My House – Mangelwurzel
There’s a No Doubt ska punk brattishness to the Melbourne sextet Mangelwurzel, but throw in some unpredictable syncopated rhythms and an anarchic art-school aesthetic and suddenly you have songs that crackle with danger. Take My House, three minutes of jazzy punk rock that constantly switches in tempo, risky stuff that avoids ever skidding completely out of control, and lots of fun. Mangelwurzel, by the way, is a German root vegetable. Watch the band play the Toff in Town, Melbourne, on 16 May to raise funds for the mixing, mastering and vinyl pressing of their nearly completed debut LP Gary.
Hold on Together – Jeremy Neale featuring Phoebe Imhoff
The Brisbane pop singer Jeremy Neale never quite sounds of his time. In Darlin’ he evokes 60s teen heartthrobs like Davy Jones, while as frontman of the indie band Velociraptor he nods to the Kinks and early 2000s garage rock. In Hold on Together, Neale is back in dreamboat mode, reviving the new romantic era with a lavish duet featuring Phoebe Imhoff. The video is a homage to this stilted 1983 clip of Mireille Mathieu and Patrick Duffy performing their song Together We’re Strong on a televised variety show. Catch him touring the east coast of Australia with first stop at Waywards in Sydney on 29 May.
Pool Room – Coda Conduct
A few months ago, Sydney-via-Canberra rap duo Coda Conduct took Seth Sentry to task for his stalker-vibe track The Waitress Song with a cutting musical response; they rapped from the perspective of the waitress, who hates this “arsehole dude” who “never speaks, just seems to watch me”. New song Pool Room, from their EP Butter Side Up, is a sparse hip-hop track with lots of playful ping-ponging back and forth between members Erica Mallet and Sally Coleman. Catch the pair playing with Thundamentals at the UC Refectory in Canberra on 15 May, after a Triple J Unearthed win that saw them bag a spot at Groovin the Moo.
Kill.I.Am – Hau
Australian hip-hop stalwart Hau Latukefu was best known as frontman for the Aria award-winning duo Koolism, but these days he’s travelling solo and releasing razor-sharp party starters like Kill.I.Am. His Football, Feasts & Funerals mixtape features plenty of familiar names in the world of Oz hip-hop, including Sensible J & Dutch (of Remi fame), Hilltop Hoods and Ta-Ku. Hau is also supporting Thundamentals for their aforementioned Canberra gig. He calls playing with the group “a trip”: “I used to see Tuke and the boys come through to the Koolism gigs when they were just teens.”
Golden – Szymon
The intricate and finely spun song Golden comes with carefully laid-down layers of guitar, bass, woodwind, drums, synths and other samples that click together like puzzle pieces. But it’s a song with a sad backstory. Back in 2008 its creator, Szymon Borzestowski, was a young singer and bedroom producer plugging away at his music in Newcastle. After battling depression, he ended his life at the still-tender age of 23. His family decided Szymon’s near-completed debut album Tigersapp should see the light of day. It’s due out later this year.
