Les Nointers – Underneath Silence
People should live beside neighbours if they want to grow up to be upstanding members of society. The ones who grow up with nothing but land between them and the rest of the world can’t help but grow up differently. They end up poets, drunks, fishermen or all of the three. If they’re lucky, they stick to making their words ring out.
But there’s a burden that comes with it. And it’s not one that can be easily explained to others. That’s why the poets spend their whole lives self-analyzing how they got here. The mystery only deepens when the artists find themselves needing to go out and find others to try and decipher their work alongside them. These are the cult artists that mean so much to a small group of people.
Les Nointers’ “Underneath Silence” is poetic rock n’ roll seemingly made underneath the cover of darkness and while recalling an upbringing where nothing but the moon served as an acquaintance. Of course, the Australian group’s sound, and even the singer’s vocal phrasing, is heavily inspired by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. But this isn’t just an exercise in aping heroes. It’s taking that similar feeling of being deserted and making it sing.
David moore and the fachans – Hunger Pangs
When you really think about it, rock n’ roll and the pop-star-creating machine have really taken us for a ride. Little of it was ever real, even if we depended on it for honesty and inspiration every step of the way.
Ever since the whole racket started, the stars lied about themselves. They told stories about terrible upbringings when they grew up rich. They took credit for songs they didn’t write. For the most part, they changed their name, faces, and even accents in order to appeal to a larger segment of the audience.
Worst of all, they tried to make us forget about the real world. They didn’t do it because they were scared we would fall into a deep depression, either. They only knew they couldn’t sell to us unless we were drunk on songs about money, influence, and endless thrill-chasing.
David Moore and the Fachans are strikingly different, even in an indie-rock scene that officially praises empathy and honesty. “Hunger Pangs” sounds like the kind of indie tune that a group of London kids looking to party might make to impress people in the audience until you listen closely. It’s actually a song about homeless people, about those who have it worse than you. It’s not patronising either, or it’s easy to forget how the tune goes. David Moore and the Fachans do themselves proud here.