Mochief Cd Review

Mochief Single
Review by Leo Abbs

Mochief have been talked about as one of the most promising heavy bands on the local live scene in the last year or so. It’s clear from this release that at the forefront of the talk is having a frontman who knows how to sing. Often i see heavier bands of this genre and their vocalists can pull off the screams, but they don’t match it when it comes to clean vocals. In the case, Lead singer Gavin manages to pull off the clean vocals well and do the metal growls too.

The band leans towards such influences as Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine and bands such as the deftones. It’s an interesting mixture in the vocals of effects but perhaps the patton influence on the singing is too strong. Though i’d like to see the rest of the band perhaps take a turn towards some obscure patton type material. The instrumental side of the band fits in well with the vocals but perhaps more leads could give the band an edge.

This is only a brief introduction to Mochief’s music but I would be interested to see where they go from here.

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CD Review: Snowman – Zombies On The Airwaves Of Paris

Snowman – Zombies On The Airwaves Of Paris
Review by Leo Abbs

Anyone who has tried to describe an unknown band to someone will know how hard it can be.

Well, trying explaining Snowman to someone who hasn’t heard them! The best description I’ve heard of them is ‘Horror Surf Rock’ but what’s that? You could also say it’s what Mr Bungle would sound like if they lived in Mt Lawley – though you would still be miles off.

Snowman’s originality combined with some very interesting songwriting which seems to barely rely on lyrics, more screams and weird noises, is what has everyone talking about this band. Their unique sound which is also ever changing, was a key part in which won them the next big thing competition in 2003, but it’s their fantastic live show which has punters coming back time after time.

The songs on ‘Zombies on the airwaves of Paris‘ are typified with reverb drenched gutiars leading a chaotic soundtrack with some crazy vocals telling horror stories. Stand out tracks include ‘Lost in the woods’ the triple j favourite that has the catchy clapping part, Track 4 ‘Horror Song’ and the title track. However the interludes between the main tracks , which are an interesting listening the first few times, had me reaching for the skip button.

Sure, you could argue that the CD gets annoying after a while, but not all music suits all occasions. For me they are still more a live band for now, and it’s not something I put on all the time. But with regular triple j airplay it’s clear that their sound can crossover to radio and some national tour supports (Interpol and Regurgitator), means that the rest of Australia is fast hearing about the local Phenomenon that is Snowman. Well deserved success is fast heading their way.

You have to admire them for pushing boundaries. In that regard, it is brilliant and inspirational.

CD Review – Birds Of Tokyo

Birds Of Tokyo EP review
Review by Leo Abbs

When it comes to bands who have members in other bands,they often get a lot more coverage because of who they are, rather than what they sound like. People like to throw the supergroup tag around in situations like this (in this case, this group has Ian from karnivool and the rhythm section from Tragic Delicate) but I disagree with that label. Despite good tunes and popularity in Perth they aren’t in superband category yet- perhaps if they were playing to crowds of 30,000 rather than 300 it would be a different story.

This release fits under the pop/rock category. The band has potential not just through contacts but because it has a commercial sound to it. Particularly in the instance of the first song ‘Russian Roulette’ where the verse sounds like something you’ve heard on 96fm. The chorus in that tune is fantastic and very catchy. The music also dips into acoustic guitars on track 3 which is also quite radio friendly.

As you listen to more of the cd, it steers away slightly from that sound, but still has a pop rock vibe only a little darker. The songs begin to blend in to each other, and while the rhythm section is superb, the guitar skills don’t match Karnivool’s. It’s definitely the vocal melodies that make the band what it is. And indeed after a few listens it’s hard to get the hooks out of your head.

Birds of Tokyo’s debut shows promise, but it’s hard to say whether the songwriting will progress to a higher level (as hinted at on the final track) on future releases, or just hit a rut and end in bland rock tunes. Though for a first release it’s definitely up there.

Mo Wilson and the Drivers – Demo Review

Mo Wilson and The Drivers – Demo
Review by Leo Abbs

Mo Wilson and the drivers are a four piece outfit which have been gigging for around six months. The songs are piano-driven and Mo proves to be quite the pianist. Luke (former josivac bassist) switched over to guitar when he joined this band and proves himself to be very talented with the axe.

The lead track is called ‘time wondering’ while only short, still leaves time for plenty of guitar soloing and piano noodling with a catchy chorus. The second song is a more mellow tune and the final track is back to the uptempo piano stomping. Overall the vocals have a folky croaky kinda sound with a more light-hearted delivery.

With a mixture of folk, a hint of the blues and influences such nick cave and the doors, this is a strong three track demo which should get them many gigs around town (especially with their contacts) and the band should attract a steady following.

New Band Focus – Chaos Divine

This month’s New Band Focus is on Chaos Divine a new Metal act that played their first gig at the Castle a couple of weeks ago.

