Wednesday

You Will Die Alone with Pets with Pets + Barrage
@ The Tote, 8pm, $5


The Wednesday residency at the Tote looks like the perfect slot for up and coming local bands at the moment. Little Red and Good Intentions have both previously played in this slot, while it's Spider Vomit's turn next month.

In September, You Will Die Alone are the lucky residents on Wednesdays at the Tote. A couple of months ago I praised their blistering debut EP, Duets, a triple treat of epic axe driven journeys through groundbreaking lo-fi indie rock territory. Think Built to Spill meeting Dinosaur Jr. Tonight they kick off the residency, and preview material from their forthcoming second E.P, Treasure Kingdom.

Disturbed 'n eerie drums 'n keys from Pets with Pets as support, along with the seriously talked up Barrage first up - don't miss him.



Mist and Sea with Pretty Boy Crossover
@ The Toff, 8pm, $10/$8

This is a nice, a really nice gig. We've talked up this semi-residency the last couple of weeks, so there's little more to say really. I wandered along last week and my impression of The Toff as a nice little venue wasn't altered. It wasn't packed, yet very comfortable semi-empty with tables 'n' chairs. This week's incestuous gig, with one band supporting both band members' other band (makes sense?) promises to suit the space nicely; a swirling mass of pretty sounds filling the room without blowing the roof off.



Thursday

Stop.Drop.Roll
Albert's Basement Fundraiser
It's So Fucking Great to Be Alive, Humansixbillion, Rainbow Brite, TeamYes!
@ Glasshouse, 8pm, $6


OK, so I'll come clean here. I really like what Albert's Basement do, sure; they've got their clever, whimsical little fingers in a whole lot of Melbourne's tastiest musical pies; I'll surely pick up the compilation they're fundraising for here. And TeamYes! are intriguing; their loopy, lyrical freak-folk is much more similar to the ultra-amazing Animal Collective than much on the Melbourne scene. Rainbow Brite's twee-drone is, similarly, really worthy of your attention. And It's So Fucking Great to Be Alive, apart from an evocative band name, do bent, heavy folk with aplomb.

Yeah, I'm sure they're all great.

But I'll come clean. The only reason this gig's here is because I've listened to a track called Gathering Steam about fifteen times in the last week, since I saw humansixbillion support Mist and Sea at The Toff. Peter Head's band blindsided me that night; but oh so well. Go to their website - they've been generous enough to give you, and me, a full EP; it's hyperbole to say it's one of the best releases I've heard this year but it's also true. It scratches all my indie-pop-folk itches, a little bit twee, a little bit rocking, a little bit just fucking ace. I'm not even writing any more. Just go there and listen and then go to this gig, OK?



Filla!!!
Little Red EP Launch with Spun Rivals + Carnation
@ Revolver, 8:30pm, $6

Coca Cola, Waiting, Lil' Jackie Cooper. Yep, by now, we've all seen them umpteen times so we can all sing along their material. Now's your chance to singalong on CD because Melbourne's favourite and funnest allboy doowopping harmony group are releasing their first EP. It's a UK release though (out through Parlophone spin-off, Regal Recordings), so it won't make it into stores. But if you're like me and not really keen on journeying across the River for this gig, I'm sure given their hectic gig schedule there'll be plenty of opportunities to pick up a copy at another show. Try the East on Saturday perhaps. Otherwise, a national tour with Art of Fighting is next on their agenda.



The Ned Collette Band (two sets)
@ The Edinburgh Castle


Pat wrote last week about ol' baby-face Collette, and I can only agree with his words. The new single, The Country With a Smile, is frankly stunning; the gorgeous, smooth seventies synth layered throughout is magic, yet kept restrained so it never wears out its welcome. The song far surpasses anything on his impressive yet kinda patchy and monotonal debut album.

And it's a whole different gig these days, to see Neddy with band as opposed to just with trusty loop pedal. They sounded sweet in that nice room upstairs at Gertrudes in their first public outing together, though they hadn't yet gelled, and I expect they're gonna be a fair bit smoother and more compelling with practice. He's gonna be back overseas soon enough; see him now while you can.



