Elle Skies - City

You might remember Elle Skies as the singer/songwriter from Melbourne who released her debut EP, Skyscraper back in 2006. Although it was a small, DIY, independent release, it provided Elle a strong foundation within the musical landscape, winning the then 19-year-old many accolades, including first prize in a UK-based songwriting competition.

Well, Elle now returns armed with the jaunty and rather lovely single City and a new EP to be released soon. Have a little look at the cute video clip, which was shot over a few hours on a warm Saturday afternoon in Melbourne; the part time-lapse/part stop-frame animation nicely depicting the spontaneity and youthful innocence of the song. 

You can keep up to date with all the good stuff that Elle has got going on by Liking her Facebook page.

Chet Faker - Thinking In Textures

Victoria Gottschalk casts her ears upon Chet Faker's EP and feels a bit sexy:

Upon listening to Chet Faker’s Thinking In Textures, I felt a mixture of love, loss and sexual frustation. I realise that’s a strange combination but as a YouTube user put it, Chet Faker’s music is “baby making music”. Pure and simple, the fusion of electronica soul combined with personal tales of romance and tragedy just make you want to combat that bottle of tequila and do some seriously naughty things. But instead of regretting your actions in the morning, just press play on Thinking In Textures and you’ve instantly got a reasonable explanation for the person in your bed and the scratch-marks on their back.

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Bridezilla return with new single

We've been raving about Bridezilla since the dawn of time. Well, actually since we first chanced upon them as a bunch of dorky-yet-seriously-fucking-cool teenagers playing at Candy's Apartment in King's Cross in 2006. Since that moment, we've basically bent the ear of anyone who would or wouldn't listen about the Sydney band's total awesomeness. So you might have been wondering what the heckins has happened to them lately. It has, after all, been a little quiet on the Bridezilla front.

Well, after gaining acclaim, touring Australia, the UK and the US and releasing an EP and an album, the five-piece have indeed been laying low for a couple of years and doing their own thang - indivdual music projects and the like. Drummer Josh is in the band Pear Shaped, vocalist Holiday has been doing all kinds of interesting solo stuff, as have Daisy, Millie and Pia. Now, however, a bit like The Avengers, they are ready to re-join forces and return with their brand new single, Snakes and Ladders.

We're told that the single is taken from a to-be-released EP. The idea that there is even more Bridezilla goodness to follow has got us a little weak at the knees. For now though, you'll have to make do with just the one track. Listen to it below, courtesy of our mates over at Mess and Noise.

Words and photo by Bobby Townsend.

Rooftop Runners – We Are Here EP and tour

Jonjon introduces us to Berlin-based Canadians, Rooftop Runners:

It isn’t easy being a new band or act, and it probably never will be. Touring small venues with tiny audiences in unfamiliar cities has to be, especially when starting out, a less than glamorous lifestyle. I caught Rooftop Runners in late January in their first London gig in a Camden venue with signed pictures of Madness and Amy Winehouse staring down from the walls. It was a chilly Monday night at the time of the year when London hibernates, when it’s a fight to get people to leave the comfort of the couch, or do anything really. Some bands may write off the experience and treat the performance as a rehearsal. I would if the audience numbered six people.

Rooftop Runners are thankfully professional. They’d spent the days handing out flyers and working hard to gain some recognition and an audience (never easy as Camden isn’t, despite its claims to the contrary, an inviting area for performers or audiences). They put a huge amount of energy into the show and despite the lack of atmosphere worked well with what they had.

One of the reasons they’re professional is because Rooftop Runners aren’t new to performing. Two Canadian brothers (Vancouver Island) based in Berlin (don’t hold that against them) having trained in dance and spent several years in Europe, they’re at ease with performance and attention or lack there-of. An empty venue on a weeknight in freezing London doesn’t worry them.

For an inexperienced band, their debut EP is relatively polished. Four tracks fly by with elements of indie and dance (with none of the associated negatives those terms used together may invoke). It isn’t going to set the world on fire immediately, but it is a great start. It’s difficult to judge a band on one EP but there is something interesting here and a great deal of energy when they perform live. If you get a chance to see them live, take it.

