(Sugarrush)

Local dance-rock quartet show off their wares on Magoo-produced debut LP

Already a tight unit on their first recording – 2008’s Your Tokyo EP – Brisbane’s indie-dance hopes My Fiction crystallise their formula on their debut full-length. True to its aplomb-heavy title, Fire!Romance!Fire! carries enough urgency and dramatics to satisfy a truckload of Franz Ferdinand fans. Production mastermind Magoo applies his magic touch throughout, resulting in a neat, polished sound; there are more synths and electronics in the mix this time, but not enough to class the whole record as “indie-electro”. Singer Eric Robinson’s strident voice sits somewhere between Robert Smith and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon (with a dash of Bryan Ferry) and the rhythm section of Mike Willmett and Danny Murphy is admirably busy, yet the band’s true secret weapon is guitarist James Laubscher. His playing here covers nearly everything from the herky-jerky Gang Of Four/Bloc Party-style riffs, indie/post-punk arpeggios and ‘80s rock staples (tapping, legato etc) while at the same time remaining taut and precise. When those sharp little hooks light up King Street Cops and Grey City as well as singles Every June and Gravel Rash & Football Stars, you can practically visualise the indie kids going mental – however no matter how talented they are, My Fiction still have to write their own Take Me Out/Helicopter/Somebody Told Me. When Robinson goes Bono on the closing Alarms, he manages to sound sincere (OK, I’ve never really liked U2), resulting in a quite sublime feel. Overall, good job – we just need that big, fat, massive HIT.

***˝

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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