Dan Condon: Sick Tunes, BIGSOUND Ahoy!

I love BIGSOUND. Spring time in Southeast Queensland is basically the closest thing I can imagine to Heaven on Earth, there's lots of industry people who like to throw their weight around that I always get a great laugh out of and my bosses don't get too mad when I show up to work disgustingly hungover.

But the best thing about BIGSOUND is the chance to see an absolute shit tonne of bands all in the one place and this year there are more than ever with 120 of the fuckers playing this year's event and a lot of them are really, really good.

In the interest of keeping this blog 'relevant' (which I imagine is my best chance of not being fired) I'll give you five songs that have been released quite recently, even if that means I can't inflict five tracks from Straight Arrows' 2010 It's Happening record on you, which is really what I'd like to do. So, here are five tunes I like from bands you can see if you're lucky enough to be in Brisbane for next week's industry hugfest.

VIOLENT SOHO – TINDERBOX

Full disclosure; Violent Soho are friends of mine. I've seen more than one of their penises, played a lot of shows with them, consumed a lot of beers with them and even been involved in an incident on a Byron Bay beach late one night that was rather explosive.

But before you accuse me of just pumping up my mates' tyres, listen to Tinderbox, the band's first single in years, and try and tell me it's not a fucking ripper of a song. Frontman Luke Boerdam has refined his songwriting skills in the band's quiet time and while it may have more mature touches, it still has that reckless feel that made them so appealing in the first place.

I was always a little pissed that their Gil Norton produced self-titled record didn't get a huge amount of love over here, but I have my theories as to why that was and I think that they're going to blow Australia away with their new record, which we ought to be hearing in the first half of 2013.

THE GOOCH PALMS – PARTICIPANT NO.91

Sydney's The Gooch Palms were basically a bit bloody silly when I saw them last and I kinda hope nothing has changed when I see them play this time around. Here's the thing though, they have a new 7” which will be released pretty soon – they've thrown the tracks on their Facebook for the time being – and I have to admit I was very surprised by how… ummm… amazing they are. This duo definitely always had some songwriting chops underneath the craziness, but this record has brought the hooks out of them in a massive way.

The Devo influence is immense (I'm not even sure if they like Devo, but fuck they sound like them) and there's a kind of a '70s low budget sci-fi feel thanks to the creepy keyboard/Theremin sound and the haunting background falsetto. I have only had the stream for a couple of days but I cannot fucking wait to get this on wax and play it over and over again. I feel kinda stupid recommending them because the venue they're playing is tiny and I really want to be able to see them. I'm sure they're relishing the opportunity to scare the shit out of some industry folk too.

BEARHUG – OVER THE HILL

I'm excited to finally get a chance to see these Sydney guys in action; their Bill, Dance, Shiner record makes me wish I could be on holidays all the time; just driving around, listening to this record, swimming in waterfalls and drinking beers. Well, you know, more so than usual. I reckon the chorus in this song is one of the best of the year, the solo and the guitar breakdown in the bridge is the perfect mix of sweet and gritty and just makes you thankful that indie rock exists. I have no idea what they're like live, I'm hoping they're kinda trashy and loud, but we'll have to wait and see.

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – 12 BAR BRUISE

A band who can get away with having a name as stupid as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have got to be pretty good and it seems like people are pretty serious about this bunch of Melburnians, so I was pretty confident I'd be okay with their debut record 12 Bar Bruise, which is out today. Sure enough, it's a pretty decent slab of rollicking, noisy, three chord bashing garage rock that is a bit grittier than fellow BIGSOUND band Velociraptor (whose debut is also out today and is fucking sensational), but about as much fun. Honestly, the songs aren't quite as good in my opinion, but this is likely to appeal a little more to garage aficionados, while the Raptors are very much heading in a classic '60s pop direction.

The title track from the record is great because it's noisy, has a really great howling harmonica line and, frankly, it's got a freaking excellent name. It's my pick of the tracks upon first listen, though I do have to say I've got a soft spot for anyone who can combine football and garage rock, as they do in Footy Footy.

CATHERINE BRITT – SALLY BONES

I'll be blunt; I had no real intention of ever listening to Always Never Enough, the new record from Catherine Britt. But she suckered me in with the genius ploy of enlisting two of my favourite songwriters of all time, Guy Clark and Tim Rogers, so I had to at least give it a shot. I'm glad I did, as far as Australian country records go it's pretty solid and has some really great songs, such as this one, Sally Bones. It's a terribly sad song that starts slow and just gets more and more devastating as it reaches its conclusion. “I'll make sure that you won't ever sleep again,” Britt offers, as the 16-year-old narrator, as we come to realise the young orphan has been murdered. It's chilling without being overwrought lyrically and the production from Bill Chambers (who is just the fucking best) makes you feel every emotional peak and trough – though it's gotta be said there aren't many peaks – with full force.

This is a mere five new tunes from bands playing at BIGSOUND next week, but there are so many more incredible acts on the bill, it's just going to be the best.

Come and say hello if you're around next week. I'll be the guy tweeting profusely and talking to no one.

Blog will be back to normal in a fortnight; give me a tweet or an email if you have tunes you think I need to hear.