Melbourne’s indie music scene is continuing to reveal some hidden gems, with Lower Plenty, a supergroup of sorts made up of members of other local bands such as Deaf Wish, Total Control, UV Race and The Focus, the latest to catch our ear.
Now signed to Fire Records the band bills itself as “suburban country music” and on their second album Hard Rubbish it’s a tag they live up to, with a good dash of Allo Darlin’ and the obscure beat poetry of King Missile thrown into the mix. Recorded mainly around a kitchen table the jamming nature of the album gives it a nice, genuine feel and brings out some tender moments from Sarah Hayward’s soft vocals on the album’s more laid back tracks such as Grass and White Walls.
Al Montfort’s more spoken word style vocals are also a revelation, particularly on the album’s standout track Nullarbor with its shuffling drums and twinkling electric guitar.
Hard Rubbish was named best album of 2012 by Australia’s Mess + Noise showing the band are clearly building up a strong and influential following at home. There’s no reason why that can’t continue to build on that acclaim over here with its UK release this month.
8/10
by Joe Lepper
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