Oct
9
Against - Loyalty and Betrayal
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In recent times hardcore as a genre has become a lot more mainstream and we have bands like Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen to thank for that. Against, a Brisbane four-piece who formed in 2001, are nothing like the previous names mentioned with their more traditional NYHC sound.
Against have just released their second full length album Loyalty and Betrayal. The album is based around an old-school styling with a metal-edge, drawing comparisons with bands like Raised Fist, Champion and Betrayed.
This is not a cd to put on in the background, it’s over way too fast for that.
At a shade over 22 minutes running time, Loyalty and Betrayal kicks into high gear straight away. There’s no time for messing around with stupid movie samples throughout the album, as is the thing to do in the genre, the breakdowns aren’t overly long and way too frequent, and hey there’s even some pretty well known guest vocalists with appearances from Scott Vogel and Nick Jett from Terror, as well as Roger Miret from Agnostic Front.
All in all this is a great release from Against with the highlights for me being Don’t Prey For Me, Kill Or Be Killed, and the title track Loyalty And Betrayal. This is a must have for those out there who prefer their hardcore a bit more traditional
Against are touring as part of the Sike Your Mind shows, as well as a handful of headlining shows on the east coast in October.
Oct
5
Kate Miller-Heidke at The Cambridge Hotel
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by Paul Apachee
I work here on the fringe of ‘the music business’. Due to the position I find myself in I am often underwhelmed by live music – being saturated in it leads to a kind of “go on, try an impress me” type attitude when I go to gigs, where even good bands make me feel like I should have stayed at home in bed – but occasionally I witness a performance that truly excites me again. And last night at the Cambridge was one of those nights.
Ok I had heard some of her tunes, and knew about the opera training so I knew what to expect. Well, I thought I knew what to expect. I wasn’t expecting such a rocking band. I wasn’t expecting to be seduced by a voice that caresses you softly & slaps you in the face at the same time. I wasn’t expecting a John Farnham cover that brought the house down. I wasn’t expecting to get goosepimples from the simple magnitude of a woman singing.
I must confess I have gone from a guy with a mild interest in her quirky tunes & operatic bosom to a fully fledged fan (while still retaining an interest in her bosom).
She’s good. And you can tell that she knows she is good. But there isn’t what I would call an arrogance to her. Sure there’s a bit of haute, but she’s not showing off in the way that a South American soccer player might. I think that maybe she’s showing off not for her own aggrandizement, but for ours. And she does it with a cute smile on her face with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Walking home from the show I had a thought that she didn’t sing like an angel. She sings like a fallen angel – on the surface all halos & white, but beneath it a mischievousness that does nothing if not make you adore her. And her taking the piss out of Idol & telling Marcia to shove it in song only serves to illustrate my point.
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