Words by Jonjon

Slugga Tee - Passages From The Puddle

From the Millennium Jazz stable comes Slugga Tee and his solo EP, Passages From The Puddle, Bobbysix's 25ThC gives his verdict:

Slugga Tee built up his name with an abundance of features throughout the years and was the frontman for 12” Matter, who you may remember achieved Hip Hop Single of the Week and 5 out of 5 Stars from DJ Magazine for their seminal track Sunshine Coast. Slugga now rolls with the Millenium Jazz Team and presents his first EP featuring six tracks as a free digital download (available from Millenium Jazz Music). 

Opener Same Old Struggle, featuring MC’s Gadget and ReggiiMental, charts the reality of everyday life in Britain today. It describes the lives of the single mum with a fake tan who “drinks through the pain till she blacks out” through to the kids who “roll with a trigger in tow”. On The Reunion, Slugga recounts attending a school reunion. The track is filled with funny lines but also tinged with sadness at how all of his peers have grown up and changed in ways that he would not have believed possible.


Elsewhere, Love and Hate is the very personal and heartfelt account of a loving relationship. At the start the union is so deep and tight and continues throughout the tragedy of a custody battle for his two young daughters. Then the mind games start and trust slips away until the relationship has to be ended. The chorus says it all, “I love to hate you and I hate to love you/but this is my thank you and this is my fuck you,” and the track is indicative of the EP's high standard, both lyrically and musically.

The EP is FREE and very good, so download it now!

Review by 25ThC

We Are The Birdcage - Two Left Feet

We Are The Birdcage are a folk duo from Sydney who deliver delicate tales of life’s afflictions and wonders. The pair’s acoustic music is laden with swirling harmonies and rich, yet simple arrangements.

Their new EP Little Father Time is a gentle introduction to the band; a player molded out of melodic discourse and honest intent. You can find We Are The Birdcage in their element when performing live, where they create beautiful, emotive moments that capture the imagination and soften the harshness of the daily grind. The first single from their EP Two Left Feet is a graceful reflection on peoples’ faults and the understanding that there are just some things in life that we must come to accept in others for the sake of our relationships.

Free download from Brooklyn's LUFF!

Brooklyn-based shoegaze/post-rock outfit LUFF amp up the support of their forthcoming EP with the release of its lead single, Through Here Like Our Fathers and you can grab it here for FREE!

The upcoming EP, Maybe It's Just Sleeping, will be unleashed by the band on their own imprint, Delicious Noise. Written in the aftermath of the tragic losses of vocalist / guitarist Sheila Sobolewski's mother to a fire and lead guitarist Robin Pickering's step-mother to suicide, the heavy themes in the record's lyrics are balanced by nimble, thoughtful arrangements and production. LUFF will continue to perform in their home base of NYC, while moving toward the release of their EP in April.

For now though, get your hands on the below single. And don't say we never give you anything.
 

Wintercoast - Home

 

Victoria Gottschalk introduces us to Wintercoast:

Having just listened to the EP from Vancouver's Wintercoast, I sense big things for this alternative folk six-piece. Similar to We Were Evergreen, Wintercoast bring a multitude of fresh and exciting ideas to the table. While the EP's opener, Yukon, proves that sometimes there might be a little too much going on within the music, As Time Flies By is a catchy tune that has the ability to transport the listener to grimy, underground venues and huge arenas at both the same time. It's easy to imagine this song being played in both - it’s that versatile. Meanwhile Home (a rough and ready live version of which can be heard/seen above) consists of astounding lyrics (“I’m not hungry anymore, I’ve been fed too many lies”). The strongest track is left until last though. The lyrics and music of Brittle Bones work so well together that it’s the perfect ending to a great EP. I’d recommend it if you like dance-y folk music. An odd genre perhaps, but Wintercoast do it well.

You can download the EP for free, here (or throw Wintercoast a few bones, if you're feeling nice).

San Cisco - Awkward

We really like Perth's San Cisco here a Bobbysix, so are stoked to share with you the first single and clip from their 2012 sophomore EP, Awkward. The EP's title track is a pop gem and is CATCHY AS HELL. Featuring the vocal talents of both Jordi Davieson and drummer Scarlett Stevens, it follows on from the success of their debut EP, Golden Revolver.

Featuring five tracks of indie pop goodness, their new EP is an eclectic mix of indie pop with dashes of rock and slashes of synth. Each member of the band brings a different influence to the table from their diverse and eclectic palate of indie, rap, hip-hop and jazz. Having already graced the stages of festivals Big Day Out, Laneway, Fuse and Big Sound as well as airwaves around the world including triple j, community radio in Australia, London's XFM station, college radio across the USA and Flux FM in Germany, San Cisco have impressed the hell out of us with the depth of their song-writing and their bright catchy hooks. Check out the above clip and then try to shift those da-da-da's from your head. It's impossible!

