Sarah Hamza

With today’s release of what has got to be the most anticipated album of the year; Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, somehow the masked duo have had time to squeeze in a pretty sweet fashion collab. The French music revolutionaries, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter have teamed up with no other than design powerhouse Saint Laurent (previously Yves Saint Laurent – YSL) to create a series of campaign shots for the design house.

The result is a set of super sexy, super sleek retro disco themed images that have us all grabbing for sequined le smoking jackets. It must be said, not many can pull off robot chic. Guy-Manuel and Thomas are a definite exception to the rule.

If you only do one thing today, make sure it’s download Random Access Memories – your ears will thank you. In the mean time, let your eyes feast on these:

Andy McCallum

Aside from a debut release, self-titling album is usually reserved for a bold stylistic statement. A self-titled record holds connotations of a definitive expression or a brazen new direction. Gallows third long play flirts with the idea of both, however ultimately fails to hit either of these marks, instead retreading familiar territory.

Continuously grinding against the grain, Gallows yet again have something to prove despite their previous establishment as England’s leading purveyors of hardcore punk. Having lost lead singer and founding member Frank Carter in the lead up to their latest release, Gallows are no longer standing on solid ground. With a voice and persona as strong as Carter gone, Gallows have respectably found their feet, with former Alexisonfire guitarist Wade Macneil stepping up to the microphone. However, while Macneil brings a fresh perspective to the line up, unfortunately the opportunity for evolution has not been seized. Gallows return with a sound forged from their previous releases, yet mostly lacking the venom that gave their preceding records such a vicious bite.

Gallows dissonant and visceral hardcore is streamlined for this release, as they encompass both of their previous albums distinctly different sounds into one. The result is beautifully discordant without the tinniness that plagues many of their contemporaries. This can be attributed to the kick of the album’s low end, and the guitars alternate between inharmonious screeches and filthy growls.

Macneil stakes his claim as a successor rather than an imitator as his guttural rasp foregrounds the cacophony of the band. Eerily similar to the bark of Fucked Up’s Damien Abraham, Macneil makes no point of treading on Carter’s toes and instead presents a departure from the Gallows trademark while still complimenting their established sound.

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Andy McCallum

Seriously, is there anyone Danny Brown hasn’t collaborated with yet? Brown crosses yet another producer off his list (one which seemingly includes just about every rapper and beat maker in the industry), as he steals the show on House Shoes’ latest single ‘Sweet’.

The omnipresent crackle of a vinyl record generates an old-school vibe as House Shoes lays down a punishing beat that’s raw as hell. Never letting you feel too comfortable, the low-fi kick aggressively forces its way through the track, so actively progressing the beat it threatens to overtake it. Stripped back and rugged, House Shoes’ production takes you back to a time when hip-hop was still dangerous and owned by the streets from which it was born.

The real appeal of this track however is The Hybrid himself. Brown’s flow is confrontational and thick with bravado as he boasts of how he ‘eats niggas like steak fries’. Brown hollers over the track with such conviction you’re forced to just get with it and ride the wave. Brown still spits with something to prove, and just when you think he’s peaked he drops another verse like this and you find yourself coming closer to proclaiming him the most exciting personality in modern rap. But not just yet. For now Brown’s own words describe this track best when he asks; ‘ain’t that some hoe ass shit?’ Indeed it is.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f18n-Nm0ag&w=640&h=360]

Andy McCallum

It’s Sunday morning, and you’re confronted with the morning sun across your face. You can barely muster the energy to roll out of bed, and you’ll be damned if you’re leaving the house. With what little energy you have you throw on a record, and before long you’re dancing and grooving all over the house without a care. If this is you on a Sunday morning, then Saskwatch may just be your new favourite band. The perfect marriage of laid-back vibes, bustling movement and emotional resonance, Leave It All Behind embodies the spirit of the weekend.

A nine-piece ensemble emerging from the local Melbourne scene, Saskwatch are a soul and R&B band taking cues from the classics and reinvigorating the genre with modern sensibilities. Smooth melodies, funky rhythms and a carefree jam atmosphere define their debut LP. While Saskwatch don’t make much headway in innovation of the genre, their song writing is tight and their execution is flawless as they flow through the various facets of their sound.

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Andy McCallum

Dan Deacon once described his music as being similar to a room of really cool six year olds getting together to write the most awesome music ever. That was seven years ago now, and thirty year old Deacon’s latest LP America still retains that feeling of unbridled joy and experimentation one would find amongst a group of six year olds, however with a sense of responsibility, experience, and dare I say it, maturity. A celebration that is aware of the fact that all good things come to an end, America’s ecstatic joy is often overcast with a sombre sense of the inevitable end.

Deacon’s trademark wall of glitched electronic sound returns on America, however the most immediate difference between this album and its predecessors is Deacon’s expanded use of actual instrumentation, rather than digital counterparts. Deacon’s willingness to record live instruments gives this album an enormous sound and the timbre of each instrument is vibrant and unique, breathing life into the album. While America is definitely an album to get up and dance to, Deacon’s experimental sound inspires thought, with intricately layered tracks where sounds combine, clash, dance around each other and ultimately harmonise into a sum much larger than it’s parts. Each track is an explosion of colour, with dozens of layers of sounds that range of the blips of a computer to entire string sections. Vocals are minimal; however do appear in the form of heavily manipulated and distorted melodies. The effects allow Deacon’s voice to remain distinctive, yet still compliment the rest of the track rather than compete for attention.

