The band is a vehicle for Jess Cornelius, an interesting artist who seems, from my perspective,  to draw from the art-rock-pop sensibilities of the likes of Roxy Music and Bowie.

Cornelius is a star in her own right but in this configuration she’s joined by Marc Regueiro-Mckelvie on guitar and Damian Sullivan on bass.

The new album was recorded with Simon Grounds (Kes Band, Laura Jean, Bird Blobs).

On a blog on her label’s website Jess talks about the new album, “Tambourine almost ended up a very different album. Most of the songs were written and demo-ed the way I normally do it – on my computer using drum machine samples – but at the time Teeth & Tongue was a four-piece with a live drummer so we were performing them in that format, like a rock band really. We made a bunch of recordings that way, with a view to make them into an album, but after a while I knew that this wasn’t the sound I wanted”.

“I’ve always been obsessed with drum machines so I scrapped the recordings and started again, programming the drums using samples from my 505. In the end it was just me and Simon Grounds in his home studio, with Marc adding his signature guitar tones, and then some live drums overlaid in sections. It took longer than I planned, but I feel like we’ve come much closer to achieving what I heard in my head.”

Released in 2008, Monobasic combined elements of pop, garage and post-punk with metronomic precision and haunting vocals, resulting in radio favourite ’There Is A Lightness To My Bones’ and hypnotic crooner ’Stacey Come Over’.

Following the release of Monobasic, Teeth and Tongue went on to be chosen as a triple j Next Crop artist and was invited to perform at the Falls and Laneway Festivals. Teeth & Tongue has also had the pleasure to perform in Australia with The Dodos (USA), Juana Molina (Argentina), Grant Hart of Husker Du (USA), The Mountain Goats (USA), The Duke Spirit (UK), Jonneine Zapata (USA) and The Drones; and in Europe with Lydia Lunch (USA), Dawn Landes (USA) and These Are Powers (USA).

I saw them open for Jonneine Zapata to a half empty room (due to Jonneine not being able to perform due to illness). Even in those unfavouable circumstances they were arresting. Earlier this year they were part of the season at the Famous Spiegeltent and played a stunning show to a rather diverse audience.

Dates are:

JUNE

2 – Good God, Sydney, NSW

3 – X&Y Bar, Brisbane, QLD

11 – The Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC

After a few listens to their third album Alive As You Are here’s a partial list of bands that they sound like – The Beatles, The Byrds, Dream Syndicate , The Church, The Hollies, The Fleshtones, Flamin Groovies, R.E.M., Tom Petty, Lets Active, Game Theory, Guadacanal Diary, Big Star and The Stems.

Now that’s not to say that they are necessarily as good as any of those bands but if you like anyone of that list then you would be well advised to give these guys a listen.

The following extracts from the bands bio for Alive As You Are gives some indication of what they are about:

“When you get right down to it,” Darker My Love’s Tim Presley says, “this record is about loss and hard work.”

Informed by profound personal tragedy, Alive As You Are is the Los Angeles-based band’s most musically focused and emotionally direct collection to date. Songs like June Bloom and Dear Author see DML traveling away from their trademark psychedelic power drones to a more evocative approach reliant on bold, straightforward songcraft and earthy, intricate arrangements. The band’s third Dangerbird Records album, Alive As You Are marks an extraordinary reinvention for Darker My Love – a rambling, powerfully realized work of great nuance and even greater heart.

“I think it was just prime time to try something new,” Presley says. “It just felt right. It wasn’t this pre-conceived thing, like, ‘Okay, we have to be different.’ I think this is secretly the music we always wanted to make. We wanted to make an album that you could listen to and not just rock out to. Something you can throw on on Sunday morning.”

Which is exactly what I did to good effect.

Presley formed the band with drummer Andy Granelli, after both had been members of hardcore punk band, The Nerve Agents. They were joined by Boston-based singer/bassist Rob Barbato and guitarist Jared Everett. The band made its recorded debut shortly thereafter with a self-titled Tarantulas Records EP, followed two years later by their eponymous Dangerbird Records debut album.

In quite a twist that same year also saw Presley and Barbato join the long list of musicians who have served time accompanying Mark E. Smith in The Fall, playing on the post-punk band’s 26th studio album, 2007’s Reformation Post TLC.

The addition of keyboardist Will Canzoneri on organ and clavinet brought richer textures to 2008’s 2, which received across-the-map critical acclaim for its mind-bending neo-psychedelic grooves and hazily anthemic hooks. “(An) album so deep in aural and emotional layers you don’t quite know what to call it,” enthused the Los Angeles Times, while the Village Voice simply declared 2 “one of the most indelible indie-pop records of ’08.”