Kurt Vile releases delux edition album

Right in time for Kurt Vile’s first ever tour of Australia, his latest album Smoke Ring For My Halo has been released as a deluxe edition which comes with the additional EP So Out Of Reach. This EP features five unheard songs, recorded during the Smoke Ring For My Halo album sessions, plus a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Downbound Train. The EP will also be available as a stand-alone release on 12” vinyl.

Released earlier this year on Matador/Remote Control, Smoke Ring For My Halo is a true American psychedelic folk album, tender and evocative, elusive but companionable; tough in the gut and the arm but swollen in the chest and giddy in the head.

Over the past eighteen months Kurt Vile has toured with the likes of Sonic Youth, Panda Bear, Ariel Pink, Fucked Up, Dinosaur Jr, The National and Deerhunter. If you;re Australia-based, you can catch him for the first time this December at the following venues.

Saturday 3 December - The Bakery, Perth
Sunday 4 December - The Corner, Melbourne *SOLD OUT
Monday 5 December - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne *Just announced
Tuesday 6 December - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney *SOLD OUT
Wednesday 7 December - The Red Rattler, Sydney *Just announced
Thursday 8 December - Woodland, Brisbane
Friday 9 December - Meredith Music Festival, Victoria

goodbyemotel - Red Room and free EP download

As goodbyemotel release their new EP, Wish Your Way, recorded by legendary producer Julian Medelsohn (Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Page, Pet Shop Boys) and available to fans for FREE from the band's website, we thought we'd give you a little taste of their sound. So, check out the above clip and, if you like what you hear, then download away!

Who, you may ask, are goodbyemotel? Well they hail from Melbourne and you might have heard their music featured on TV show Gossip Girl. Three of their songs are also included in the new Australian feature film Summer Coda. Their debut album was released in September 2010. Three years in the making, it started out in a beach house on the Victorian Great Ocean Road and finished off at renowned Sing Sing studios in Melbourne. Right, that's the history lesson over. Hear them for yourself by scoring the free download.

Back To Aus!

So well connected are our team of intrepid writers, you may not even have noticed how BobbySix.com's headquarters have temporarily relocated from Sydney to England over the last few months.

While some of our team kept their figures on the pulse over in Australia, the hub of the operation headed over to Blighty and had fun building snowmen, reviewing The Great Escape, getting hot under the collar at Brighton Fashion Week and checking out plenty of UK artists and gigs. Now though, it's time to swing closed the gates of our English castle, pull up the draw-bridge and rejoin our friends at BobbySix Towers in Sydney.

The point of all this seemingly superfluous information... well, there might not be any posts for a coupla days, as we'll either be:

1. Waiting around at some anonymous-looking airport terminal.
2. Squeezed between two drunk Irish backpackers in Qantas economy seats, watching our eighth film in a row (we find it impossible to sleep on planes).
3. Recovering from our jet lag.

So, forgive us our lapse in bringing you all the usual shit. We'll be back soon.

We still have some excellent writers taking care of business over in England, so if you're a Brit and want your gig/album reviewed, then please let us know at the email address on the contact page.Similarly, if you are in Sydney and want Bobbysix at your show, wanna be interviewed, want us to hear your demo, or fancy making a video or something, then let us know.

A couple of Quiet Lights tracks for your listening pleasure

A while ago, we brought you a video from the rather beautiful Quiet Lights. Since then, the Brooklyn gang have been super busy writing and recording a new EP, (which you can get hold of here) and have also come up with a couple of fine new tracks for those cool kids over at the BEKO label, so we thought we'd share them with you. We're nice like that, you see. If you like what you hear, then why not follow them at facebook. I'm sure they'd really love that.

March by Quiet Lights
quiet lights_ st. thomas by beko dsl_

San Cisco - Girls Do Cry

Australia's San Cisco have just released their second single Girls Do Cry from their debut EP, Golden Revolver. Shot in NYC by an independent fashion design collective, the track's vintage-inspired clip was a lucky discovery. San Cisco drummer, Scarlett Stevens, uncovered the piece of footage by chance, posted on underground fashion blog, Cat Party. After introduction, clip co-director and slumber party beauty, Hannah Metz, thought the passage to be a perfect fit for Girls Do Cry.

