ROADS - DOUBLEWHITELINES

ROADS, or to call them by their full name, Remnants Of A Dead Star, have a superb sound which reminds me a little of another great Australian band, Spy Vs Spy, who were around years back, & just a little, courtesy of thei outstanding vocals, of silverchair. I don't know a huge amount about this band, but their sounds have been featured on Triple J for certain & it's not hard to see why after checking out these songs.

In particular, take note of "Tin Can Hobo", which has an outstanding chorus & the whole feel of the track is aggressive without being over the top on noise. "Electrocution" is also a fascinating effort, with some killer riffs, as is "Sunstorm". The real odd man out here at first appears to be closer "Bionic Pill", which starts off having you think we're about to head into an old disco tune, but the path is clearer once we get into the more serious end with guitars & percussion starting to make sense around the vocals. A brilliant release this one & it's well worth more than a moment of your time.

Doublewhitelines is out now through MGM. hEARd rating 9/10

ROCK AGAINST HOWARD - (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

Around federal election time, there always seems to be someone out there pushing their particular barrow & with the last federal election, there were the usual suspects, as you’d expect. One real benefit of this is that at least the politically incorrect (or correct depending on your particular brand of political posturing) on this occasion is that they had decent taste by & large in music & they gathered a whole bunch of very cool bands together to create 2 CDs worth of great sounds.

Disc 1 opens up with H-Block 101’s “Reason Why”, a band who always have a great sound, though for my liking they are upstaged by one of my favourite bands, Something For Kate, who give us “Secret Weapon” off their most recent album. Also standing out are The Anyones, as always, TISM & Sulo, though the company here is fantastic, so a favourite is not an easy thing to pick.

The second disc is an even bigger surprise, with The Herd bringing out their best rap, Pauline Pantsdown, who has been very quiet, cutting up a storm with “I’m Sorry” & a massive highlight from The Drugs, called “I Was A Teenage Voter”, a pure onslaught of punkish brashness which has to be heard to be believed. Stabndout from the whole collection is the awesome Front End Loader, who are in blistering form with “4 Star Heritage Arsehole”, a brilliant piece of work, this particular cut a bitchin’ live rendition & one of my favourite tracks from this band. Whether or not you love or hate their message, this double album is a music masterpiece.

Rock Against Howard is out through Shock. hEARd rating 9/10

SONIC ANIMATION - GET UP

Cool single which will no doubt remind many (me not least of all), of the brilliance of New Order’s pop & I think at least a little here may have been appropriated from that band’s track Blue Monday, though I can’t find any reference to it, so maybe I’m mistaken about it. The band have been around for a few years now & have an increasing number of exceptionally catchy tunes in their back catalogue & this is no exception to that rule.

Great pop has one thing behind it & that’s a distinctive backbeat & this song has that in spades & the lyrics are brilliantly crafted as well. Probably the big disappointment here is that the band included only remixes of the title track itself & didn’t choose to include anything much else, but the remies are worth the effort, in contrast to a vast number of dodgy mixes added in as bonuses on a lot of singles. The single is actually pulled from the band’s Defective Perspective album, which I haven’t heard as yet, so if you’re into their sound & it’s anything like this single, grab it as soon as you can.

Get Up is out now through Warner. hEARd rating 8.5/10

THE STANDS - I NEED YOU

An Australian 4 piece I’d not come across prior to this 3 track single, whose main feel in style is a fairly heavy country style, with an almost Suede-like vical setting out front, backed by a fairly conventional country pop style of track, which veers towards that ballad style that is about of late, though there is a little more substance here than that.

By & lagre, it’s the closer “She Only Cares For Me” is the pick after a couple of listens, though many will like the slow & easy feel of the opening track, which is the title number. Rounding out the 3 here is another called I will journey home, while we’re also apparently treated to a video, presumably of the title track, but I haven’t loaded that up. A fresh approach to the Australian scene, but you’ll need to be into country at least a little to enjoy this.

I Need You is out now through Ivy League. hEARd rating 7/10

STREETKID VANDAL - COOL AS THE DEAD

Another of the hotbeds of new talent in Australia is Brisbane, which has spawned this band, whose music has seen them with a growing reputation & this ep is proof positive that they have what it takes to make an even bigger impact on the Australian music landscape with a very clean sounding effort across 5 tracks here. For some reason after looking at the artwork, I was thinking I might have been about to hear something like Sonic Youth, but the sound is a little more centred than that.

Apparently the band's debut,, you wouldn't know it as they blast out the title track here, though that formula doesn't work for me as well as the closing couple here, "Too Late" & "Wanna Hang Out", nor as well as "K.C.C.", which is my pick, some great stuff happening in the background in this track. If you like some of the other great indie bands which have risen through the ranks, like Jebediah or perhaps The Screaming Jets from some years back,. you'll love everything here.

Cool As The Dead is out now through Shock. hEARd rating 8/10