still single reviews

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Scraps – Secret Paradise 7” EP (Disembraining)

RECOMMENDED

Laura Hill (Scraps to the outside world) turned up here a little while back with Classic Shits, an album’s worth of Casio pop from a number of years ago out of her bedroom in Brisbane. Years later, the project is still active, and even better, with three new songs which have more of an eye on what’s going on now, and a better understanding of the “button” a good pop song needs to come across as well as these ones do. What’s more, she gets it done through a very limited means of expression (‘80s synths and vocals, run through ProTools and arranged to her satisfaction) that works for what she’s doing. “1982” is like a two-minute dash through the recorded histories of both Stereolab and Broadcast, but against the cadence of a jilted wordsmith, staying on the beat and cramming the whole thinig with contextually novel lyrics. It’s so great I just listened to it again. “Simple Mind” runs a racing beat and rides some high-frequency scales up and down in its drive to get you moving, and “Secret Paradise” features this killer vocal break that puts me in the mind of Nite Jewel. Every one of these songs stands out, and the single is so short you’ll just flip it over and start again. Might be on the twee/pop side of things for some of my readers, but others who know better will want to track this down, no matter what. (http://disembraining.tumblr.com)
(Doug Mosurock)
19 hours ago • 0 notes
Terrible Truths – s/t 7” EP (Small Town City Living)

RECOMMENDED

Australia’s hit parade continues, now with Terrible Truths, a lady-led trio from Adelaide working the unadorned post-punk angle. This one’s great if you were looking for something unadorned and sinewy, geometrically correct post-punk plane drawings with great, uplifting vocals in the early Siouxsie/Annie Anxiety/Delta 5 camp. This sort of thing has been done so many times, and is very hard to get wrong – you need that groove, you need to work both for and against it, and you’ll achieve the rest based on what else you can bring to it. Guitarist Stacey Wilson and bassist Rani Rose understand this, and work with their own voices to bring a sense of urgency to the music. I will probably never get tired of this sort of thing and I doubt a lot of you will, either. Four great songs, with the side A tracks shining a bit more brightly (especially “Lift Weights”). Liam Kenny of Kitchen’s Floor plays the drums and boxes things in quite nicely as well. 300 numbered copies, gold vinyl. Grab a few. (http://terrible-truths.tumblr.com)
(Doug Mosurock)