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marc scully

  • a chance to relax cvrA Chance To Relax…with The Smart Folk – The Smart Folk (self released)

    With a changing of the political guard in Australia, we’ve been assailed with talk about a new, genteel and respectful way of doing business in the Federal Parliament - as if none of the fuckers are going to revert to type and we won’t end up with the same shit-fight on our hands. It’s just as well that 90 percent of the population doesn’t give a rat’s arse.

    Rock and roll may be similarly set in its ways, but there are band chosing different pathways to tread. Sixties-derived pop with a jangling edge is where Sydney’s The Smart Folkchose to reside and they're making their mark in their own way.

    “A Chance To Relax…with The Smart Folk” is the latest EP from this band of ex-mod scene regulars and if it doesn’t wrap you in a stranglehold and impress with its urgency and energy, that’s fine. It’s mid-paced, obviously freakbeat-influenced guitar pop that has a warm charm – maybe more so than the records that have come before.

  • fowl weather vein cvrFowl Weather Vein – Fowl Weather Vein (Vi-Nil Records)

    The years 1978-82  produced the greatest explosion of music in the last century. Only the mid to late 1960s rivals it. Some called it New Wave, others came up with Post-Punk.

    Record companies were opening cheque books as fast as new labels arrived and there was the buzz of a DIY ethos. More importantly though, the period produced an artistic tidal wave surfed by one-hit wonders and more enduring artists whose music careers have continued for decades.  

    Consider the massive diversity of a crop that included Wire, Echo and The Bunnymen, Pere Ubu, The Fall, The Pop Group, XTC, The Cure, The Jam, Siouxie and The Banshees, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Gang of Four. There was also the rise of Ska. There were was no single blueprint or style, just an explosion of creativity.