Encouraging the crass costumery of the 80s fused with indie pop guitars and disco synth, the first time I saw World’s End Press I was a little confused. Sporting button ups, green bow ties and more than their fair share of hair gel, this tight little crew surely knew how to put on a stellar show. Supporting Metronomy in late 2010, the crowd at Oxford Art Factory formed into a giant gyrating molecule as the first few chords to ‘Only The Brave’ bounced off the walls. If only from the sheer congestion of the room, I could have sworn they were headlining.
Now with their EP, Faithful, these four boys from Melbourne have been teasing the tongues of everyone with their menagerie of house/dance tunes. Teamed up with producer Qua, the five-song EP guides you through a sweet musical heaven, one laced in neon, coherent percussion, cosmic and loud keyboard lines while lingering on some heady dream like metaphors. With a great front man in John Parkinson, the sound is clear,clean and simple, even still as they bounce from funk to pop forged disco.
If songs like, ‘Faithful’, ‘Only The Brave’ and ‘Long Live’ don’t get you going (though I don’t see how not) with their nouveau disco harmonies, progressive build-ups, echoes and British band – Happy Mondays, style rhythms, then surely their Pet Shop Boys cover of ‘West End Girls’ with it’s diced up vocals will have you bouncing around on your hind legs. The song to round out the EP is a double length remix of Faithful; pleasing in repetition and features a catchy keyboard solo backed with some neatly placed upbeat synth. It’ll all just leave you feeling light, impressed and for once, glad you revisited the 80s.
After recently playing the Falls festival, Southbound and on the Bill for St Jerome’s Laneway, Worlds End Press are due to release their first album with Love and Mercy Records. Until then, we dance.