Friday

Talamere with Light Music Club + Look Bird! Lament
@ Afterdark, 8pm

All manner of low-key singer-songwriter stuff going on this night at the Afterdark, as befits its couches-and-beer feel and semi-suburban location. I don't know Look Bird! Lament, but their myspace stuff reveals some impressively assured low-key production under classic sad-bastard vocal stylings. Worth turning up on time for this one, I reckon.

And you definitely won't want to miss Light Music Club, in the middle slot. Zoe Jackson's semi-divine voice and clean-yet-not-disposable classically-tinged piano lines are worth stopping your conversation for. You're gonna have to listen to Song for Sunday and just try, try your hardest not to be charmed.

And at the nominal top of the bill, another charming female voice, though a completely different one. Talamere - Vic Roberts - has a breathy contralto and simple guitar lines that are much more than a simple sum of their parts would suggest, as with all real songwriters. She draws you straight into her morose, shadowy world and lets you out, begrudgingly, leaving a pleasing tinge of melancholy. Good fun, in a perverse way.



Saturday

The Small Knives album launch with Sly Hats
@ The Toff, 8:30pm, $10


The Small Knives are criminally underrated in this town. Straight up and down calm n gentle acoustic country pop it is, but they've a penchant not just to write a beautiful melody but a memorable hook as well. Top it off with Leo Mullins' voice which has great pitch and carry and you have the makings of one of the most accomplished bands in Melbourne. No on stage theatrics in their live show because, well, they all seem like pretty sensible guys, but Mullins is a passionate singer and their live sound is very tight.

This show is launching their second record, Smoke and Ribbons. While I'm yet to hear it, they did preview several of the new tracks in their support for Deloris a few weeks back. The rousing Hey can be found on their myspace, while another track sounded very Buckneresque.

Introverted DIY Calypso-ish pop from Sly Hats as the only support in his first trip back to Aus after a brief international tour.



Silver Ray album launch (2 sets) with Oliver Mann
@ NSC, 8:30pm, $12+bf

Luscious rich and rambling instrumental rockers Silver Ray are launching their fourth album tonight, Homes For Everyone. So far there's been almost universal praise for this record. While my final judgement of this record will unravel to myself after future listens, at this stage I can say that it is undoubtedly a pleasant and relaxing record with no shortage of beautiful compositions, and one that I can recommend.

Start off the evening in the company of operatically enhanced solo artist Oliver Mann.



Wireless Bollinger '10 Bands to Watch' Showcase with Downhills Home + Little Red + Hot Little Hands + Good Intentions + Oh Mercy
@ The East, 8:30pm, $12+bf

A few months back local e-mag Wireless Bollinger published a series entitled '10 Bands to Watch' where ten up and coming Australian indie artists were featured. Tonight, five bands featured in the series audition their credentials together in front of an always criticial Melbourne audience.

Despite the series' heavy Melbourne bias, and a couple of questionable selections amongst the group, as a whole they made some good choices, and the series was a very well written and interesting insight into the motivating forces driving these bands, and some of their key members. It was very surprising to read that Matt Kulesza, lead singer and songwriter of Good Intentions is only 20 years old!

Tonight Byrsdian/early Wilco influenced country rockers Downhills Home head the lineup, with poptacular percussiony goodness from Good Intentions and the effervescent Little Red amongst the great local lineup.



Shooting at Unarmed Men album launch with Actor/Model + A Friend of Mine + The Jacks
@ The Tote, 9pm, $12


Look, I have to say. I think Shooting at Unarmed Men are this year's My Disco, for me. Both bands are good, even great, in the live setting. They can hold a room and really tear up a stage; different methods to that end, admittedly, but with plenty of similarities in volume and intensity. But. Last year's My Disco album, Cancer, failed to impress me. It just didn't get that volume and intensity, sounding flat and empty on disc. And I think the same has happened to Shooting at Unarmed Men. Their new disc, Triptych, has frankly annoying packaging (three EPs for twelve tracks? why not one LP?) and seems to alternately grate and bore - sometimes, in a feat, both at the same time.

Look, that sounds a bit harsh, and that's why ya gotta go to this gig to prove me wrong. It really hasn't struck a chord with me but I'm probably wrong. Supports here are good: Actor/Model's synth-punk is very good onstage; A Friend of Mine do a really good job of melodifying their heavy riffs and subterranean groove; and I haven't really heard The Jacks but their pacy garage-rock promises good things. It will be a great gig; I'm just not yet certain about the album that causes it to exist.