Australia was in the news a little this week. I had some Aussie (and one New Zealand) tunes gathered. Seemed like a good time to put them together with a classic from Down Under to form a very pleasing playlist.
“Never Start” – Middle Kids. I discovered their “Edge of Town” way back in the spring of last year. It was good enough to land in my year end favorites list. Just as the New Year arrived, I began hearing it on local radio and SiriusXM quite a bit. I love it when a new band gets some traction. They still don’t have a full-length release, but their debut EP is out in two weeks. This preview from it is quite good. I’m really excited about this group.
“Richard” – Nadia Reid. She landed on my ’16 favorites list as well. Top 10, no less! Her second album is out in March, and it looks to be every bit as good as her debut from last year. Oh, and she’s our New Zealander.
“French Press” – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. These lads nearly cracked the ’16 favorites list. But this song is way better than the several tracks of theirs I enjoyed last year. It’s classic, Aussie, jangle pop, clearly influenced by the band we’ll watch in a few minutes.
“Motherland” – Julia Jacklin. She also narrowly missed my ’16 favorites list. Her debut album Don’t Let The Kids Win was a stunner, especially for someone so young. That album had been tucked away for awhile, but this song popped up the other day and floored me once again. It’s just a beautiful piece of music.
https://youtu.be/oNNHEZzBDZk
“Bittersweet” – Hoodoo Gurus. Men at Work, Crowded House, Midnight Oil, and INXS were the face of Aussie music to the rest of the world in the 1980s. And although “Don’t Dream It’s Over” is my all-time favorite song, I think you can make an argument this was the best track to come from Oz back then. RBCF clearly listened to some of the Gurus when they were coming up. This song is so freaking great.