Tour News - The Drones

 

In support of their thrilling new opus, I See Seaweed, Australia’s finest, The Drones, will be going for a trot around the country starting next Thursday night at the Spotted Cow in Toowoomba.

I once read a quote about front man, Gareth Liddiard, which goes like this:

“Gareth Liddiard could make going to the corner shop to buy a loaf of bread sound cataclysmic”.

In nutshell, this is spot on. I’ll say it now, If Gareth Liddiard isn’t one of the best songwriters to ever come out of this country then I’m missing something. In music, there’s no one more polemic when it comes to asking the big questions in this country. Nick Cave? More poetic, and if anything, has avoided topics pertaining to his homeland. Peter Garrett? I personally think he lacked the fire and brimstone that Liddiard has.  

I See Seaweed is a conquest. It’s The Drones at their ferocious best. Is it their best effort, thus far? Many will say yes. I’m not so sure. This band is a slow burner for me. Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies will Float by took a good six months to sink in on my watch, as did Gala Mill. ISS hit me straight up. Whether that’s anything to go by, again, time will tell. As it stands, it would be fair to say that it’s a close run thing.

The best review I’ve read of the album is over at Mess and Noise. Written by Kate Hennessy, I’d go as far to say it’s one of the best and most thought out album reviews I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Check it out here:

Also, Liddiard has given an insight into each song on the album in an interview with Faster Louder earlier this year. A lot of the time, I’m not so keen on artists doing this, as songs should be open to interpretation, however Liddiard being the master that he is doesn’t give the whole lot away in his answers; typical of the man, really. Check the interview out here.  

The Drones Tour Dates:

Thursday April 11 @ The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba

Friday April 12 @ The Tivoli, Brisbane
Saturday April 13 @ Tanks Art Centre, Edge Hill
Friday April 19 @ Astor Theatre Mt Lawley
Saturday April 20 @ The Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide
Friday April 26 @ The Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Saturday April 27 @ The Opera House, Sydney

By Simon K. 

 

Fan Boy Rant - Pissed Jeans

It’s refreshing when your own feelings are resonating within someone else’s art. It’s actually the best feeling you can have when listening to music, in my opinion. Pissed Jeans frontman, Matt Korvette, rips the words from the pits of his stomach and spits them in his listeners' faces. And what lovely saliva it is in the truest acerbic sense, too.

Waxing revulsion to stickmen families plastered on the back of cars, which infuriate the ‘perceived’ misery riddled primates of society (guilty as charged, folks), not to mention giving the two finger salute to systematic health plans, Pissed Jeans have rendered their finest work yet with Honeys. It’s raw, ruthless and bludgeoning. It’s stirring when the topics Korvette writes about really shouldn’t be. Pissed Jeans have basically taken the commonplace meanderings of day to day life and transformed it into the perfect art form.  It hits like the first beer the bearded chain-smoking blue collar worker sinks after enduring a day of carting scrap metal or the like. Ironically, Pissed Jeans have probably already written about that very dude, as such.

Not only is it great that Pissed Jeans hit the spot in every sense of the word. It’s great that people in high places have got what Allentown’s finest rock band has delivered. Pitchfork has nailed it in their review of Honeys. I’m not normally one to give a head nod to a quasi-mass music publication, but when something’s good, there's little ground in denying it. Plus, it further highlights the fact that you shouldn’t just take note of a review’s score without bothering to read the review itself. I know you people are out there! Check it out below, along with an interview with Korvette.

Honeys Review
Interview

By Simon K.