I was lucky enough to have a friend recommend these guys to me recently. They have an experimental quality that reminds me of The Liars but a sound that ultimately resembles alt rockers The Pixies. These guys aren’t for the faint of heart, following a trend that Tame Impala is ploughing into the mainstream: a sound that the vocals are a backup to the instruments rather than the other way around. It’s refreshing to say the least. The vocals of Jon Dwyer and Brigid Dawson are light and melodic, almost as if they were mimicking a string or wind instrument.
The EP starts off with Wax Face and Hang a Picture, two songs that sound almost too similar to be laid side by side with one another. So Nice has a steadier, stronger beat that sounds more like the beginning of the album, almost as if I dreamed the first two songs into existence. Floods New Light gets me cranking the volume immediately; it’s a throwback song with an easy sing-a-long. Pity its too damn short. I could listen to this song another ten more times in a row. The title track Putrifiers II has such a grungier feel that it could be mistaken for a lost Nirvana b-side, but the gorgeous light-as-a-feather vocal is a dead giveaway.
Then I am yanked back in time to a 1950’s diner on an acid trip, swaying near a jukebox smoking a cigarette, and everything is in a ridiculous vibrant technicolour. That is the feeling that Will We Be Scared? gives me. No I am not scared, not even a little bit. Wicked Park is the closing song and it makes mention of going to bed so many times that I am pretty sure it is a modern day lullaby.
I’ve read all about it on the blogs and I’ve watched on YouTube: these guys can really tear a stage apart. I have a sneaky suspicion that these are one of those bands that can make a good album, but to really ‘get’ their direction, you need to see it transpire for yourself. And so I begin the appeal to get these guys across the pacific ASAP. Solo tour or a festival I don’t care, just get them here. With an album as curious and magnetic as this one, I won’t have a hard time finding other fans to rally for my cause.
