If you wanted proof that Australia was founded as a convict colony, look no further than The Mischief. If Ned Kelly were alive today he’d be listening to these guys.
They describe their sound as “electrofuzzcountrypop”. That’s a bit of a mouthful, so let’s just say this: their sophomore Ep release will leave you wanting to down a quart of whiskey, grow a beard, don some oversized novelty armour and rob a string of banks up and down the frontier lines.
When they let loose, on tracks like Hollow Gold and Tony Wilson, you can’t help but get your head nodding along to their catchy riffs and unpretentious arrangements.
Self Made Sir is almost a pirate ditty and I dare anyone to listen and not want to swig rum and force traitors to walk the plank.
There are some more tender moments on tracks Let It Ride and If I Weren’t Here that conjure images of frontier farms dotted on a landscape of eucalypts, but it all adds to the impression that they’re here to steal from the limy British overlords and give at least some of it back to struggling settlers on the way. The Mischief never seem to take themselves too seriously, but that’s exactly what makes this record worth a listen. Escapism at its best.
