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This Melbourne three-piece have been around since March of '97. In this
short time they've played gigs at some of the towns most well known and
most popular venues, including The Tote, The Arthouse and The Public Bar.
They use a unique blend of guitar, bass, drums, trumpet and keyboard
to create their own kind of "experimental / improvisational acid metal
/ jazz fusion".
This self titled demo includes four tracks of reasonable quality sound,
with amazingly imaginative titles. The first track is "Pinecones From the
Grove of Clancy". Despite the title, I felt that this song was the low
point of the tape. The music sounds sloppy, and at times it seems like
they're making it all up as they go along.
This is followed by "Mating Ritual Of A Czechoslovakian Pubic Louse"
and "The Outsider". These two tracks are a lot better than the first. "Mating
Ritual" features some catchy tunes using different combinations of bass,
trumpet, drums and keyboards, but there is not enough variation and it
gets boring. "The Outsider" uses only the keyboard and, although it has
feeling, it also gets boring.
The high point of the tape for me was the fourth track, "Onan the Librarian".
This song offers the catchiest tune on the tape and is probably the only
song where you can hear the full musical potential of the band as a collective.
The talent of the three-piece flows out and all instruments are used to
create a long track with many variations and heaps of different catchy
tunes.
These guys are out there, and experimental is definitely the right
word to describe their style, if not an understatement. The tape is worth
a listen if you have a versitile taste in music. If you don't like it at
first it'll grow on you.
You can get a copy for free if you promise to listen to it and not
tape over it. All you have to do is contact the band by e-mail
or at this snail mail address:
Gonzo's MoonWomb
56 Kirby Street
Reservoir
Victoria, 3073
You can also check out the Gonzo's Moonwomb web page.
These guys describe their style as "Experimental and emotional melodic
rock" and this is probably an accurate categorisation, althought the experimental
part doesn't really seem to come out much on this tape.
Formed in April '96, the Perth based three-piece went through line-up
changes in January of this year and this three track demo is the first
recording of their current music.
The tape opens with an interesting recording of what sounds like the
captain of a plane that is flying into Munich, talking about conditions,
etc. It then moves onto the first track, "Kylee", which is the heaviest
track on the tape. The song has a good sound but doesn't make the best
opening track for the tape.
"Tongues" is the second track on the tape, this song explains why Bung
Orkid's music has been described as 'ear fellatio'. It starts off very
mellow and gives a sound that could be likened to that of Skunkhour. The
first part of the song continues along these lines, making great use of
the 'wah' pedal. From here the the song gets progressively heavier until
it ends, making you wish it hadn't.
The tape ends with a fairly straight-up, but catchy, rock tune called
"Wooden Love". All the lyrics on this tape seem to carry really strong
meaning, and the vocalist somehow sounds like he really feels everything
he is singing.
Anyone who likes fairly straight-up, clean rock should really enjoy
this tape. To get your very own copy, contact the band by e-mail
or at this snail-mail address:
13 Monash Avenue
Nedlands, WA
6009
You can also check out the Bung
OrkiD web page.
Lime is originally from England where, in the mid-eighties, he played
with a band called Catch. He has since moved to Melbourne and, within the
last fifteen months, he has returned to writing and recording as a solo
artist.
This is Lime's first solo release, a five track EP titled 'Ear Noise
Throat'. All instrumentation on the recording was done by Lime himself,
except the real drums which were done by the album's co-producer Simon
Ayton.
Lime's songs are incredible, consisting of strong drum beats with funky
bass lines, wonderfully smooth vocals, a slight tinge of blues guitar and
even at the start of track two, 'Living in Lower Frequencies', a heavy
metal sounding guitar intro. The only other performer I know of that I
would liken this guys tunes to is US artist, POE.
If you'd like a copy of the CD you can send a money order or cheque
made out to Lime Preserve for $12 + $2 p&h to: PO Box 1510 St Kilda
South Vic, 3182 You can also contact Lime by e-mail
or check out his web page.
