The Observatory
Blank Walls
[self-released]

by bbob

The best music always brings you away from the everyday and sets you down somewhere.

'Acid Pills' conjures those long moody rides on the public bus at the window seats, with the shadows of elongated trees, people, shapes reflected on your mind's surface. "Give me hope, take me home" sings the thin man-voice who beckons the bus on its forever journey, as that feeling wells up slowly, in pace and in rhythm with the soft rambling of the seat. And it overwhelms you too, spent and dried, the eyes the long abandoned domain of tiny tears.

Stuck in the heat of blind copulation, 'Olives' pounds like the throbbing sweat of the male partner. Four minutes in, bass drum pounds like the animal rhythm in his blind passion. A figure lost in the fucked-up self hate and everyday impotence, you escape by accepting, you feel to un-feel. His pounding not an escape but the box he can never escape, "...we always win...thieves will now be kings..."

Turn the knob and let it drip, the shower a warm veil for that face you won't want to see and glad that the mirror's not in here. The water never seems to soothe anymore but the key that locks you in and makes you feel "you're never free here". 'I Didn't See Her' the elusive tune in your water drenched head, you humming it as its vibe-haunted tune echoes that clutched chest of grief.

'Strength From The Sun' that in-between mood when lying on the lonely bed, its incessant chords drifting in like the television sound from that distant room. Strange that feeling of wanting to go back and get it right, the deadend feeling of helplessness. But it makes sense of course, you always think, but I just don't want it to.

...and you are cast to the album's end, still held captive in a mood where the tension never lets up and those scenes flow like memories you can't, and don't let go of.

Rushed
Not Easy With Words
[self-released]

by The Toneknobber

Lean back and relax. Breathe.

Those would be the most befitting set of instructions to anyone listening to Rushed's Not Easy With Words. From start to end, the three-track EP sets you on a space trip with no return flight. Lightly picked electric guitar put to drive with reverb, overlayed with acoustic guitar and hypnotic vocals, it's a pity Rushed didn't get to us any sooner. Oh well, better late than never, they say.

From its title track 'Not Easy With Words', you know the key word is: Easy. The song takes flight drifting along with its haunting chorus and chugging drum line. Then there is the jangly pop-rock offering of 'Careless Town'. With its whiny sing-a-long feel, it sounds remarkably like a Billy Corgan prodigy at some stage of metamorphosis. But still, the tracks are all slow paced and easy to listen to. No fancy guitar solos, no sound barrier breaching squeels and no John Bonham-style drum maniacism.

This is something refreshing and something original that is not trying hard to be something else. By the third track, you'll be pinning for more and Rushed probably figured it would happen. So, they put in a hidden track (which leads in about two minutes after the third track ends). On it, the title track gets instrumentalised and given an electronic feel with drum machines riding on a new wave feel. For a debut EP this good, one can only wait patiently for its full-length album.

The Model Lipstiques
Avenging Cleopetra Wong
[self-released]

by The Toneknobber

Surf rock makes a comeback with the debut EP of The Model Lipstiques paying tribute to a superspy lady of the 1970s silver screen who even inspired Quentin Tarrantino. The Model Lipstiques, however, probably wouldn't have the same effect on the Pulp Fiction director.

Strained vocals guide a tired and tried sound of the local indie scene circa 1970. However, with catchy surf tunes and "taking-the-piss-out-of-songtitles" song titles like 'Classic Jones Fightback' and 'Polkadotted Revenge', it strikes a groove and keeps its listeners' ears perked, if only long enough to see just how crazy these guys are out to make themselves to be.

The title track, 'Avenging Cleopatra Wong', is possibly this EP's gem. With its Dick Dale's 'Pipeline' feel intro and Austin-Powers-kind-of-dangerous-ly serious chorus line, it's hard not to sit up and listen. Unfortunately, its jarringly strained vocals takes its toll and stick out like a whore in church. That coupled with nonsensical lyrics like "Bionic boy, cowabunga'', it's pretty hard to tell if these boys are really out for murder or out for a day at the beach.

