Dan Condon: Sick Tunes, July 13, 2012

So apparently I wasn't hired to write this blog to post my favourite ten episodes of Marc Maron's WTF Podcast, which is a real shame because I'd have a lot of interesting insights for you if that was the case. Have you heard the one with Tony Clifton? I literally spent the entire 15 minutes of that interview constantly thinking “what the fuck?”. Anyway, I digress, as I love to do.

I had never in my life heard of the band Audacity before this week when I somehow stumbled across a link to their new album Mellow Cruisers. Put it this way; ten power-pop gems in under 30 minutes, messy but catchy and brimming with passion and general liveliness. This is one of the really solid rock'n'roll records of the year and it pains me to think there might be some people out there who would actively dislike it. Apparently these guys have been around for about a decade, so I'll be sure to go and delve into their back catalogue when I get chance, but the important point at hand right now is that Mellow Cruisers is an absolute gem and I can't wait to get my copy and piss the neighbours off for a few hours. Here's Subway Girl, maybe the best song of the album, maybe one of the best songs of the year. What a pleasant fucking surprise. You can listen to it here.

I heard the new record from The Laurels playing in the background in the office the other day and it pretty much stopped me in my tracks. If you were worried about the quality of Australian indie music in 2012 after we had such a ball tearer in 2011 (Royal Headache, Twerps, Dick Diver etc.) then this might be the record that settles you down. It's free spirited, adventurous, engaging, catchy… it's very good and packed to the gills with quality songs that covers a heap of genre territory. I've decided to highlight Manic Saturday because it was the song that was playing when I realised what a great record this is.

I don't pretend to understand these big Brooklyn collaborative psychedelic art meets music meets free love kinda trendy hipster to-dos that seem to pop up on every other prick's blog just about weekly, but I did hear a killer tune from a collaborative project borne out of Brooklyn's Bushwick called Eastern District Presents: MOSHOLU. It's available as a free download and I would recommend having a listen to the whole thing if you have the patience – almost all of it is excellent – but the song I'll drop here is a collab between Talib Kweli and Das Racist that, for me, shows the value in Das Racist that a lot of people miss when complaining about their more popular, perhaps more novelty type songs. Repetition can be a valuable tool when it comes to music and there's no better demonstration of that than here. Plus, you know, Talib Kewli is a bit of a master. You can download the track in question right here (after you wait 30 seconds or something). Worth it, trust me.

I once played in a band that played a show with a bunch of kids from Geelong called The Frowning Clouds a few years ago. It was a good show and we all had a good time and I remember really enjoying their set and I seem to remember the singer of our band being really mean to them for some reason (they probably deserved it) but then I kinda stopped thinking about them until they released their All Night Long single a little while back and I just slammed the shit out of it for about a year. They are back now with a new 7” single with their song Propellers on the A-side. Of course I like to be difficult and have decided to put the B-side Bad Vibes up here, there's something irresistible about it in that “I've heard this a thousand times before but how on earth do they still manage to nail it?” kind of way. If you're into '60s garage you can definitely do a damn sight worse than these guys. The A-side is great too, so make sure you buy this as soon as you get a chance to.

Even though they are one of Australia's most famous indie exports and they do really damn good busy in their home country, I still reckon Tame Impala get a bit of a rough deal from certain people. Having as much hype around your band as they did in the early days is going to mean that some people just avoid you, plain and simple, and I feel a lot of psych fans haven't delved into the work of this band because they see 16-year-old girls wearing their t-shirts while sipping on Gloria Jeans frappes. Innerspeaker, the band's debut album, was amazing. They have a new record on the way called Lonerism (good name) and have dropped the first track from it, Apocalypse Dreams, a long and winding journey through numerous realms of classic psych-pop. The thing I love about Tame Impala is that their music is indulgent and tasteful at the same time. The thing I hate about them is that I've never enjoyed one of their live shows, but here's hoping they can pick up their act in that regard with the shows in support of this new record.