STACK #146 Dec 2016

MUSIC REVIEWS

4 3 2 1

CLIENT LIAISON Diplomatic Immunity

CRX New Skin

Genre of music I didn’t know existed: Australiana synth- washed indie kitsch disco. How many bands in music history represent this genre: One. Client Liaison. The long-awaited debut from the Melbourne duo is covered in nostalgic synths and funky grooves. The calls of a kookaburra ring throughout opener Canberra Won’t Be Calling Tonight before a throwback keyboard and a chunky bass anchor the airy, indie vocals of frontman Monte Morgan. Second track Wild Life boogies along with fluffy synthesisers and kitsch lyrics. Just as you thought the Australiana couldn’t get any bigger, up pops Tina Arena to lend her voice to Foreign Affair . The bass- heavy Do It My Way and funky Off White Limousine will have Australians dancing all summer. Bands spend entire careers trying to forge out their own niche area of the genre, but Client Liaison have done it in one effort. 5 dollarydoos out of 5.

The Strokes’ lead axe man Nick Valenti stretches his musical freedom on the debut record from his new band, CRX. The flickering embers of The Strokes burn bright in opener Ways To Fake It ; familiar, slinky riffs litter this track and others (notably Anything ), and the newly appointed frontman’s effortless falsetto will cop inevitable comparisons to Julian Casablancas. Broken Bones shows off the record’s grittier feel, while Walls feels like the fuzz-loving bastard child of The Strokes and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. In the menacing Unnatural , album producer Josh Homme’s signature knee-trembling grumble is present. At its peak, New Skin is raucous, indie punk; Valenti slings his guitar around like it’s straight out 2011’s Angles . At its pit though, the record is incoherent; styles and tones jump around from song to song. Valenti recently stated that CRX was his cure to itchy- tour-feet, a tool to get back on the road. If that was the sole objective of the album, it’s a success – New Skin will sound killer live.

( Diplomatic Immunity is out now via Remote Control) Tim Lambert

( New Skin is out now via Sony) Tim Lambert

stack.net.au