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Monday, February 5, 2018

Discoverer 161: new indie findings

Time for another look back to the last months of 2017 in our discoverer series. Because there was too much exciting music coming from our beloved Antipodes at the end of the year to let it slip it away, so here's a trio of Australian wonders for your listening pleasure! Again, let's go down under!

Jeremy Neale. A staple of the Brisbane music scene (still digging among his previous/other bands & collaborations, many finds as Velociraptor or Teen Sensations and reencounters like my beloved Go Violets!) Mr. Neale debuted under his own moniker in 2012 with 7" single 'Darlin'/Winter Was The Time', followed a year later with the EP-LP 'In Stranger Times'. Another EP, 'Let Me Go Out In Style', out in 2015 via Dot Dash, seemed to anticipate his first full release. But things got somewhat quiet, but fun (particularly on social media) with 'hits' such as the 'Man In Skivvy affair' in Google (just type that) of the Jeromeo single 'Party! (Everybody In My Neighbourhood)' while Mr. Neale was carefully crafting his next step. One that surfaced past November under the title of 'Getting the Team Back Together'. And, arguably, the most enjoyable and addictive record of 2017. Power-pop, 80's new romanticism, arresting low-light numbers, über-charming melodies and harmonies, and tons and tons of pop hooks.
  
The Stroppies. Jump to Melbourne to meet this recently assembled (2016?) superband with members (take a deep breath, this is almost like a music All-Star-Game selection from down under) of Dick Diver, Twerps, The Stevens and Blank Statements. Already excited, right? You should, because their first release, the self-titled minialbum out past May via Hobbies Galore as a tape (later on as a limited 12" thanks to Tough Love), and their follow-up, the EP 'It's a Hit' out in December, are just what you can imagine considering the aforementioned cast of wonders. Lo-fi production, jangling guitars, a fanfare organ, deadpan vocals, knockout yet quirky choruses, hide-and-seek melodies... and stunning tunes. Nun's flying, feelings sneaking. Is that sound, that magic sound, floating in the air again... 

Body Type. And we end in Sydney (via Perth) with this DIY female quartet formed in 2016, coming out with a first release later that year in the form of the mind-blowing 7" 'Ludlow / 264'. out via Our Golden Friend. Propelled by the success of the single (great video too), they have toured with the likes of Cate Le Bon, our dear The Coathangers and Dianas (which whom they share some sort of idiosyncrasy in their sound). A few more tunes have followed in 2017, such as the killer 'Silver'. Lo-fi, swooning dream-pop with an edge and wide sonic landscapes recalling DIIV, expectations couldn't be higher for their next move. The future is all theirs!

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