STACK NZ Jun #74

MUSIC REVIEWS

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The Temper Trap Thick As Thieves

Flume Skin

“The time is now or never,” Dougy Mandagi declares on The Temper Trap’s new album, “and if we have to fall, we’ll fall together.” The third album is make or break; if you nail it, you’re gonna stick around a long time. Of course, The Temper Trap were both blessed and cursed by a remarkable debut. That nothing here matches the magic of Sweet Disposition is no major criticism, not that the band hasn’t tried, writing and recording in London, LA, Montreal, Byron Bay and Melbourne. The Temper Trap sound is sensitive stadium rock: at its worst, it’s hollow singalong choruses; at its best, it’s both intimate and epic. Thick As Thieves shows that The Temper Trap still have plenty to offer. The fourth album could be the one. Jeff Jenkins

Harley Streten is a Sydneysider with a passion for smart electro-pop and his second Flume LP promises great things. Never Be Like You is already doing the rounds and resonates with its plea to “Please just look me in my face, tell me everything’s okay," while the appearance of Tove Lo on Say It shows just how far this onetime garage rocker has come. However there’s a thoughtful deceleration with When Everything Was New that suggests perhaps a new direction for the producer, inviting us into an imaginarium of our own creation. Skin ’s closer, Tiny Cities , featuring Beck – yeah, that Beck – combines that new, slower pace with Flume's distinctive beats and rhythms that’ve been around since Hyperparadise . There’s no doubting it – he’s holdin’ on. Alesha Kolbe

Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool A Moon Shaped Pool reveals a band still completely fascinated by the properties of sound. Radiohead want to show the plastic bones or wooden heart or optic-fibre veins of the noises they create, even if those things seem scary – there’s a constant tug of war between the horror of the familiar and the beauty of the bizarre. Although piano and strings are

the stars on this release, there are contemplative pockets and fervid layers in which other things emerge or take over: the swoop and chop of reversed vocals and percussive instruments, electronic plinks like celestial windchimes, and vocals which confirmThomYorke’s talent for turning routine phrases into oddly disturbing maxims. Tinker Tailor... showcases the sublime peculiarities of orchestral strings; Identikit ’s curt rimshots threaten to spill over into deep floor toms, and The Numbers uses bells and low piano chords to drive its message: Yorke sings with steely calm, “The future is inside us, it’s not somewhere else, take back what is ours.” For all the cosmic hallmarks, A Moon Shaped Pool seems to be terrestrial – it’s a message about our place here and how tenuous and charmed it is, as well as our responsibilities to the soil under our feet. Its title suggests that although we can see into the sky, and we see its beauty, it’s a reflection of earthly magic. Zoë Radas

MUSIC

Whitney Light Upon The Lake

Garbage Strange Little Birds

letlive. If I'm The Devil... Since their inception in 2002, letlive. have always stood out as renegades. Not just in their injecting some serious and much missed politics into their punk rock, but in their bold overlapping of genres and their massive, manic live show. It’s only been three years since their last LP The Blackest Beautiful , but somehow it’s still been too long between drinks. On If I’mThe Devil... production steps up to meet the group's powerhouse sound. It seems as if frontman Jason Butler’s grandiose vision for the band might be one step closer to being realised. Bravo! Emily Kelly

Tony Joe White Rain Crow

This band’s moniker might fool you on two counts. Firstly, a name that makes an instant connection to one of pop’s female greats. Secondly, the feminine vocals that entice you on opening cut No Woman . The latter twist is revealed as the voice of Julien Erlich (ex-Unknown Mortal Orchestra) who sure ain’t no dame and is joined in Whitney by guitarist Max Kakacek (ex-Smith Westerns). Their soul-folk debut digs deep into pop history, chiming with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Prince, Neil Young and Robert Fripp. Blasts of exultant brass mix with melodies to sigh for, which help disguise the sorrow of songs about breaking up and breaking down. At 30 minutes, it's a breezy listen, but one you’ll be returning to for sure. GarethThompson

Shirley Manson told us 20 years ago she's only happy when it rains, but oh dear. When the storm breaks, pitter-patter, at the start of Night Drive Loneliness , it's her cue to slip on high heels, lipstick and blue velvet dress to go do something unspeakable. Never one to dwell on the chirpy side, she follows the sinister rock-electro soundscapes of Steve Marker, Duke Erikson and Butch Vig into relentless darkness on the sixth Garbage album. The band's razor-sharp cut-and-paste aesthetic is distinctive as ever, as belching guitars and crisp, mechanical drums interweave with ripping Velcro and oxygen tank rasps. "There's no one around to fix me now," Manson moans at one point. Like something's broken? Michael Dwyer

Spanning a career of more than 50 years, Tony Joe White's trademark sound, throbbing, fuzzy electric guitar and a voice that conjures word pictures of spooky goings-on in the Louisiana swamps (he was born and still lives in that Southern U.S. state), prevail throughout the songs on his 19th studio album. Rain Crow ’s nine new tracks, some co-written with his wife Leann and old mate Billy Bob Thornton (with titles such as Hoochie Woman , Tell Me A Swampy Story, The Bad Wind and Where Do They Go ) evoke the bayou tales White is so known for. Billy Pinnell

JUNE 2016

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