Band Name: Chaos Divine

Band Members:
Ben – Drums
Mike – Bass
Dave – vocals
Simon – guitar
Ryan -guitar

Influences: Killswitch, Dream Theater, Meshuggah, Opeth

Style: Melodic/prog Metal

Where does your band name from: (there was no reply so who knows where they got the name Chaos Divine from.)

Upcoming gigs: Wednesday 27th of July at the castle.
They plug their gigs on http://www.perthbands.com and http://www.wf.com.au so if you want to know more check out those websites

Website/Mp3s:

http://www.myspace.com/chaosindivine

Contact:
To contact the band email Dave davelikemetallica@yahoo.com .

Metal Mama!

Punter Profile: Gavin Criddle

Punter Profile: Gavin Criddle

When did you first start going to see local perth bands?
The first local gig I saw was an all ages gig at the Grosvenor Backroom, in
about 1994 – I think it was called Club Original then – or MX or something – it changed names quite a bit then – SFD, Rothgar, Ash and Moth were playing I think?

Anyhow, I saw a few more metal gigs around that time featuring acts such as Allegiance and SFD and being the angry young man that I was, got quite hooked on this local music stuff. so much that I didn’t actually see another gig for about a year or so.

I started the serious abuse of my eardrums and liver in 1995 – once again returning to
the fine establishment that is the Grosvenor Hotel, and later venturing onto venues such as the Ozone Bar and the Hyde Park Hotel and the like. From then on, it’s been a blurry bit of fun – I’m sure it’s all been fun, and not once have I been a drunk, irritating arsehole to some poor
random punter/band.

Do you buy many local cds?
Why yes, the local cd section is the first bit that gets attacked when I
visit the music store. ‘Tis my goal to one day own all the local stuff in
the cd section at 78s – I’m getting there gradually. Last I picked up was
the found:quantity of sheep dvd/cd.

Are you involved in the music scene besides going to gigs?
Erm – not really, I’m pretty much a punter – it’s easier to go to a gig and
enjoy it than to worry about what’s going on. I have recorded some live
gigs and have done some reviewing for a larf but I find that I concentrate
too much on the task instead of just relaxing and taking in the show so I
don’t do that too often. I’ve helped a couple of bands with their websites
and enquiries about the wonderful world of information technology, which
I’m always happy to do – giving something back to the community and all that.

Which venues do you like and why?
If you asked me a few years back, I’d say the Grosvenor Hotel – far too many happy memories from that place – or flashbacks at least. Such a lovely vibe and variety of shows and they kept letting me back in, which is great.

These days.. I do like the Rosemount or the Swan Basement – due to the relaxed vibe there – nice and cosy – though it can be fun being up close and personal with everyone at the Hydey – not a big fan of the Amplifier due to the rock hard floor which gets uncomfortable on the feet –
I find you need several ales so you can’t feel your legs and all is well.

I also don’t mind the Fly By Night Club, plenty of space for everyone and I find the volume of the PA is quite often good on the tinnitus. Oh, and if you’re in Bunbury, you’ve gotta catch a gig at the Prince of Wales and make sure you get a room so you can entertain the fellow guests with your drunken anecdotes til all hours of the morning – they’ll love your witty banter and loud obnoxious voice!

Who are you favourite local bands and why?
Fuck eh – erm I like a lot of you – you’re like family! But seriously, I do dig the lads and ladies in Josivac – I’m a big fan of female vocals so two of them is a good thing – just some damn good songs that I’ll almost dance to.

Fourth Floor Collapse have gone to the big smoke now but I reckon Mike Miller has an awesome voice and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show that the boys didn’t put all their effort and enthusiasm into it, whether it’s me watching or 1000 others and me.

Sadly, a lot of bands I loved have died – Prickle, Proof, Closet Panic Sniveller, Swapmeat, Three
Orange Whips, Dirty Whittler, T-Cells, Epicine, Jessie Rider (i think? say it ain’t so!) and so on – cheers for the memories, lads and ladies!

PS Glenn Musto writes the best drunk singalong songs – they just go so well with beer!

What do you drink at gigs?
Beer is one of the five food groups as far as I’m concerned – Carlton Draught gives me happy flashbacks of vomitting in Melbourne so I tend to stick with that – but I’ll have whatever you’re having really – unless Swan Gold comes back from the dead, in which case, make mine a Jacks and Dry – the perfect way to sober up after a dozen or so beers – it makes me feel like Tom Waits, except without the talent.

What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen on stage?
Hmm – I was most amused the time that Epicine were playing at the Hydey and Gulio decided to walk along the bar whilst singing to us all, without missing a beat – nice work, son! I find the barflys at the Hydey are also most excellent for providing a larf – god bless you key lady!

Are there any new local bands you have discovered lately?
I hadn’t seen 11th he reaches london until the pines – I liked their variety of noise – and I saw Mochief for the first time the other day – I dig the frontman’s vocal style and use of effects pedals. Tomas Ford is an entertaining chap. Otherwise, I can’t think of any newies. If you’re a
newie, feel free to tell me to come to your gig, I’d love to.

