The Leafs new single

Any of you who read my older post reviewing The Leafs from Melbourne, VIC, Australia, know how amazing that EP of theirs is, and the duo from down undah, Gus and Michael, have not been idle music-wise since releasing that killer EP, Space Elevator. Michael calls it their 'manifesto', and an intro to the forthcoming EP Come, Take My Hand, and I call it just plain EXCELLENT. Here is your invitation to listen to the new single I Wanna Be A Machine, in all its post-punk angst and glory. Complete with angular guitar, sharp drum beats, and Michael's awesome vocals and lyrics, the song rocks as only The Leafs can. Enjoy it folks, and watch for the video for this song, and the new EP, later this year.

The Leafs

The information I have on these guys is this: The Leafs is two guys, Michael and Gus, from Melbourne, AU, who were in other bands, but decided the styles were not for them, and subsequently chose to collaborate on an eight song EP called Space Elevator, in the style favored by Sic Alps: sometimes noisy, sometimes quiet, decidedly lo-fi. This style suits The Leafs to a TEE. The tracks of Space Elevator EP are brilliant. Perfectly executed in the garage rock tradition of simplicity with a sharp edge, any fan of lo-fi rock and roll owes it to himself to check out this music, and The Leafs are kindly giving it to us for FREE on their Band Camp page. The title track rocks out teetering on the edge of punk, but then, following tracks on the EP slow down the pace & creep along, elegantly. Fields and Fences rocks back into the groove again, closing song Waves the Size of Mountains is a poem set to acoustic guitar, again, simply elegant. Actually, I found out from the band, each song has a story behind it, all of them pretty damn cool. You can tell these guys are not new to making music, but I suppose with the style of The Leafs' sound, they have found their perfect niche, and I am thankful for the wise Aussie who turned me onto this. The songs are short, though, and the Space Elevator EP leaves me wanting more, much much more.

Watch the video made for the song Space Elevator (video made by Gus and thanks to the band for sharing this!):

The Leafs - Space Elevator from Gus Kemp on Vimeo.

The Silents

The Silents are a young four-piece band from Perth, Western Australia, formed around 2003, making music heavily influenced by The Beatles' psychedelic sound. Using a lot of jangly guitar riffs and garage rock-style choppy drums & rhythms, they released an album and two EPs with this style of retro, 60s-inspired sound. But their recent release, from earlier this year, called Sun A Buzz, sees The Silents taking quite an exploratory journey far above and beyond anything jangly and Beatles-inspired. This album is not only VERY psychedelic, it's highly creative and original, and completely engrossing (I can't stop listening). Many of the songs have a captivating swirl of sexy, evil vocals and guitars, and almost tribal drums. You can feel the concept at work here, a thread that weaves through the songs from start to finish, and this keeps your attention, as you get excited to hear where the song is going next. You can listen to four of the songs from Sun A Buzz on The Silents' MySpace player, and I suggest you do so NOW. Gone are the traits of their earlier recordings, which are fantastic in their own right, but left behind by the band to explore this fuller, richer, expansive psychedelic world of simply exquisite compositions. Please have a listen to The Silents, and enjoy it, my friends. I know you will.

An earlier song by The Silents, Nightcrawl:


The Snail, from Sun A Buzz: