Looking for a ditch to lay in for a while? If so, Roadhouses' debut album of greyed, almost lethargic contemplation will certainly point one out for you. Pour a stiffer than responsible drink and let the Sydney three-piece do the wallowing with you.
These eight songs - recorded efficiently in a three-day Brooklyn session - benefit from a lack of over-labouring. Dreams of The Velvet Underground come courtesy of Yvonne Moxham's damaged yet sultry vocals draping over her guitar and (on Marrickville) a Frenchman counting to himself in the background, which would surely meet with Nico's approval.
Moxham's lyric book reads like a spent femme fatale "in a skirt as short as sin" (Drinkin'), tired of craving the arms of a comforting lover - a narrative Lana Del Rey has explored in Hollywood-esque black and white several times - but here, Roadhouses achieves the same with a lot less overstatement.
It's not too busy, with barely a couple of dense elements carrying each emotionally heavy song, but they do sound polished enough not have you on tenterhooks waiting for that slight mistake or mis-chord. So while Roadhouses will never get any party started, it's still worth dropping by.
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