STACK #219 January 2023

CHOICE CUTS

MUSIC FEATURE

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of 2022

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Buddy Guy, The Blues Don’t Lie INNUMBERS 9: Number of Grammys Guy has won, including a Lifetime Achievement Award

Northlane, Obsidian INNUMBERS

30: Number of years Amon Amarth have been together (since 1992) 0: Number of times frontman Johan Hegg has been clean-shaven since the band’s inception, when he began growing his beard 3: Maximum number of years between albums released for the band’s entire 12-album career

1: Debut ARIA Albums chart position for Obsidian 5: Number of consecutive ARIA top three albums Northlane have released

Credit: Tomas Giden

6: Number of musical icons who guest on The Blues Don’t Lie (Mavis Staples, Bobby Rush, Wendy Moten, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Jason Isbell) 2: Number of dates Guy will be playing in Australia on his ‘Damn Right Farewell’ tour (August) Ocean Alley, Low Altitude Living INREVIEW “The title suggests a lack of ambition, but [Ocean Alley] have deservedly become one of the biggest bands in the land… their cruisy concoction of modern psychedelic rock continues on their fourth album, a beautifully crafted collection that’s super-smooth but never bland.” JJ

Credit: Kane Hibberd

120: Number of emerging bands who applied to fill local support slots for Northlane’s Nov-Dec 2021 tour in support of Obsidian ; Northlane chose a different band for each show across the country Arctic Monkeys, The Car INREVIEW “The Sheffield band have successfully completed their transformation from cool older siblings to debonair, well-connected uncles. Suitable for all your slow dancing needs, [ The Car ] is smooth as lint-free velveteen.” BC

Kendrick Lamar, Mr Morale & the Big Steppers

INREVIEW “Lamar explores one subject more deeply than he has ever before: himself… His piercing honesty demands the listener get comfortable being uncomfortable, with the profound goal of creating a dialogue that shifts consciousnesses.” TL

Credit: Renell Medrano

Architects, The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit INNUMBERS 20: The age at which Architects’ Dan Searle “thought [he] had [life] sussed,” his reflections on which inspired TCSOABS single When We Were Young

Credit: Zackery Michael

Credit: Kane Lehanneur

Rina Sawayama, Hold the Girl INNUMBERS 2: Number of prestigious UK music prizes whose rules were changed in 2021 after Sawayama discovered she was not eligible to enter despite having lived in the UK since she was five (Mercury Prize, BRIT Awards)

Foo Fighters, The Essential Foo Fighters INNUMBERS 9: Number of albums from which The Essential Foo Fighters ’ tracklisting is collected

Credit: Ed Mason

Credit: Charlotte Rutherford

4: Number of dates Architects will play on their Aussie tour next month 1: Number of bands in this feature article whose names are derived from an Architects song (Northlane) Surprise Chef, Education & Recreation INNUMBERS 1: Number of album tracks which pay homage to a Melbourne pastry shop ( A1 Bakery Pledge of Allegiance ) 0: Number of tracks which feature vocals 4: Number of bands represented by Surprise Chef’s own label, College of Knowledge – named after their sharehouse/rehearsal space (themselves, The Pro Teens, Karate Boogaloo, and Let Your Hair Down)

0: Number of films Sawayama had acted in before being cast in this year’s John Wick 4 3: Number of shows (out of three) Sawayama sold-out

1: Number of album tracks on which late drummer Taylor Hawkins takes lead vocals ( Cold Day in the Sun , 2006); Dave Grohl plays drums 17: Number of album tracks (out of 21) which hit number one on at least one major world chart at the time of their original release TheWiggles/Various, ReWiggled INREVIEW “Their cover of Tame Impala's Elephant broke the internet into tiny little pieces (and then scored number one in the Hottest 100), and now the beloved group have released a basket of classics along with our fave Wiggles tunes reinterpreted by a who's who of Oz music royalty. You don’t need to be a kid to get finger-guns-jazzed about this sonic lollybag.” ZKR

for her Australian tour this month Taylor Swift, Midnights INREVIEW

“Swift remains the queen of plucking out little moments of observational interaction – the kind which we all have lodged in the pleats of our brains, and which pop into remembrance every now and again… A sophisticated, evocative, and thoughtfully-detailed effort, luminous like coloured lanterns in the dark.” ZKR

Credit: Beth Garrabrant

Amon Amarth, The Great Heathen Army INNUMBERS

Credit: Izzie Austi

28 JANUARY 2023

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