SINGLE OF THE WEEK

THE BLACK LIPS – Bad Kids

(Speak N Spell Music)

And Buddy Holly begat The Ramones; The Ramones begat Violent Femmes; and Violent Femmes begat The Black Lips. It’s a bit quicker than the original begatting document, but isn’t that the way with everything these days? This two minutes of undiluted American music has a legacy stretching back as far as white people sounding cool with a guitar. It’s led by a prominent, simplistic straight-from-the-‘50s bass-line, and it’s all about how The Black Lips and their friends are class-flunkin’, cigarette-smokin’, schnapps-drinkin’ bad kids that you don’t wanna mess with. Anyone interested in taking Rock & Roll 101 this semester can save themselves the HECS and listen up here. It’s been a bit over 50 years since rock & roll started, which in the scheme of a human life is not an inconceivably long amount of time. However, rock & roll time is more like dog than human years, with trends appearing and fading sometimes too quick to even give a snappy name. If you have any doubt, ask a nu-rave specialist if they’re anticipating having their contract renewed in 2008. Amongst all this, the fresh sound of rock & roll has survived and Atlanta natives The Black Lips have captured it perfectly here. If you’re starting a band and are wondering who you should be begat from, The Black Lips have an awful lot of great features to inherit. Just keep an eye on the stage urinating.

THE UNCOMFORTABLES – Look! Who’s Sorry Now?

(Independent)

The Uncomfortables are a new British indie rock band, freshly formed in 2006, and currently at that just-post-formative stage where their MySpace is full of bulletins about their independent EP getting reviewed in NME and which mildly-less-post-formative-indie-band they’re excited about supporting next. It also mentions that there’s an Australian tour coming up for the Western Lancashirian four-piece, which will please not only whichever of their ranks updates their internet board, but also any Australian fans of British guitar rock with a whole lot of catchiness and just a smidge of quirk. The title track has a lone sheriff guitar as backing, while the closest to full-tilt rock is Set Me Free, an honest account of not sticking with a relationship if it’s not setting your stomach alight. This brand of good natured indie rock isn’t hard to come by in any city in the Western world, but if you’re in the mood for some perfectly likeable lo-fi music by a new act, this will keep you entertained for a while.

THE AERIAL MAPS – Australian Girls Are The Coolest Girls

(Popboomerang Records)

I’ve just returned from my weekly session with Rave’s cosmetic surgeon (Our editor demands we maintain our reputation as Brisbane’s Hotttest Street Press Staff), and this week I felt it necessary to have a triple botox facial injection. I’m determined to keep a straight one while I listen to the new single from The Aerial Maps. It really shouldn’t be a problem. Adam Gibson is the band’s singer and songwriter, formerly from Modern Giant, and therefore a master at providing entertaining spoken-sung suburban tales set to compelling pop/rock. Even more illustrious is the fact that Simon Holmes is producer and bandmate here, still praised for his amazing powerpop with The Hummingbirds back in the late ‘80s. Finally, this should be a winner since national pride has recently returned to not necessarily being code for racism since somebody thought to change our government a few months ago. Good work, whoever you are. So why, then, am I so worried my face will abandon its current blandly pleasant paralysed state? “Hates blokes who are try-hards, she can really play pool / Knows the chorus to Flame Trees, hates the two-shot rule. Creeeeeak. She’s not in love with cricket, but understands it’s there/ And she’ll swim at the beach and not care about her hair. REEEEE! She’s worked on the pearling boats, she can handle rough hands / She can drive any car, and she’s played in bands. CREEEEEEEAK! Australian girls are the coolest girls, the coolest girls there are. You can keep your American or French girls. Australian girls are…” SNAP!!! I’m sorry, I admire what you’re trying to do, but I just couldn’t hold back the cringe. It’s all a bit too Bryan Brown for me.

NICOLA SCHULTZ – Searching For The Goddess EP

(The Lotus Press)

Sometimes a single or EP falls into the Mine’s On The 45 pigeon hole that inspires a double-take. Nicola Schultz’s self-issued EP is one of those. Long time readers or the more attentive media monitors might have noticed a pattern to what gets reviewed here – it’s usually indie guitar bands or commercial pop. (Or Danni Minogue. She sends me a single every time. The girl’s misguided, but sweet.) That’s the general range of singles the pigeonhole gets filled with. Searching For The Goddess, however, stands out from the pack. This isn’t a disposable three minute ditty, as glorious as those might be. This is the sound of an artist. Creating art. The local singer-songwriter has compiled a variety of songs on this EP that are achingly gentle on the ears, like a series of tunes played not by traditional guitars and keyboards, but carried in on the breeze. As the EP plays on, it does venture more into Sinead O’Connor territory, with hymnal vocals floating above some fast-paced Eastern guitar. The songs themselves do tend to focus more on a textural smoothness than any sort of melodic hook, so Searching For The Goddess certainly won’t appeal to all, but what is virtually audible is Nicola Schultz pouring her soul into this serene project, which is a little more than I can say about the latest Ricki-Lee single.

SMASHING PUMPKINS – American Gothic

(Reprise / Warner)

Whereas a decade ago there was no way to escape hearing Billy Corgan’s nasal drawl or seeing his round elfish head, the now kinda-reformed group seems to be struggling for prominence with any new material. With an EP of four new tracks, is it just a case of Corgan’s time in the media’s sun having passed, or is there a reason for this muffled return? Unfortunately, it sounds like the latter. Smashing Pumpkins were beloved for being able to feed off both ends of the alternative rock spectrum – they could make enraged noise like few else, but also excelled at the quiet and powerful, with songs like Disarm and Tonight, Tonight developing into decade-defining tunes. The problem here is a distinct lack of variety. Four new songs, and zero that rise above the mid-tempo quasi-ballad status. Even more damaging, zero anthemic choruses. They might be an excellent choice for V Festival headliners, but there’s going to be precious few there for Smashing Pumpkins’ new stuff.

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