The Silents - Things toLearn

Fri 11th Apr, 2008 in Music Reviews

There is so much new indie rock coming out of Aussie pubs and sound studios these days that I almost dread getting a debut album from a band I’ve never heard of. I mean, the standard of Australian rock has risen over the last few years, since the awful slump of the nineties, but there is still not that many real standouts popping their head above the trenches.

Well, hello, the fucking slump might have had a final nail in its coffin lid with The Silents’ first album release. Things To Learn reeks of classic Australian indie-rock. At times you can hear influences from bands as recent as The Vines and also comparisons to The Silents peers like the Chronics. You can even hear the white noise of The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Jesus and Mary Chain in some tracks.

But listening to this album you find yourself searching your mind for other the more allusive lessons The Silents have learnt. Suddenly local greats like Died Pretty and the Triffids spring to mind. The Silents still have a way to go to fill Ron Pino’s rather large winkle-pickers but, shit, rock – œheads’ like Pino and Brett Myer have taken years of hard-hitting performance to be moulded into the beasts you see now. The Silents though, have taken a few mighty strides with Things To Learn.

“This is our beginning,” says songwriter Lloyd Stowe. “Acknowledging the loss of our younger selves and the fading of anything innocent and child-like, this album captures time for us in song.” (thesilents.com.au) This quote, cut from their rather arty website, says it all. I don’t know if they’ve totally lost their innocence, maybe they should retain some of it, but the quote kinda shows where the band are aiming for at least. They are pushing for something more than the shallow rock – œn roll newcomer sound that tarnishes many of the pop-up bands that are coming up through the traps.

The Silents’ first album, to try and nail it down, is a diverse, deep, striving piece of work. The Silents don’t seem to be frightened to go to different corners to find their influences, but they haven’t been tempted down that try-hard, avant-garde road. They haven’t gone fucking bananas to cover their inexperience. They’ve just produced a bloody solid indie album that does a lot of justice to their pedigree. This one is certainly worth forking out a few bucks for. There’s a load of potential here.