Alas, Granelli decided to leave Darker My Love to concentrate on his family in the midst of the long touring cycle that followed 2. The band found themselves in “drummer purgatory,” playing with a number of fill-ins until finally hooking up with The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Dan Allaire.

A deeper, more significant transformation came with the August 2008 death of Presley’s father. The experience knocked Presley for a loop, but eventually led him to a complete rethink of how he went about his art.

“It’s pretty crazy,” he says, “it really was life-changing. I know that’s a cliché, but it’s true. It changed everything for me. I realized that if it doesn’t mean anything, then it’s not worth doing. The lyrics have to mean something, they just have to.”

When the time arrived to make a new album, the band considered some name producers, but ultimately opted to work with their friend Nick Huntington, known as co-founder of Attacknine Records and member of duos both electronica (Freescha) and acoustica (The Surf, The Sundried).

“We wanted to try the buddy system,” Presley says. “Instead of having someone you don’t really know tell you about your songs, have a friend there, almost a collaborator of sorts. More like a peer group than a recording team. We’ve known Nick for years, so he fit the bill for that.”

As DML explored new kinds of hooks and melodies and songcraft, it was handy to have an expert on the subject in Huntington, who, in addition to his various glitch/folk/dance projects, has also penned songs for some seriously A List pop stars.

“Nick has a really good folk sense,” Presley says, “but then he writes songs for Britney Spears. But because this record was very much about songwriting, he was a good person to have around.”

In January 2010, DML headed north to record the album at San Francisco’s legendary Hyde Street Studios, located smack in the seedy heart of the Tenderloin.

“We wanted to use a real studio,” Presley says. “but we didn’t want to pay Los Angeles prices. We just couldn’t afford it. But then we had this epiphany moment – ‘Hyde Street would be perfect!’ We really really loved the whole vibe of it. It’s dirty, it’s gross, it’s old. It was just the perfect middle ground between a real studio and home recording.”

It also didn’t hurt that in its original guise as Wally Heider Recording, the studio was the source of some of the greatest records of the 60’s and 70’s, beginning with Jefferson Airplane’s Volunteers and continuing through classics from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the Grateful Dead.

“A lot of amazing records have been made there,” Presley agrees. “Whenever you go into a recording studio, you always go, like, ‘Oh wow, this person recorded here!’ I guess you kinda want that to rub off onto your record.”

The band line-up is  Luke Boerdam on guitar/vocals, James Tidswell on guitar/vocals, Luke Henery on bass and Michael Richards on drums.

There’s been much made of the fact that the band wear flannel shirts and many commentators have labelled them the first band in the second coming of grunge but to me they sound a lot more like Smashing Pumpkins than Nirvana, Soundgarden or Mudhoney. Some may argue that that’s not a huge distinction but to these ears the structure of the songs and Boerdam’s vocal style scream Billy Corgan.

But the bottom line  – regardless who they sound like – is that they are a really good heavy rock band. The rhythm section drives with the power of a sledgehammer, the guitars snarl and Boerdam’s lyrics are an authentic statement of  suburban white boy angst. The album was produced by the venerable Gil Norton who has the band sounding great (no surprises there) and all in all they have offered up a superior album.

Highlights of the disc include the attention grabbing opener Here Be Dragons, the single Jesus Stole My Girlfriend, Generation, Muscle Junkie (with the obligatory “fuck you” refrain) and the very punk rock Love Is A Heavy Word. The more reflective Outsider shows a different side to the band and especially to Boerdam’s vocal.

Violent Soho may not be the most original sounding band but they are a welcome addition to a family of bands that produced some pretty essential music in their day. There could be a lot worse influences to have. I like ‘em.

To celebrate the release in Australia, the boys will embark on an East Coast tour during July, which will also coincide with their appearance at this year’s Splendour In The Grass.

Thursday, July 22: Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Friday, July 23: Annandale Hotel, Sydney
Saturday, July 24: The Zoo, Brisbane

Mark Moldre is based on the Central Coast of NSW having grown up in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. He apparently was in a band called Hitchcock’s Regret which managed to escape my attention.

He just released an album called The Waiting Room which is worthy of some attention. It’s a songwriter album – meaning that its as much about substance as style and he manages to craft some really interesting songs that seem to derive their inspiration from artists like Grant Lee Phillips, Steve Wynn and maybe Jeff Buckley.

