Perth record reviews

When it comes to listening and writing about music, I usually don’t stray too far from my genre of choice, hard rock. My tastes do extend further than hard rock reaching out into other genres, but I just don’t pay as much attention to them. A local Perth band called ‘Russian Winters’ has stopped this lack of attention dead in its tracks with a...

Wolves At The Door have had a very busy 2010, with appearances at Southbound, Laneway and One Movement, and it's small wonder these festivals have taken a shiny to the band. Wolves At The Door are talented at writing labyrinthian songs, weaving hypnotic melodies around the listener like a spinning spider.

Their self-titled EP is a masterclass in...

The Novocaines have been kicking around for a few years, with their big break always seemingly just out of their grasp. With their latest EP Courtesy Eventually, it sounds like the band are trying their hardest to get that break that they need into the national conscious and in doing so, they have tempered their sound. Whether that was a good...

Perth-created and now Melbourne-based ensemble Institut Polaire have been around for a while now, having promised much in the years that they have existed. Their 2007 EP The Fauna and the Flora showed that they were a band who were able to write some great songs, and therefore it is hard not to expect the same amount of quality in their debut...

The Coalminer's Sect is a group of fuzzed-out psych rock, featuring members from Three Orange Whips, Loose Unit and The Volcanics, and recorded over many beer bottles. You can hear it through the rawness of the album, Lead Us To The Ocean, which gives it a certain charm.

The Coalminer's Sect mentions bands like...

Silent Republic have travelled quite far to record this EP. Literally speaking, with singer Mark Crow, guitarist Jules Millership and drummer Dean Cass having moved half-way around the world from the United Kingdom to Perth. We Seek The Light is six tracks of haunting ambient guitars layered with a thick British...

A slight quirkiness sets Control-Control apart from their roots-rock brethen. The quirkiness can be seen starting from their album cover, which features a man flying a satellite kite. Their touch of eccentricity is a breath of fresh air in a genre filled with over-earnest bands. Satellite and the Sea is the Fremantle trio's debut EP.

Firstly,...

The Curse of Us is College Fall's "difficult second album". Kind of. Although it is the second under this monicker the two halves of the band have been responsible for EPs, singles and full-length albums from some of Perth's much-loved bands of the last 10 years (including Showbag! The Nordeens and Josivac). It is also the first that...

The four masked wonders who form Stereoflower have finally realised their unique vision of alt-country with It's Alright, It's OK, Satellite Commander.

Slowly whirring into life with a short soundtrack of static and grand synths, the album then kicks into high-octane territory with the soaring single, The Cocaine Bebop. The Cocaine Bebop sets the...

The thing about metal is that it really needs to be done well. Depending on the sub-genre of course, but as a rule, it’s gotta be tight, dextrous, mind-blowing and bang-on impressive. There are no club matches in heavy metal, it’s gotta be First Class cricket all the way.

The mysterious Burial Grounds have managed to submit this EP for review without...