(Ivy League)

Sydneysiders produce another listenable batch of indie-rock

Red Riders are one of those bands who have not overly affected me either way, but I must confess to a sinking feeling during the opening track of their new album Drown In Colour. Of the widescreen guitar/pop anthems you’ll hear this year, Tomorrow/Today is most certainly one of them, with clanging sub-Bunnymen riffs and that echoey bellow that has made even the most meat-and-potatoes indie rock band think they can “do an Arcade Fire”. Fortunately, the boys immediately redeem themselves with the gorgeous Ordinary, a far more attractive tune than the title suggests, punctuated by a heart-warming chiming guitar motif. The stronger elements of the record have the band stripping their sound back, possessing some of the dark atmospherics of Sydney forefathers The Church, and even hints of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now? in The Beginning Of The End Of The Night. Never Gonna Be Enough is another example of where they get the blend of cavernous sound and warm melodicism just right. While they don’t always have the memorable tunes to back up the rather majestic production, Red Riders sonic power is seductive enough to elevate a fair portion of this album above the average. I sense the real creative breakthrough is still to come.

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MATT THROWER

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