He’s prepared to experiment with the instrumentation enough to keep the interest level up and even when he bases the songs are an energetically strummed acoustic guitar he invests in enough layers to bring the songs to life.

Lyrically he has a bit to say and although at times he lapses into slightly predicable rants he seeks to provoke thought – surely a key role of the troubadour.

Listening to The Waiting Room you do get the feeling that Moldre is still hitting his stride as an artist. He certainly has creative ambitions that he is well on the way to realising. I’d continue to watch him with interest.

The first Australian album from transient singer-songwriter and producer Shelley Harland is intriguing to say the least.

Red Leaf is unashamedly a ‘pop” album but in an era where “pop” has become even more of a dirty word this album is a statement that “pop music” need not mean Idol contestants warbling sickly imitations of disposable genres.

For those needing an easy entry point intro Shelley Harland’s music references like Aimee Mann and Natalie Merchant may be useful, but there’s little echoes of artists like Mazzy Starr (a less maudlin version thereof!) and Fleetwood Mac laced through these songs. She actually reminds me of the revered and long missing in action Syd Straw. You kinda get the feeling that if Anton Fier was casting for a Golden Palominos collective these days he would have found Shelley Harland.

Then you get a song like Friday which is just an irresistible cheery pop song that wouldn’t be out of place on a Sheena Easton album! And while that probably sounds like a back-handed compliment, the song is just so endearing that its hard to be too dismissive. It’s kinda like those early Frente singles.

Harland has commuted between London, New York and Sydney and has evolved as a largely self taught musician who has mastered everything from dance music to electronica to working with the likes of John Cale and a host of underground and not-so-underground dance and electronic luminaries.

She’s got an extraordinary voice – it’s a delicate as gossamer and as pure as the proverbial driven snow and yet she manages to inject appropriate doses of shade and light into these songs – on a song like Sorry there’s a pain in the voice that reveals a maturity that a pop poppet could not have summoned.

There’s a lot more to this artist than meets the eye and it’s no surprise to me that Elvis Costello has recruited her as the opening act for his Australian tour – readers of this site are the types that are probably going to see Costello so I’d recommend that you get there on time and catch the early part of the show.

Shelley Harland is probably capable of more challenging and risk-taking music that Red Leaf provides but this album finds her fighting the good fight to give 2009 pop music a good name. On songs like Panic To Control, Stranger, In The Dark and the title track she succeeds admirably.

Judging by what is on offer here it would seem that a prodigious adult pop talent has been unearthed.

For those trying to find a point of entry into this music some obvious reference points might be the likes of Ben Folds Five, They Might Be Giants, and three bands from three different decades Squeeze, Lets Active and The Arcade Fire. That’s a big diversity of comparisons but what they all have in common is a ear for a delicious pop melody and  a willingness to look a little further afield for songwriting  subject matter.

What distinguishes Muse’s songs from quiet a few of his contemporaries is his unwillingness to take the easy way out in his songs. Just when you think you’ve got a song pegged it will take a little left turn that brings a smile to your face.

The songs on Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon range from seemingly innocuous pop songs through to others that initially appear to be innocuous pop songs but which blossom into epic pop operettas. How To Fake Like You Are Nice & Caring is one such beast, although the best example is probably On Modern Men.

There’s no doubt that Muse comes from the McCartney school of songwriting and on songs like Well, The Truth Is… and My New Years Resolution Is To Cope With My Mortality he graduates with honours.

The Beginning Of Everything Is The End Of The World reminds me of Bob Mould in his  Sugar incarnation while Golden (Like The State) is more of a Chuck Berry via Pat Di Nizio or Dan Wilson descendent. There’s also moments of slightly twisted pop on here that Robin Hitchcock would be proud of.

I’m throwing around the names of plenty of great tunesmiths here and I’m not doing it lightly. Muse deserves his place in this company and although one suspects he’s going to be one of those writers perennially in pursuit of the perfect pop song he has made some significant inroads into that lofty ambition already.

Apart from the writers penchant for overly long song titles (eg It’s Better To Spend Money Like There’s No Tomorrow Than Spend Tonight Like There’s No Money) there’s a lot to like about this album. It’s an album that takes a few listens to fully appreciate and that in itself is a bonus.

Quiet Company make for good company.

There’s something fully formed about the whole package that makes you sense that the artist is comfortable in his own skin and not the product of an urgent need to follow the latest trend or a desperate desire to seem different and to fit in at the same time.

Brett Goldsmith is one such artist.

With his solo debut album Brett has created a work of depth and quality. His songwriting  already been likened to such pop craftsmen as Neil Finn, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello and to the late Australian underground icon Matt Moffitt (of Matt Finish fame).

