We listen to a lot of music here at Tone Deaf HQ, and we’re the first to admit we’re perhaps a little biased towards sounds of the Australian variety. We do make the best music in the world, after all.
In honouring our favourite Aussies, we’ve once again compiled a list of the most outstanding local releases you should be listening to right now – whether they’re smaller indies acts or big-name essentials, these are the newest Australian records you should be adding to your ‘must-listen’ list.
Let’s get started.
Regional Curse – Regional Curse (FORMAT Records)
Regional Curse is just one of the many musical projects from prolific Melbourne (via Adelaide) artist Stacey Wilson.
If you haven’t heard of Regional Curse, you may have heard of some of her other projects, Rites Wild (a project from which the incredible 2012 LP Ways of Being (Not Not Fun Records) was born, Comfort Zones (another solo endeavour) or her most recent band Terrible Truths.
As whispers are strewn throughout this sparse and groove laden five track release from Regional Curse this EP is unsettling as it is hypnotic. In the past Wilson has proven herself as the master of keyboard driven (and drum machine-timed) drone, and this is no exception. Regional Curse is the perfect atmospheric soundtrack to your late night insomnia, we just can’t guarantee your dreams won’t get weird.
Cool Sounds – Healing Crystals (Beko Records)
We recently premiered the video from Melbourne guitar-pop masters Cool Sounds‘ killer single ‘Death Boys’ and though we loved it, we didn’t love it as much as their new record Healing Crystals.
Out now via Beko Disques (home of releases from other local talents Nathan Roche, Day Ravies and Parading) ‘Death Boys’ is streamable here like the rest of the LP.
The guest credits on the LP read like a who’s who of Australian lo-fi, laid-back pop rock, the band enlisted the help of ‘bros’ to contribute to the LP including; Amanda Roff (Harmony, Time For Dreams), Ashley Bundang (Totally Mild, Sui et Sui, Zone Out) and Zac Denton (Ciggie Witch, The Ocean Party).
Almost soothing in its laid back lazy guitar hooks, Healing Crystals is like falling asleep on a warm summer evening. Highly recommended.
André – Smooth Move (Independent)
With his third album, André Vanderwert proves himself the one man capable of figurehead-ing the long awaited revival of muscle shirts and motorcycles.
This bad boy biker from Brunswick rolls through the inner north, breaking hearts, seamlessly mending souls and leaving all in his wake questioning their very humanity.
A member of numerous bands around Melbourne, for the Smooth Move LP Andre takes all the experience, connections, and songwriting prowess gained from his time around town and channels it into a collection of seven expertly crafted, brooding, dirty rock n roll songs.
Fonz Whaler – Fonz Whaler (Independent)
In the case of Fonz Whaler’s self-titled EP, the listener is floated down a celestial river that’s at once cool and chilled and yet warm and balmy. The mostly instrumental EP is like post-rock without the noise, which has been supplanted by duelling clean tones that are sweet and lush.
On ‘Brunette’, there’s shades of Pink Floyd if they’d recorded Funkadelic’s ‘Maggot Brain’. On closer ‘Hylo’, Mac DeMarco is given a run for his rusted pennies. All throughout, the listener is pampered by sweeping soundscapes and elegant production.
Wild Comforts – Silver City Sorrow (Independent)
Since forming in 2011, Melbourne’s very own Wild Comforts have been bringing their unique brand of raw, down tempo alt-country to audiences all around town, and now they’ve just dropped their second LP Silver City Sorrow (via Bandcamp).
In March 2014, The Wild Comforts spent a magic, hallucinatory week on the NSW central coast recording their sophomore album with Australian country music legend Bill Chambers. The crew threw BBQs, parties, incredible gigs, and impromptu serenades by a bush poet, and from that time came this, Silver City Sorrow.
The emotiove core of this album’s songwriting comes from the band’s front-man Joshua Deeble. Having grown up in Broken Hill, NSW, his songs still carry the dust of that desert town, giving the record an undeniable authenticity.
Minotaur Troubadour – Minstrels Songs (Independent)
While on first impression the title and the simple, finger-picked guitar work and in-the-room production may have you mistaking Minstrels Songs for some White Stripes-esque Delta blues throwback.
Rest assured, this thing comes bursting right out of the belly of early ’90s alt-rock. More Lou Barlow than Muddy Waters, Laughing Leaves alum Minotaur Troubadour doesn’t hit his first blues lick until track five, and even then the lyrics are more akin to Donovan than the Delta. The resulting record is a hazy stroll through a lo-fi garden.
Marked by wobbly tape effects, the songs strike a harmonious balance between the unnervingly absurd and the tender and tuneful.
