STACK #195 Jan 2021

FEATURE MUSIC

Hockey Dad, Brain Candy IN REVIEW “Entrenched in a rich lineage of savage Australian rock thrashers and hopeful burnouts, Hockey Dad’s immediate ascent

his memory. I love that he’s at this icon status and he’s a hero. I like that people get defensive of him, because I get it ! Hallowed ground. I’ve watched Freddie, and instead of copying him it’s more like, ‘Well, what was he trying to get across? What was the idea here?’ That’s what I try to focus on.” BC Gorillaz, Song Machine Season One: Strange Timez IN REVIEW

has been marked with track after track of riffage-backed ennui and Brain Candy only exhibits it at its absolute best. Every song here builds on the band’s strongest elements: careening sing-alongs, introspective stompers, and a sense that though this may all come crashing down at any minute, maybe we’ll get through this together.” NW

Tim Minchin, Apart Together IN CONVERSATION “[The album has] this balance between letting it be whimsical – which it definitely is – and playful with words – which it sometimes is – but it still leans on that craft I’ve been trying to develop of making people not know whether they should be laughing or crying… The fact is that I don’t have vibrato, it’s a bit nasally, but it’s my voice, and I know how to tell stories with it, and I know how to tell the truth with it.” ZKR

“The set opens with this drip- fed Gorillaz project’s crowning moment: the luminous Robert Smith-featuring Strange Timez , with its demented keys that sound like they’re being played by a posse of spiders on crack. Elsewhere, there’s animated Elton John crooning “on a peach blossom highway” ( The Pink Phantom ); the unmistakable, show-offy thrumming of Hooky’s low-slung bass ( Aries ); Damon/2D playing melodica and evoking retro Clint Eastwood vibes ( MLS ); and the late, great Tony Allen’s unparalleled drumming finesse (closer, How Far? ). Idiosyncratic, buoyant and brimming with innovation.” BC

Puscifier, Existential Reckoning IN NUMBERS

fi Daft Punk-y posturing on Supernova , the chattering beach party atmosphere of Monday Blues . A perfect sample platter for the restless.” JC Dune Rats, Hurry Up And Wait IN REVIEW “Now, there have been some disturbing rumours that Dune Rats were all grown-up and mature. Fortunately, Hurry Up And Wait proves they’re still potty-mouthed pop stars. But dismissing Dune Rats as dumb rockers would be selling them short. If Weezer were a bunch of Brisbane bogans they would

2: Number of bands aside from Puscifer for which lead creative Maynard James Keenan is vocalist (Tool and A Perfect Circle) ~25: Number of years Keenan has studied Jiu-Jitsu, having practised under Brazilian 9th degree red belt mixed martial artist Rickson Gracie 4: Number of major motion pictures on the soundtracks of which a Puscifer track appears, including the first three Underworld films 25: Years to the day between the release of Existential Reckoning and the first appearance of Puscifer, on HBO sketch comedy series Mr Show (which was itself 12 years prior to the release of Puscifer’s debut album!)

Kylie, Disco IN REVIEW

“More than an account of guaranteed disco, funk and house moves, DISCO jumps through styles like it’s backstage of the catwalk: piano stabs on Real Groove , the choral New Wave of Say Something , sci-

Pearl Jam, Gigaton IN NUMBERS

7: Number of years between Gigaton and the release of Pearl Jam’s last studio album, 2013’s #1 smash Lightning Bolt

1850: Year the pump organ Eddie Vedder plays on Gigaton track River Cross was built 21: Number of album charts across the world on which Gigaton reached the top 5 (#3 in Australia) 11: Number of US-top-5-debuting albums Pearl Jam have released in a row – including Gigaton (NB: That’s every single studio album they’ve ever released!)

sound like Dune Rats – and, yes, that’s a compliment. Hurry Up And Wait is a series of short, sharp jabs that will leave you punch-drunk but smiling.” JJ

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