Bandcamp Wrap-up #2

A mix of free, pay-what-you-want and fixed price releases this time. They're all good, so have a listen to what grabs your fancy. Click through on the respective album art to see the full Bandcamp page with a nicer tracklisting.


Jordan Marson from Paint Your Golden Face / oceans, in his experimental indie pop guise. $5.

Moe Grizzly, noisy blues/rock trio. Really good. Fuzzy & Drones-eqsue. FREE.

Fantastic debut album from Naked. Lo-fi pop. Everett True wrote a few words about it. FREE.

A beautiful release from Transcription Of Organ Music. Pay what you want.

Ambient doom metal EP from M.0.1.0. on American label Sonoptik. $5.

Latest lounge-pop album from Anthony Rochester. Twee as anything. $5.

Slow, alternative-folk. 7-track debut album from bunny on digital and CD. $6 / $12.

Fan gushing on "Process Praise" by The Native Cats

Remember the Liverpool Street Bomb scare from last year? On that day I was walking through Elizabeth Street, earphones playing The Native Cats' Always On. There was this small moment where, approaching the corner of Liverpool, I was half-way through absent-mindedly singing 'Game Of Numbers' to myself. In particular, en route to Liverpool Street, I sung aloud: “have you ever seen an unexploded bomb before / how do you know / this isn't what it looks like?” I hope nobody heard me.

If you've followed this blog from its beginnings (and all its encompassing words and things and shit), or know me personally, then you've probably come to the conclusion that The Native Cats are one of my favourite bands. Call me a fan. The Native Cats is made up of two of my favourite Hobart artists, Julian Teakle (of Bad Luck Charms, The Frustrations) and Peter Escott (of... Peter Escott), but that isn't the reason they hold such an esteemed place in my mind/heart/ears. I don't think I even explored either the Frustrations or Peter Escott's solo guise until after discovering the Cats.

I think there is a definable reason for it, though. It's more than the hypnotic bass lines and propelling drum machine, or the lo-fi DS-10 squeals or whatever other musicals components. My admiration for the Cats can largely be attributed to front-man Peter Escott's lyrics and delivery. Escott's lyrics have always appeared as vague monuments; unsolved mysteries with these various clues hinting at something more. You can always feel the intention – in specific words and those sharp emphasises – but you can never unravel the full story. It's like there's venom pulsating below the surface, but the fangs are too short to reach whatever its reaching for. Probably for your throat. Ride the snake, baby.

The Native Cats - Dani Dani by Noise, Etc.

Process Praise is a step above the duo's debut. If Always On was the short-statured/high-reaching schizophrenic First child, then Process Praise is the moody art-school Second, dripping blood onto a canvas before hiding their wrists in a royal blue cotton jumper.

Some/most of the songs on Process Praise could be autobiographical, but you'd be darned to unpack it without all the little Escott-branded puzzle pieces, none of which you'll find in the package. Everything is so purposely cryptic. So obscured as to allow Escott to tell you his life stories, minus all the details, minus all the things that makes it his life story. It's what every private writer aspires to, isn't it? To give you the mood, the theme, the idea; without forfeiting a sense of safety? Interpretation can be more powerful than direct statement. Words guide, the music narrows the possible interpretations.

All throughout are scattered allusions to a past love; a terrible love. This is best seen in 'Dani Dani', a sequel of sorts to 7" single 'Catspaw'. On the knife's edge between brutal revenge and reserved spite, its the tale of a soured, oppressive romance. In parallel to these references to a past lover, this track could also been seen as a sketch of Escott's growth as both a person and a performer. At first he appears the sheepish victim of a tumultuous relationship, but the song traces his development into the confident, competent, vengeful character. Not a wrecking-ball of a man, but an intelligent and matured one. “No leathers,” Escott sings, “no colours / no tatts / no quiffs / just checked shirts and neat jeans / with worn knees / old time / 1993 / Australian suburban exoticness.”

The Liverpool Street bomb turned out to be a hoax. Unexploded because it never could explode. The Native Cats are always edging at something unexploded; poking an abstract mass of shrapnel. They're smart enough not to set it off. The Liverpool Street hoax turned out to be just a small orange and yellow box holding dud wiring and AA batteries, probably a cheap plastic nothing. Parts of Always On were this cheap Casiotone plastic – the extended indie-pop of “The Image Of Annie & Ivan” never did a whole lot for me. But Process Praise? There's a live, ticking bomb at its heart, thumping away in the drum patterns.

Conclusion: Sharp lyrical witticisms set to real minimalist/moodist electronic beauty. Treasure it. It sounds really good on vinyl.

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The Native Cats are launching Process Praise at the Grand Poobah in Hobart this Friday September 9, and at Skinny Geans #11 in Launceston this Saturday September 10. Both shows are a dual LP launch with the fantastic Adelaide via NZ trio Batrider, who launch Piles Of Lies. Listen to the title track below.

Process Praise is available from Tommy Gun Records in Hobart, select record stores around Australia and direct from Ride The Snake.


Batrider - Piles of Lies by Mess+Noise