“Treacle Toffee World” by Parsnip

Continuing with our theme of celebrating Melbourne musicians in lockdown who could probably do with a bit of Bandcamp download appreciation is pop-tastic Parsnip.  Parsnip released a 4 song 7″ EP called “Adding Up” in May and it’s a keeper. Here’s the scrumptious “Treacle Toffee World”:

“Treacle Toffee World” is a delightful contemporary re-imagining of the kind of whimsical psychedelia usually associated with Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, with a bit of The Creation‘s fuzzy guitar style thrown in for good measure. [post-script: it’s a cover of the b-side to UK psychedelic band Fire‘s first 1968 single… pays to read those Bandcamp release notes very carefully rather than skim-reading them as PopLib is prone to do.]e. 

Each of the songs on the EP takes a different approach to quirky rejuvenation of 1960s psychedelic garage pop, mixed with a bit of 80’s New Wave edge, all made from simple ingredients – guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and voices – and assembled with winning melodies and a bucket-load of off-kilter charm.

“Bubble Sword” by Hairband

Glasgow 5-piece Hairband -which features members of groups Spinning Coin, Breakfast Muff, Lush Purr and Kaputt – has just released a self-titled first 12″ EP last week. Here’s “Bubble Sword” from the EP –

When “Flying” by Hairband was featured on PopLib back in April the song came to notice via a charity fund-raiser compilation of music by an eclectic cast of Glasgow artists. “Flying” intrigued because of its unique style – that rare phenomena of something that sounds fresh and different while still indisputably part of the family tree of ‘pop music’.

Happily it was the advance rider of this 5 song 12″ EP, via their local Glasgow record shop label Monorail Music, released last week. The self-titled debut release from Hairband includes “Flying” and, as should be obvious from the wonderful “Bubble Sword” here, finds 4 more ways to bend the rock and pop ‘rules’ and delight.

“Bubble Sword” is constructed on restless post-punk funk bass and drums, with some avant-garde counter-point guitar patterns over top, emulating a re-purposed Afro-beat kind of rhythmic propulsion, then with a more straight forward noisy sing-a-long chorus.  It doesn’t sound like anything from the halcyon days of post-punk, but it does capture the possibilities of that era for music to go in multiple different directions – sometimes in the same song.

That rhythmic push and pull is at the musical heart of the EP. Each song is a different and distinct thing; related but separate musical events. Each song weaves and braids the band’s instrumentation and voices in different patterns of melody, tone and rhythm. Everything contributes to the whole, and more often than not the instrument that leaps out with something unexpected and audacious is one of the three guitar parts. Listen to “White Teeth” in particular for some sublime guitar interplay.

More than anything else the EP transmits the exploratory joy of a group of friends collaborating apparently without fear, and without self-imposed restrictions tying the music or playing to any particular style or genre. Whatever the chemistry or methodology is here, Hairband have clearly found something that works for them. And also, happily, for us as listeners.

“Form of Luxury” by Drahla

Here’s PopLib’s 4th send as a gift tip for the month – the sonic blast of Drahla’s “Form of Luxury” from their just-out “Third Article” EP.

“Form of Luxury” is from a one-sided 4 track 12″ (a half-album?) and, as with all things Drahla, the music bristles with intelligent menace, partly from the discordant sheet-lighting of the opening guitar fury, but later through the withering dead-eyed delivery of the lyrics by Luciel Brown.

“Form of Luxury” rumbles through twists and turns, the Leeds trio’s exploration of underground noise pop ebbing into reflective oddness before ending with more destructive guitar. It’s exhilarating.

Drahla’s “Third Article” EP is recommended to send as a gift to the discerning post-punk guitar-noise art-rock fan in your life.  It’s also available in LP format.