The women seen in the video are all independent fashion designers themselves and, according to the press release, "There's an undeniable synergy between the splendour, strength and individuality of the small NY fashion collective and the liberated youthful abandon of this foursome of teens from Western Australia, that colours the Girls Do Cry collaboration."

And there we were thinking it was just a good song with an ace clip of cool chicks in their underwear. 

Follow Bobbysix at Facebook.

Giant Drag - Swan Song

Here are BobbySix.com, we're massive fans of Giant Drag. Indeed, when, nearly three years back, frontwoman Annie Hardy was trying to scrape enough money together to fund the recording of a new album without the clout of a label behind her, we put our hands in our pockets while also helping to spread the word. The album is on its way, but, in the interim, Hardy and her trusty drummer Micah Calabrese brought out the fan-funded Swan Song EP.

Considering Giant Drag's debut album - which hit shelves almost half-a-decade ago - contained perky post-grunge songs with titles such as Kevin Is Gay and You Fuck Like My Dad, the EP's title track is surprisingly ruminative and slow-paced, only bursting into life in its final third. That's not to say it isn't a strong start, as heavenly aahs soar over Hardy's distinctive guitar sound.

Next, Stuff To Live For is outstanding. Again, it starts slowly yet this time builds to the point where Hardy is belting out a throaty, visceral howl. As well as stretching her vocal in new directions, the song is epic, rousing, powerful and the perfect example of why Giant Drag have been so sorely missed during their absence. 

Perhaps the track that lands most closely to their brilliant debut, Hearts and Unicorns, is White Baby, as fuzzy grunge guitars combine with chunky riffs, sweet harmonies and a pop melody as Hardy tells us "I wanna have all your babies/White babies with you," with a sugar sweet vocal. It sounds like 1984 Madonna fronting Nirvana with The Ronettes as backing vocalists. Or something.

The four-track EP ends with a swerve ball in the form of a stripped-back love song featuring just Hardy's voice and an acoustic guitar. It's as tender, heartfelt a moment as we have ever heard from the usually flippant Annie Hardy and crowns a triumphant return that shows extra dimensions to the Giant Drag sound as well as further depth and maturity to their tone and lyrics. Swan Song EP is the perfect appetiser for the new album due for release later this year.

Review by Rob Townsend. Check out the live performance of Swan Song below:

Montpelier and Abbe May unleash new video clips

At BobbySix.com we're always keen to give a platform to Australian talent, so here are a couple of acts for your consideration:

Firstly, check out Montpelier's fine clip (above). Things have moved at lightning pace for the Brisbane four-piece in 2010. Amongst a hectic touring schedule surrounding their debut EP earlier this year, they have supported the likes of Frightened Rabbit and Biffy Clyro. This track is the first to be lifted from an upcoming EP due for release in April 2011, with the clip produced in paper stop-motion by Sydney filmmaker Paul Andrew Rhodes.

In contrast to Montpelier's animated offering, Abbe May's clip almost requires 3D glasses as it practically bursts out of the screen. Shot in Brooklyn with UK Director Zena Loxton, the clip cuts between the understated Abbe and three snake-hipped roller dancing chicks. The result = awesomeness. Anyhoo, if you like what you hear, then May has two albums and two EPs that you can wrap your ears around.

Cameras - EP

Having set tongues wagging with their excellent live shows around Sydney, Cameras release their debut EP, and it's an absolute winner. Their distinctive two-sided sound - with vocal duties alternating between Fraser Harvey and Eleanor Dunlop - creates an intense atmosphere that moves seamlessly from immediate to haunting.

After opener Polarise takes a dizzying journey through keys and Dunlop’s smoky vocal, the magnificent Defeatist builds and builds to an Arcade Fire-esque crescendo, with Harvey singing, “I’ve got a favour to ask but you’ve already done so much,” over guitars and an insistent drumbeat. If it doesn’t rouse your bones, then, frankly, there is something wrong with you. Similarly, Kreuzberg sees Fraser take centre stage, backed by some heavenly oohs and aahs from Dunlop, while the fuzzy, swaggering Mission sees Dunlop belt out a vocal that lands somewhere in the middle of Patti Smith and Cat Power.

This eponymous EP is a dazzling first offering from one of the most interesting and individual-sounding bands that Australia has to offer at the moment. Mark my words, you will be hearing a lot more from them in the future.