Wait ‘Til The Summer Comes b/w Tonight Tonight Tonight - Little Murders (Off The Hip)

The formula is as simple as it is timeless: Verse-chorus-chorus. Melody lines and a hook or two. Melbourne’s Little Murders have it down pat and this 45 is another object lesson in powerpop.

“Wait ‘Til The Summer Comes” is the tough pop rocker, “Tonight…” its lighter reflection. The former swoops early and replicates its own melody line in a short but effective blaze of guitars. Rob Griffiths’ agreeably distinctive vocal suits the song’s summery mood. And it is always summer, somewhere around the world.

Flip it over and “Tonight Tonight Tonight” is a simpler but no less catchy gem. Griffiths and lead guitarist Rod Hayward do a little sparring the song kicks back into its chorus. Hayward takes it out. Finito. Simple and effective.

Bonus: Buy the vinyl single and you’re gifted another four digital tracks. An easy call, really.

    3/4

Buy it 

Almost Dead In Hollywood b/w La Dolce Vita – The Fiction (Off The Hip)

The glam-punk “Almost Dead In Hollywood” has a momentum that belies a reality that The Fiction are superannuants who originally convened as a band in Meloburne way back in 1978. Rob Griffiths spits out a word salad about a huge and hazy night before leading us it into a gold-plated singalong chorus. High tension guitars from Rusty Teluk and Rob Wellington are barbs on the end of the hook. Bait taken.

The B side is an ode to a neighbourhood sexpot and if they remake the movie of the same name, it should be on the soundtrack. A nagging guitar line and a bubbling bass-line propel “La Dolce Vita” forward with a relentless but melodic punk urgency. The throaty guitar solo that punctuates the song towards the end of its two-minute lifespan is a cool touch.

Snap it up without hesitation here.

    3/4

You're Not What I'm Looking For - Flowers for Jayne (Glowing Ember Records)

So what is it? "You're Not What I'm Looking For" is classic tough power pop with a dead-set groove you can light a fire with.

So. I know nothing about Flowers from Jayne except the name and the members have "form", as The Truth newspaper used to say of "colourful racing identities". Lead guitarist Jayne Murphy played in the Lime Spiders (presumably there are one or two similarly "colourful" stories to be told there), bass player Bill Gibson is a familiar figure from The Eastern Dark, and drummer Jess Ciampa can boast being in the Jeff Duff Band and Monsieur Camembert. 

These folks know what they're doing.

The Lost(Ish) Tapes – The Preytells (Fantastic Mess Records)

It’s a four-song EP from an obscure (at least on the other side of the country) Adelaide band that deserved prominence - and might have managed it if they’d come from Sydney. The Preytells formed in 1986, shared stages with just about every worthwhile underground local band of the era.

These songs were among sixn recorded in ’92 for release by Greasy Pop. Alas, the band fell apart before that could happen, and singer Mick Reed left this world a month later. The tapes have been exhumed by boutique label Fantastic Mess Records and are superb ‘60s punk-inspired rock and roll.

Diggin’ It! – Wild Zeros (Heavy Medication/Adrenalin Fix/Beast)

Scuzzier and nastier than your usual French garage rock, “Dig It!” is three tracks of furious punk fun.

First impressions count for a lot and on the strength of their 2019 seven-inch compilation on Heavy Medication, “Well Cooked”, Wild Zeros are a singles band, in that they’re equipped with succinct, catchy songs that do their business and get out of the way.  This 45 does nothing to dispel that.

The title track skids along like a Renault with no brakes with a distinct Devil Dogs flavour. There’s a nagging chorus and room for a brief guitar break before the thing shudders to a halt. “Tough Job” doesn’t have many lyrics aside from the title and probably doesn’t need them. “Did You Dig It?” is a raw and rhetorical question that's served with a side of raw six-strings. 

The whole shebang has as many chords as it has songs and is delivered with a ragged sense of l’ espirt that’s invariably fuelled by a case of those Kronenbourg 1664 green bottles.

1/2

Buy it

Honey Bee b/w Ride The Iron Space Bird - The Neptune Power Federation (Speek Evil)

Combining live theatrics with high-energy and heaviness is just one facet of The Neptune Power Federation. The other is being able to twist on a stylistic dime and pivot into another direction. In case you don’t know, the Sydney band is populated by ex-members of Frenzal Rhomb and Nancy Vandal, and they bring all sorts of punk, metal and psych influences to the table.

The A side is sassy, bubblegum pop with Screaming Loz Sutch delivering a killer vocal. A nice edgy guitar solo from Troy Vod or Mike Foxall is the cream on top .Brilliant.