited run of 66 hand printed 3-CD boxsets. Artwork by Luca Loreti.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Scroll to Top