Badlanding – East Coast Low (Crankinhaus Records)

It’s been a decade since they formed and four years since East Coast Low hit their straps on the “Seas on Fire” album, and “Badlanding” shows a band that’s even more self-assured and in control. 

Is it coincidence that some of the best Australian albums of the last few years have come from satellite cities of Sydney? “Badlanding” proves that East Coast Low are as good as anything to have emerged from the grit-flecked city of Newcastle in the last 30 years.

“Badlanding” rocks hard but has an unmistakable swagger. With Rob Younger at the production helm, its varied collection of songs sounds powerful and coherent and there’s an array of sonic exclamation points apparent. Rick O’Neill’s mastering widens the soundscape nicely with no loss of edge.

Trauma Magnet – Van Ruin (Crankinhaus Records)

This is a searing debut album from a high-energy Sydney band with roots in the Northern Beaches. The influences are obvious but you’d be a mug to pigeonhole it as the work of another Radio Birdman rip-off (and let’s face it - Sydney’s had more than a few.) There’s depth to the songwriting on “Trauma Magnet”, a dash of pop and a fluid strength to the playing that belies the band being around for only about a year.

It would be a shock if there wasn’t a passing resemblance to the New Christs in songs like the full-throttle “Bury Me”, soaring video-single “Better Now” and ever-so country-tinged driving tune “Chrissie”. Big Al Creed was a member of one of that band’s most enduring line-ups and his distinctive tone and high-tensile guitar solos are all over “Trauma Magnet”. His clear-eyed production also scores a bullseye.

Shout It On The Mountain – Neverland Ranch Davidians (Heavy Medication Records)

Any band with a name that fucks with the memories of cult leaders Michael Jackson and David Koresh in equal measures has to have something going for it. Snappy nomenclature is one thing, but this Los Angeles outfit also has substance to back it up.

Neverland Ranch Davidians trade in scuzzy punk rock intertwined with funk and greasy R ‘n’ B. “Shout It On The Mountain” is their second long-player and it’s on Polish label Heavy Medication, a refuge for acts like The Primevals, Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, The Meatbeaters and Pat Todd.

Keep Moving – Xani (Live At Fight Night Records)  

It’s been a month since I saw Xani at The Recital Hall in Sydney, in support of John Cale. Those in attendance that I’ve spoken to were blown away by the lone figure on stage with her Irish jig footwork and extraordinary violin playing.

That night Xani produced a vast array of sounds from that tiny instrument. Of course, in a studio with multi-track recording, an artist doesn’t need the same level of complexity, timing and, in Xani’s case, looping. I suspect the songs in a studio setting came first and looping is a means of reproducing a wild tapestry of sounds when playing live. 

Revenge – Plastic Section (Chaputa Records)

If you ask us, “refinement” and “Rock and Roll” make strange bedfellows and Melbourne’s Plastic Section is a case in point. This retro trio is so out of kilter with 99.999 percent of the straight musical world that it hurts. And in a time where music is an ever debased commodity, that is very much a good thing.

Plastic Section take their lead from rockabilly, rough-edged R&B and ‘50s rock and roll. “Revenge” is their album nomenclature, but reverb is their religion and they worship at the altar of Link Wray.

It should be no surprise. The band’s lineage is in outfits like The Exotics, Wrong Turn, The Wraylettes, Wet Ones and Girl Monstar. They probably wouldn’t have existed over the course of a couple of albums and an EP in any Australian city other than Melbourne.    

LightHeavyWeight 3 - Jack Howard (self released)

If you don't know who Jack Howard is, I can only assume you are a newcomer to Australian music, and probably a newcomer to this website. For the benefit of the uninitiated, he played trumpet with Hunters & Collectors, toured the world with Midnight Oil as their multi-instrumentalist and has played with the likes of Rodriguez, The Violent Femmes, The Living End, You Am I, Tex Perkins and Kate Ceberano. 

So let's move straight away to the nitty-gritty. It's the music, it's the beat, it's the soul. Those are the only things that matter.