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by Dave Macindoe

Devon is a cold and dreary place in the south of England, sitting uncomfortably close to Cornwall. However, Devon does  have a solitary ray of sunshine to brighten its generally bleak existence. That ray of sunshine is the phenomenally talented singer-songwriter Cosmo Jarvis.

The Bucket’s faithful correspondent, yours truly, recently braved the horrors associated with attending the East Brunswick Club in order to experience this 22 year old’s talent first hand. Not even a venue as terrible as that could suppress Cosmo and his supporting band’s special brand of Alternative rock.

His sound is characterised by a mixture of his self-satirical autobiographical lyrics as well as his ability to play several different instruments. Cosmo shows aptitude playing anything from the guitar to the mandolin or from the ukulele to the recorder. His biggest hit so far has been Gay Pirates, a ballad about the troubles faced by homosexual buccaneers on the high seas. The heterosexual Jarvis was prompted to write this song after realising there were no pop songs about homosexual love stories.

Cosmo Jarvis is nothing if not prolific. At 22, he is on the verge of releasing his third studio album, titled Think Bigger. Humasyouhitch/Sonofabitch, Cosmo’s debut double album, came out back in 2009 and was a compilation of some of the best of the hundreds of songs he had already written at that early stage. Last year, the world was treated to Is the World Strange or Am I Strange?, an album that showcased the depth of this artist by way of providing both catchy pop songs as well as some longer ballads. Continue Reading

by Dave Macindoe

A new band from London demands to have its name yelled, and not only because it’s written in all capitals and is concluded by an exclamation mark. CITIZENS! are an alternative electronica band one day away from releasing their debut album, Here We Are.

This British 5-piece was recently signed to French label, Kitsuné and their new album is being produced by Alex Kapranos, one of the guys from Franz Ferdinad. Kapranos’s influence can definitely be felt on their funky tracks that could well remind you of David Bowie. They use synth so liberally you start to worry that they’re actually going to open a portal back to the eighties. But unlike the eighties, Citizens! don’t suck. For a young bunch of guys, they’re doing remarkably well on their mission to reclaim pop from the likes of soulless industry manufactured One Direction.

These guys are so indie it hurts at times. You can actually feel the ironic moustache start to grow on your upper lip while seeing them perform their infectious tunes. The video clips for all of their songs are a delight too, either featuring them playing on the dark rooftops of London, or, in the case of their new single True Romance, telling a narrative involving a hunchback puppeteer who abducts people to use in lieu of puppets (no, really. Stop reading this right now and go watch it- don’t worry this article will still be here when you get back).
Editor’s Note: The Bucket’s official favourite True Romance clip is this one.

Here We Are comes out on the 28th of May, if you want to fit in around Fitzroy, you’d do well to pick it up.

by Andy McCallum

Album Review:
Death Grips – The Money Store

Capitalising on the hype that followed their 2011 mix tape, Ex-Military, Sacramento based hip-hop outfit Death Grips dropped their debut studio album, The Money Store April 21^st of this year. A relentless assault that threatens to derail itself at any moment, The Money Store is a dissonant, vital and visceral soundscape that is destined to polarize. Anything but your typical hip-hop record, the beats on The Money Store’s lie somewhere in the void between industrial, noise and electronic as the production evokes a sense of unease with a corroded and bass-heavy attack. After their sample heavy debut, The Money Store’s completely original beats are a refreshing change of pace that asserts the band’s raw and abrasive approach to hip-hop.

Zach Hill’s chaotic drumming thrusts Death Grips’ energy much of the album with his trademark technical yet trashy style is thrown to the forefront in tracks such as Fever (Aye, Aye) and Get Got where he is unleashed upon the track like a ravenous beast.

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by Dave Macindoe

Coming off the back of winning Triple J’s competition for unsigned young musicians, Unearthed High, Stonefield have begun to successfully make their mark on the Australian Rock scene. This group of four sisters from country

Victoria bring a refreshing spin on classic rock. Stonefield’s sound is characterised by incendiary riffs and screeching vocals. Pleasingly for unappreciated drummers the world over, the band’s leading lady and vocalist, Amy Findlay, is sat in pride of place behind the kit.

On first hearing Stonefield’s most popular track, Through The Clover, I caught myself thinking “these guys sound like Led Zeppelin,” which is a compliment comparable to remarking that a young basketball player’s skills are reminiscent of Michael Jordan. Continue Reading

by Will Sommers

32 years after the release of his first number one album The River, “The Boss” once again topped the charts with his new album Wrecking Ball. The evident commercial success of this album can be attributed to Springsteen’s prowess as a master storyteller. The standout tracks are; We Take Care of Our Own, This Depression, Wrecking Ball, and Land of Hope and Dreams, the latter two containing the last recorded sax solos from the late Clarence Clemons, the soul of Bruce’s long time recording partners, The E Street Band. Continue Reading