Hot Bands in Perth !!!

STEPH FROM PERTH

Being involved with a number of local acts makes it hard to get out and see new bands regularly, because most of my time is spent focusing on my own roster. Which is a good thing, it means I'm doing my job. Plus, as we all know, the percentage of good new acts in comparison to the amount of new acts is stupidly low. However, here's an example of bright sparks and ones that should burn out as quickly as possible for the benefit of bettering the human race.

THE BLOODS

Picture this: your son is captain in the grand final for his A-league basketball team. They’re leading by one with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter and all they need to do is retain possession to win the first championship for the club in 74 years. Instead of playing it cool, he tries to be the hero – fakes past one defender, then the other and has a clear passage to the hoop. He goes up for the slam but doesn’t get enough air – the ball bashes itself against the rim, ricochets all the way to half court where a member of the opposite team whips it up court for the easy lay-up and the win. The moral of this story is that white men can't jump, and they can’t play punk reggae either.

www.myspace.com/tbloods

GENGHIS

Four-piece fronted by a female bass player than can belt it out with the best of them, playing catchy indie pop rock in the vein of The Breeders, coincidentally enough. And they do a Breeders cover too. Now while their influences are firmly on their sleeve, this isn't, thankfully, at detriment to the sound, merely a great reference point to build their own ideas from. These ideas are based around simple songwriting with killer hooks - guitar and vocal wise. The keep it simple, stupid notion works wonders here.

www.myspace.com/thebureauofperth

PANAMA

Band comps do sometimes pull the odd gem out of their arse, and this year’s Ampfest final was no exception. Panama came out of virtually nowhere to kick everyone in the face with their love of 70s retro – one of the guitarist dudes was wearing a Led Zep shirt… of course. Their vocalist was the highlight, and by highlight I mean holy shit, his set of pipes was amazing. With each band member around the 17 – 19 year old mark, it’ll be exciting to see where these guys progress to in the next couple of years.

www.myspace.com/thatpanamaband

Now speaking of 70s rock…

As with anything that becomes part of mainstream culture, electro clash and respective sub-terms/genres has very limited time left at the forefront of the public's consciousness. It's a welcome relief for many, myself included - I find these days that comfort is derived from consuming as much of the 60s/70s as possible, getting back to the heart and soul of music, and staying as far away from its antithesis, that which electro clash encompasses for me. It wasn't cool back in the 80s, and yet has become glorified beyond a joke. Big Brother Holding Company's 'Piece Of My Heart' speaks to me on so many levels.

So it's interesting these days to enter into debate about whether it'll be the 70's or the early 90's that makes a "return" and becomes the next mainstream fad. Either is welcome with open arms. I'm banking on our retro brother to steamroll drum machines and synthesisers before the end of this decade. Just look at some of the amazing releases that have reared their beautiful head in 2008 already - Black Mountain, The Raveonettes, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Warlocks, The Kills, The Black Hollies, Dead Meadow... dear cut and paste acts, put that in your pipe and smoke it.