Upset The Rhythm

Green Child, The

Looks Familiar

Upset The Rhythm

***The Green Child has grown into four people. Originally the recording project of Raven Mahon (furniture maker and member of Grass Widow, Rocky) and Mikey Young (recording engineer and band member of Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Shutdown 66), The Green Child now boasts Shaun Gionis (of Boomgates ) on drums and Alex Macfarlane (who runs the excellent label Hobbies Galore) on guitar and synths. This invigorated quartet from Naarm/Melbourne began writing the group's third album Looks Familiar in 2023, working up demos in rehearsals, animated by having live drums present in their chameleonic sound. The Green Child still draws heavily on a refined psychedelic pop, with Raven's scenically measured vocal often shadowing the ebb and flow, but the energy of having four people in the room resulted in making the songs more upbeat.

Normil Hawaiians

Empires Into Sand

Upset The Rhythm

***Empires into Sand is the first album of new material from Normil Hawaiians in 40 years. The group first refined their sound during the early '80s, hitting on a pastoral experimentalism that drew on ambient drone, motorik impulse and post-punk pep. Empires into Sand came together in the familiar manner of their original three albums, with improvisation and nuance informing the blueprint of the tracks. It was with the official release of this last record Return of the Ranters (originally recorded in 1984/85, but then unconsciously shelved) in 2015 by Upset The Rhythm that led to the group reconnecting with the intention of playing music together again. The quaint weirdness of folk song, the humanity of communal practice and the group's ecological mindedness have all found a place in Normil Hawaiians' current sound world. Normil Hawaiians took their time to develop these threads at their own pace, allowing songs to mutate and settle over months. Simon Marchant deftly produced and recorded the album whilst also performing in the band, this marked the first time the band had total control of their own sound. Empires into Sand incorporates samples from old rehearsals and live music into the new finished pieces, this is in continuum with their previous records. Snippets of sound from the static of short-wave radio and satellite transmissions also embellish the work. In fact, the whole album is stitched together with interludes, creating an acutely immersive 45 minutes. The album's title is derived from a poem by band member...

Earth Ball

It's Yours

Upset The Rhythm

***Truly psychedelic and damaged, Wolf Eyes favourite new group. "I was [working at a call center] a few months and at the time I reconnected with John Brennan who I had played with briefly in Montreal at the Mutek Festival. In Montreal, John was running an experimental music night at a burrito shop downtown called Garbage Night. While in Vancouver I began connecting with the music scene there and would go hang out with the Shearing Pinx lads who I think lived with Sydney the bass player at the time... Fast forward to today. 2024... John asks if I'll sit in with Earth Ball and I keep thinking about Earth Balance, the vegan butter everyone eats here. I brought my aching bones and my IPads on the beautiful ferry named the Queen of Oak Bay and out to Nanaimo BC, home of the nanaimo bar... [W]hen Earth Ball fire up the amps in Izzy and Jer's basement you can hear the voices of the ghosts hum through electrical lines and out the speakers, Kellen's hued feedback, Izy's sturdy basslines, Jer's paperbag guitar tone and rumble pack zaps, Liam's (aka the Kid) sheets of sound and Brennen's multidirectional drums. You wouldn't guess Earth Ball was auto-composing and from what my rat brain can tell -- the lyrics are improvised too... Improvising lyrics and singing them is the hardest thing to do in all of music... Izzy and Jer are pros. And their attitudes are pro too. The live show is scorched...

Purnell, Brontez

Confirmed Bachelor

Upset The Rhythm

***Brontez Purnell has been making music since the '90s. The Southern-raised, Oakland-based American musician and writer has centered his queerness and Blackness in projects Gravy Train!!! and Younger Lovers as well as in his award-winning books 100 Boyfriends and Since I Laid My Burden Down. He is also a dancer, film maker and choreographer. Hot on the heels of recent 7" singles for Sub Pop, PPM, and his first solo electronic record No Jack Swing (Dark Entries/Papi Juice), Brontez returns in DIY-punk band formation for a new album entitled Confirmed Bachelor on Upset The Rhythm. These twelve songs presented are of the no-time-wasted variety. Fuzzed-out pop songs, hotly delivered from the heart, often sassy, sometimes sappy, always snappy! Brontez's band includes the multifaceted talents of Vice Cooler (who also produced and mixed the album), Sean Teves (of Younger Lovers) on drums, Kevin Preston ( Prima Donna , Green Day ) on guitar, Aaron Minton (Prima Donna) on piano and saxophone, and Laena Myers-Ionita on violin. The album was recorded in Los Angeles at The VCR earlier this year. Crystal clear vinyl.

Screensaver

Decent Shapes

Upset The Rhythm

***Melbourne/Naarm synth-punk five-piece Screensaver return with Decent Shapes, their second album. Decent Shapes is loaded with bubbling tension, a low grade but growing fever, a rising rage. The frustration is so tangible you can taste it. Detachment and dissociation become survivalist coping mechanisms. Thematically, Screensaver's latest offering finds them exploring existence on an ever-growing trash heap where we're desperate for the new, the nice and the shiny. A world where materialism reigns supreme and corporate niceties litter the public dialogue but behind closed doors the sentiment is warlike, total domination is the only answer to the bottom line. All of which is underpinned by the band's sonic sense of urgency and a commitment to creating a sound that taps into the mood and spirit of post-punk whilst also allowing space for new wave elements and electronic experiments to shine through. Decent Shapes was recorded and mixed by Julian Cue, who was also the recording engineer for Expressions of Interest. Defined by a kinetic energy, dynamic range and brooding atmosphere, the ten-track release comprises some tracks that were mainstays within the band's live shows—featuring in their US tour set-list—alongside others which were written later in the recording process. During the creation of Decent Shapes, the band also experimented with swapping instruments, allowing for different playing styles and song-writing approaches. Screensaver was formed in 2016 as a trans-Pacific project between Krystal Maynard (Bad Vision/ex-Polo) and Christopher Stephenson (Spray Paint/Exek).