STACK #179 Sept 2019

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Ash Grunwald Mojo “Sometimes I don’t know where this dirty road’s taking me,” Ash Grunwald sings on his 12th album, his first for Michael Gudinski’s Bloodlines label. The Melbourne bluesman has been nominated for Best Blues and Roots Album five times at the ARIA Awards. On each occasion he’s gone home emptyhanded – but the aptly titled Mojo could change his luck. The record showcases an all-star cast, including Kasey Chambers, The Teskey Brothers, Mahalia Barnes, Joe Bonamassa, Ian Collard, The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Kim Wilson, and The Cat Empire’s Harry James Angus. But Grunwald’s deep, soulful tone is the star of the show. (Bloodlines) Jeff Jenkins

City Calm Down Television Switch on City Calm Down’s third album and you’ll be confronted by flickering images and some probing questions. “Will you face your fears or just press your face against the light?" Jack Bourke challenges the listener. The Clash-like title track sets the scene, and the glorious Visions of Graceland will have you thinking of early U2 and Simple Minds. The anthemic Stuck (On The Eastern) will ease the pain of any traffic jam, while the punky Flight is all nervous energy and fist-in-the-air delight. This Melbourne band have delivered their best album yet. Television has a spirit that can’t be denied. (I OhYou) Jeff Jenkins

Montaigne Complex “I like listening to you,” Montaigne sings at the start of her second album, “with my fingers in my ears.” Loaded with irony, it’s the perfect and playful start to an album that doesn’t pull any punches. No sophomore jinx here; this Sydney artist has delivered one of the year’s finest records. “This is my damn song,” she declares.

Indeed, it is. And Montaigne owns it. She packs more thrills into that opening track, CHANGE , than most pop artists deliver in their career. Dramatic and dynamic, there’s even a hip hop detour. “I’m fine,” she insists in Losing My Mind , though it’s obvious she’s got a few things she wants to get off her chest. Stockholm Syndrome is confronting and dark, and she’s not afraid to show a more vulnerable side in the stark Showyourself , as well as highlighting her insecurities in Please You and Is This All I Am Good For? “Every day I wake up and measure the skin around my waist,” she confides. “Is this all I am good for?” Montaigne is a storyteller for our times – fearless, feisty, combative and, yes, complex. (Wonderlick/Sony) Jeff Jenkins

The Delta Riggs Modern Pressure

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Infest The Rats' Nest All hail the mighty Gizz and their 15th album release in seven years! From their previous Fishing For Fishies set (April, 2019) – probably King Gizzard's most accessible to date – they about-face on ITRN , going all thrash metal on our arses while reminding us that our planet is f-cked. Three singles – Planet B , Self-Immolate and the brutal "blood minestrone" of Organ Farmer – accompanied by powerful, sequential music videos heralded the release of ITRN (written by just three of the band's seven members: Stu Mackenzie, Joey Walker and Michael Cavanagh). Double-kick- drum rumble, snarling riffs and screamo vocals dominate; the technical virtuosity on display here is staggering. Are Gizz showing off? Yep. Is that off-putting? Nup. This pack of musical freaks is unstoppable. (Flightless) Bryget Chrisfield

DZ Deathrays Positive Rising: Part 1

Birtles Shorrock Goble Full Circle What’s in a name? For all intents and purposes, this is Little River Band – but don’t tell the lawyers. In the early 2000s, LRB founding members Glenn Shorrock, Beeb Birtles and Graeham Goble wanted to put the band back together, but the rights now resided with guitarist Stephen Housden, who joined six years after the band started. When it all got too hard, the founders folded, but not before recording this fantastic live album at Melbourne’s ForumTheatre. Now issued as a CD and DVD package for the first time, the good news is it’s also being released in the US, where American fans can realise that this is how LRB should sound. (Universal) Jeff Jenkins

DZ Deathrays' previous Bloody Lovely set reached #4 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Its follow-up, produced in LA by Miro Mackie, incorporates extra instrumentation including synth and sax, and drummer Simon Ridley doesn't merely pummel, he thwacks! Positive Rising: Part 1 also showcases Shane Parsons' singing chops like never before, there's lyrical wizardry ("Strapped to a loose caboose" - YAS!) and The Bronx's Matt Caughthran drops in to scream lyrical on ferocious second single Year Of The Dog . Lead single IN-TO-IT 's arresting, stop-start riff evokes Boys Wanna Be Her by Peaches. Ten-plus years into their career, two became three when DZ Deathrays made longtime touring member Lachlan Ewbank official. On album number four, supersized DZ Deathrays inject extra groove into their trademark whirling dervish. (I OhYou) Bryget Chrisfield

"You can tell Mister Townshend that I'm the pinball wizard!" The Delta Riggs brandish their rock'n'roll influences throughout Modern Pressure , their self-produced fourth record. From early Kasabian (opener Bright As The Sun ) to The Stones ( Don't You Frown ) and Oasis (the title track) to The Strokes ( Fake That 's shiny riff), these pockets of déjà vu are somehow completely transformed at the hands of Delta Riggs – voodoo magic? Brass invades standout Out Of Place , there's mad harmonica on Settle Down , and even those with two left feet will surrender to Sunshine Dancing . Elliott Hammond's versatile vocal delivery traverses seductive whispers, unhinged yowls and speak-singing (with plenty of 'tude). The Delta Riggs have swag to spare and should explode as a result of Modern Pressure . (Inertia) Bryget Chrisfield

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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