Neon - Dizziness

Mon 9th May, 2005 in Music Reviews

It’s fair to say that Melbourne three-piece Neon have a larger profile overseas than here. Let’s look at the stats, shall we? The band played the Aussie Invasion tour alongside The Vines, Jet and The Living End stateside, they’ve been recommended by NME who gave an earlier track single of the week honours, they’ve received airplay on high-profile British radio stations XFM and Radio One and they supported Sloan throughout the UK. Their British releases can be found on Transcopic, the label owned by Mr. Graham Coxon.

But back home, they’re still playing support to bands at the hot and sweaty Tote Hotel. It’s an odd paradigm, and one which seems to reflect that of The Vines, who had already exploded in the UK and had their pretty faces splashed across the front pages of music magazines before their first local headline shows (coincidentally, The Vines’ first Melbourne headliners, a three night stint at the Hi-Fi Bar, were supported by Jet and Neon – it’s all a bit incestuous, isn’t it?)

Thankfully, Dizziness is the track which just could break the band here: one of those near perfect pop songs that only come along once in a while. The power pop guitar blasts, harmony-laden chorus with perfect yelps from singer Josh Bitmead and slick production render it an MTV-friendly, Big Day Out moshpit anthem. B-side He’s A Whore, a Cheap Trick cover, provides a Breeders-esque rock blast before Million Suns slows the pace down, showing that the band can write a jangly acoustic-based song just as well as anyone.

With slick production, plans for the band’s forthcoming album to be released in the United States, Britain and Japan and the band’s photogenic appeal, Neon appear on the cusp of making it. It’s bizarre that Australia hasn’t caught on that much to this point, but you’ll be hearing the name Neon a lot more over the next twelve months. Get used to it.