The Last Transmission
Neon Nothingness
[self-released]

by Lumpy

To start things off, I would like to mention that the cover art on this album looks very appealing and is suggestive of the many great things that might be found inside the CD. Track titles looked decent enough without any of those sardonic 'rip my bleeding heart out' emo tendencies, which can be a bit annoying at times if you are not in the mood. My only gripe, in terms of appearance and packaging is the lack of lyrics because The Last Transmission look like they are smart enough to write cerebral lyrics that actually matter and are worth checking out so yes, lyrics would complete the whole package.

Now that we're done with the superficial, it's on to the music. The opener, a very very promising post rockish number that leads nicely to what I consider to be one of the more catchy songs on the album, 'Out of Friends'. Diva-esque singing punctuated with some lingering falsettos present in this track as well as in the many tracks that follow. The Last Transmission throw out a lot of nice ideas into the mix but somehow lack that killer hook or chorus or that one factor that would simply transform a good idea into greatness. But having said that, it does not take away from the fact that whatever they have is already enjoyable by itself. The title track 'Neon Nothingness' is a very good example, with verse bits so catchy they signal the beginning of the perfect pop package, only to be let down by incoherent musical ideas on the chorus parts.

Production wise, it isn't really heavy handed but casual sounding, like someone went into a room that the band was playing in, set up some recording gear and recorded it there and then, which works in a way for the band's ambient epic feel, and the reason why local releases are so endearing. If you are expecting clean compressed sounds, pristine vocals, pin-sharp accurate time signatures, audiophile quality recording then this isn't the cd to hear it on, although the recording is nonetheless above average by my standards and very listenable.

The bonus tracks are the exception though, probably because they were not recorded at the same time and place. I wouldn't have minded if the rest of the tracks on the album were recorded like the bonus tracks because at least the drums are more accurately articulated there, and I did detect a hint of double bass yumminess on some album tracks, which would have been made yummier if the drums were pushed forward in the mix.

Overall, The Last Transmission's brand of alternative post-rock tinged ambient epic rock, with its arsenal of textured effects, synthesizers and sampling blended in with the traditional, sits very well with my musical palate and I have to say this album is highly enjoyable especially if you let it sit in after a few listens. If I had to be very accurate, I would give this album a 3.75/5 star rating. It is more parts indie than straight up rock and roll so don't be expecting to sprain your neck with excessive head banging.

Marigold
My Infinate Sadness And Your Smile To Make Me Happy
[self-released]

by Lounge Lizard

The album cover and title betray the band's immediate influences: Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead. Interestingly, the intro piece, while taking a cue from The Pumpkins' title track off Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness, sounds more like Malaysian post-rock outfit furniture's title track off its debut Twilight Chases The Sun. Hmmmm, I'm seeing a pattern here...

The quartet dive into the second track 'The Hindu-Dance', that cranks up the blistering metal-like distortion. Lead singer Yuszal croons monotonously over the cacophony, anchored by a cheesy Casiotone-like keyboard. While the effect is rather disconcerting, Marigold tries to differentiate itself from its contemporaries in the alternative rock circuit. However, it goes wrong after they end the tune with a standard Pumpkins-style outro.

Interestingly, the Ash-soundalikes 'Let It Load', 'Love-In-Love' and 'Evermine' sound the best when Yuszal aims for the sweet pop melodies, laced with yet more distortion circa the Brit-pop wave of the mid-90s.

However, the faux pas of the album must lie in the instrumental 'The Russian Cracker 2002' which finds the band trying to recreate 'The Nutcracker Suite' in a band format, complete with Maksim's style of playing and Muse's over-the-top panache. Thankfully, the instrumental '...And Your Smile To Make Me Happy' keeps it short and sweet with a vibraphone-like melody.

Displaying a healthy sense of melodrama and ambition, the band releases an album which can be considered a concept album. With little musical passages, which link the songs together, Yuszal's lyrics evolve around the subject of unrequited love and strangely, old Nintendo games, specifically Zelda. Well, at the very least, it makes an interesting subject topic for a concept album.

While Marigold displays moments of brilliance, the odd stabs at weird humour comes up cold and flaccid. For example, 'Spacegolf' comes with a riff blatantly ripped off from Metallica's 'Master of Puppets'. It's these moments that let this listener down. Sad but true, indeed.