FL's April Playlist

Wed 6th Apr, 2011 in Features

Each week here at FasterLouder we listen to so much new music it is easy to lose track of it all. Beyond the piles of CDs, cassettes and seven inches that arrive on our desks every day or so, we are also out and about catching gigs, talking about music and, of course, reading the countless reviews submitted by our writers from all around Australia.

Often there is a tune or a gig which catches our eyes and ears that we really want to talk about , however, we don’t have an album to review or know enough about the band just yet to make something of it.

So we are starting a new monthly column called the FasterLouder Playlist, in which we will feature a handful of local bands from around the country that are making music and playing gigs that we think are a bit of alright. They could have played one gig or one hundred, but if we think they are a bit special and worth checking out, then we’ll be talking about them here.

IOWA

Iowa are a three-piece band from Melbourne that deal in reverb, dirty fuzz and lush psychedelic soundscapes. They marry growling, slacker vocals with sweet melodies filtered out through a distortion pedal, and in doing so sound a little like the rebellious progeny of the Jesus and Mary Chain and Dinosaur Jr.

Made up of Dylan Stewart, Matt Rooney and Jordan Barczak ( all of whom have played in their fair share of bands over the years) Iowa came screaming to our attention with the release of their debut Green Swirl 7” in May last year. They followed this recording up with the even more impressive Lose Yourself / Reasons Red 7” in November, which they launched at the Old Bar in Melbourne with an equally ferocious gig.

Both recordings were made with producer Jack Farley (Beaches, Love Of Diagrams) who has weaved his magic to ensure their sound is kept fresh and raw.

Having recently finished up a residency at Yah Yah’s in Melbourne the band is playing two gigs in Sydney this April to launch both their 7 inches – you can get more details from their website here. And you can even download both the recordings for free over at their Bandcamp page.

PEPPERCORN

Music doesn’t get much fresher than Sydney’s Peppercorn. A new project from ex-Red Rider Matt Chapman and fellow Sydney-siders Matt Byron and Luke de Zilva, Peppercorn played their first ever gig on April 1st supporting Papa Vs Pretty and the Last Dinosaurs at the Oxford Art Factory.

The three-piece uploaded their debut EP Wasted Summer to Bandcamp at the end of January, and for the last few weeks we haven’t been able to get their fresh indie-pop tunes out our heads. Tracks like Dreaming with its sweet hooks, soaring chorus and subtle nods to Teenage Fanclub seem like ready made festival-anthem fodder.

While it may take the band a while to fully translate such a lush sounding recording into a live setting they are certainly off to a good start. You can download their EP from Peppercorn’s bandcamp page.