(Mt. Field)

Brisbane trio become five, and whole lot more worldly.

Tragic/Athletic’s latest release is all killer. It’s a coming-of-age record for the band, whose sometimes-awkward post-hardcore has finally matured into spacious, vivid indie rock, that earnestly dodges conventions with the attention to detail of post-punk revivalism. It’s all strangely rhythmic, and regularly angular, but also manages to find vast amounts of space within surprisingly short passages of time. The guitar tone is often gorgeously metallic, and the bedraggled vocals (with mates-in-a-garage harmonies that chime in at every right moment) capture the languorous nonchalance of indie slackerdom perfectly. Sparing use of keyboards, odd guitar tones and other instruments progress each song far beyond their origins in white guitar music. The resulting compositions tug gently at the heartstrings, and generally make you feel pretty good about living in Brisbane. Another essential release.

JAKEB SMITH

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*