July Editorial

Half the year is over already! There’s been some fun shows. At the moment I think the wami awards night stands out – in fact the whole wami festival was a highlight.

last night I went to the to the last next big thing heat at the swan (which ended in me banging my head on the beams when leaving. Ow!) . It was a fun night besides that. It was interesting to see a heavy band (Dyscord) get through with so many indie type bands playing on the night. Shows that any type of genre can get thru the heats at least. Of course people always whinge about these competitions don’t they? Just try and enjoy it for the music. Winning pfft. I will try to get a review up soon.

Sspeaking of which I must apologise to anyone who i’ve emailed about reviewing or interviewing and haven’t done so – I will try to get round to these tasks this month.

Coming up:
Snowman CD Review
Birds Of Tokyo CDReview (found the disc!)
Live Reviews
Usual Columns – Punter Profile/New Band Focus/Venue Feature etc

If anyone has any cds or shows they want reviewed send me an email at perthsounds@gmail.com .

10 Years of Jebediah: Part One 1995/96

Jebediah played their first show at Leeming Senior High School Ball in 1995. Which also happened to be my year 12 ball. The night was at the Sheraton and the band went on after the dj had played music after the dinner. After the first song by Jebediah, the previously full dance floor had cleared. There was no indicatiion then or during the night that the band would be signed to Sony within a year.

The first gig by the band was mainly covers – featuring such popular bands of the time as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Offspring, You Am I and Green Day. I’m pretty certain they got the gig through being friends with a member of the ball committee, as they were previous students of the school.

On the Monday after the ball, I can remember sitting round in Theatre class discussing the night with everyone including the teacher who said after hearing off many people’s disappointments that perhaps we ‘should have got slim jim and the fatts instead’. After grunge songs were the easiest to dance to (i can remember moshing to Nirvana and Pearl Jam in our tuxedos).

Jebediah played a few gigs over the next few months before entering the campus bands competition. I didn’t attend any of the performances but I can remember following their progress in Xpress and one theatre class someone brought in a recording of their campus band final from the radio.

I got a copy of the tape and listened to it a few times. It didn’t blow me away – mainly because the vocals which were irritating and very nasally. To me, Kevin showed better ability as an actor at the time (he starred in a production that year with Clinton Voss from Ship to Shore).

When you know the people in a band, you always take more notice and I think that was gave me the patience to look past the vocals and give the songs a go. So much that I was keen to see them live and besides that school ball – i’d never seen an original band play before.

My first original gig was an allages show that December at the Planet nightclub in North Perth. I wanted to see Ammonia as I had recently bought their mint 400 album. It just happened that Jebediah were supporting which was a bonus as I’d been giving that campus band tape a few listens. I liked ‘ferris wheel’ and ‘you’ the best.

Seeing the jebs I was quite disappointed – the music sound messy and the vocals reminded me alot of Green Day. Though I enjoyed Ammonia alot and the whole experience was fantastic – jsut watching how all the people reacted to the music. People could jump around or sing along. A step up from jsut listening to music on my walkman.

In 1996 the Jebs continued to rise in popularity. I began to get hooked on local music without even going to any shows (had no one to go with) and would read xpress weekly. There would always be reviews of Jebediah most of them positive.

A few months later Jebediah released their ep ‘Twitch’. I can remember walking into 78s and seeing in big writing ‘Attention Pop Freaks: The Jebediah EP is here.’ Of course out of curiousity I had a listen – three of the songs were the same as that campus bands set. Initially I wasn’t that impressed though later on I bought the ep. My favourites were again ‘Ferris Wheel’, ‘and ‘Tracksuit’.

I saw the band twice not long after the release – supporting two of my favourite bands of the time You Am I and silverchair. Both times were similar to previous Jebs live experiences I didn’t enjoy it as much. Sure they jumped around and the crowd was going crazy but kevin would go into green day mode and I would lose interest.

I’m sure they would have been stoked about the you am i support as it was Kevin who introduced me to this ‘great’ band called you am i at a theatre show a week the school ball. You Am I became my favourite band for quite a few years and were at the time of the show which was at Boans Warehouse in East Perth. It seems incredible now; 18 bucks for You Am I, Powderfinger and jebediah!

The silverchair show was at the Ent Centre and it was surreal being so far back and seeing the guys play on a massive stage in front of a huge crowd. I remember Chris sprinting to the front of the stage during one of the songs, obviously very excited about playing in such a large venue.

I couldn’t but help think of Kevin saying before the ball the year before about what covers they would play, ‘we’re not fucking playing any silverchair’ and here they were supporting them.

That year I was involved in organising a charity concert for world vision (held at St Mary’s in karrinyup) which was where I was to mext hear a Jebediah song live. By a bunch of 16 year old school kids covering ‘Smiler’!

Around that time there was a tv show called Recovery which i discovered one morning after watching rage only to see Jebediah opening the show with ‘Bennedict’ which I’d read in an xpress review ‘the best pop song written in Perth’ or words along those lines. The band was having all the fun – now TV. I was so jealous but happy for them at the same time.