Antiskeptic - Monuments

Mon 18th Sep, 2006 in Music Reviews

It’s been a long time between drinks for Melbourne trio Antiskeptic, with several years having passed since the release of their last album, 2003’s Aurora. Having struggled to replace bassist Sean Daly after his departure, Antiskeptic lost the momentum that had them on track to dominate Australia’s melodic rock scene.

In their absence, one-time support bands like Kisschasy and Gyroscope have enjoyed the success that Antiskeptic have always hinted at. Now, returning with a new EP/DVD combo, they’re looking to reclaim their mantle as Australia’s foremost rockers.

The ‘sound’ section kicks off with the hook-heavy ‘Dancing on the Inside’, a jerky rock gem with a killer sing-along chorus, demonstrating that guitarist/singer Andy Kitchen hasn’t lost his knack for sharply-sweet vocals and pop sensibilities. Mixing harmonised vocals with burning guitar riffs produces a sound with more edge than Kisschasy, and possessed of a lighter tone than the darker sound of bands like Gyroscope and Jimmy Eat World.

‘Selling Your Time’ takes a more languid approach, layering casual percussion and spaced, simple guitar lines through the verses to suit Kitchen’s vocals, building to more insistent riffs and harder sounds in the choruses. The meditative tone reflects the subject matter, a deft if not quite subtle questioning of the merits of work as the centre of a lifestyle.

The second half of the ‘sound’ section reflects the band’s Christian ethos, with closing track ‘Hallelujah’ (no relation to the song made famous by Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright) taking the form of a reflection on the role of faith. The song’s tone is suitably open and unpretentious, and almost prog-ishly long, clocking in at more than eight and a half minutes.

Though ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Hello Halo’ (the preceding track) deal with the band’s religious attitudes in an overt manner, there is no suggestion of proselytising or indoctrination. Both are genuine reflections of the importance of this subject in the minds’ and lives’ of the band members than any attempt to incite religious fervour by proxy.

The ‘vision’ component adds some novelty to the album, without really offering anything new. The in-studio clips of each song are interesting for a little while, and the ‘making-of’ doco will attract the attention of anyone interested in the recording process. The live footage might be worth a look for Antiskeptic fans, if only to offer a taste of what can be expected of the trio in a live setting.

The songs on this EP are tight, sharp and laden with pop and rock hooks, but it is really only a taster. Monuments is too short to satisfy, but this is not necessarily a bad thing: as the band seeks to emerge once more from the throng of sound-alikes, this disc is a tempting hint at their capabilities, with a ready-made radio single in ‘Dancing on the Inside’.