To the extent that Goldsmith writes and performs his own songs he is a ‘singer-songwriter’ – but that certainly doesn’t mean that he’s a dude with a battered acoustic guitar dreaming of being the next Bob Dylan. The album is a thoroughly modern work, combining intimate evocative vocals, sweeping panoramic production, exquisite pop melodies and some revealing, sometimes disturbing and often heart rending lyrics

The albums opener and title track Ordinary Life, sets the tone. It’s a song that is surely just waiting for the right film to close. It starts in a hushed and intimate way before blossoming into an uplifting anthem.

Goldsmith’s album is disarming in its lyrical honesty. The pulls no punches in songs such as My Junkie Friend and yet he has a sympathy and understanding of situations that can only have come from having lived a little and seen a lot. There’s a voice of first hand experience at work here and yet its not a voice that’s grown jaded. These are not songs that a freshman songwriter could have written!

Sleep is a remarkable song of obsession and insomnia whereas its’ companion I’m Always Near is another song with cinematic qualities and a dark beating heart.

Friends is another song that reveals a simple but intuitively insightful side to relationships, while The Divorce Song is a heartbreaker – a prosaic look at a sadly common situation from a couple of angles usually overlooked.

In a way it is typical of Goldsmith’s writing though – he avoids the obvious and the clichéd, either musically or lyrically, and in so doing has created something that sounds both fresh and familiar simultaneously – surely the mark of a great songwriter.

The name Brett Goldsmith is a familiar one in many circles of which ‘music’ is only one.

In the fashion world he’s known as a leading photographer whose work is in demand by agencies, corporate clients, hip publications and the elite modelling scene.

In nightlife circles he is known as a leading figure in the evolution of Melbourne’s  club culture; part of the Goldsmith family famous for The Underground and Redheads and the creator of the first of the uber-cool clubs, the iconic Saratoga.

Ask the denizens on the Victorian Surf Coast and you will meet a different Brett Goldsmith – a trusted member of a fraternity where fakes are exposed in an instant.

But despite being a genuine Melbourne ‘renaissance man’ it is in music that Brett finds his talents best utilized. He operates from his own recording studio – that he regularly re-locates between a hidden creative space above Melbourne’s Chapel Street and a farmhouse in the bucolic Victorian country that is also home to sheep, horses and alpacas.

Despite his extensive portfolio of success in other pursuits Goldsmith is far from a ‘johnny come lately’ to music. From touring as a teenager with one of Australia’s most famous music exports to being responsible as a writer and producer and performer for a number of Top Ten hits with a late 80’s and  early 90’s pop band, Goldsmith has never been far from music. He’s written and produced music for film and has placed pop songs with other artists. Under a pseudonym he’s even recorded an extensive repertoire of electronic and dance music, that has been virally distributed across the internet and from there played in clubs across the globe.

But this honest and pure collection of songs could only have been released under his own name. The album is a ‘solo’ work in the truest sense of the word. Goldsmith plays every note on the album and recorded, engineered, produced and mixed every take. The album in one sense was a labour of love and in another was the product of an artistic itch that had to be scratched.

Ordinary Life should see Brett Goldsmith recognised as a serious contributor to the fabric of Australian songwriting, as a creator of words and music that embrace and reflect an adult life.

There’s another great song on the album called Waiting For A Train. Its’ safe to say that the train has well and truly arrived and it’s time to get on board.

Brett Goldsmith will play two shows to introduce his album. These shows will see him perform the songs in solo acoustic mode.

Feb 26 : Manchester Lane, Melbourne

Mar 31 : The Basement, Sydney

www.myspace.com/brettgoldsmithmusic

www.brettgoldsmith.com.au

Their album The 59 Sound starts with the sound of a needle catching on a vinyl album before launching into Great Expectations, a frantic little rock n’ roll song laden with jangling guitars and lyrics about a girl named Mary, listening to the radio and cars as a metaphor for escape. Only calling the song Thunder Road would have been more  of an obvious enticement to this particular audience member.

Not surprising this four piece are from Jersey and the influences that are immediately apparent are a rather comforting collection.

Much has been made of the Springsteen influence and, yes, it is undeniable all the way through to a couple of direct lyrical references and quite a few more that closely resemble some thing you feel like you might have heard before.

“I always dreamed of classic cars and movie scenes/ And trying to find some way to be redeemed” – Old White Lincoln.

But it would be lazy to simply mark them down as Springsteen clones. For a start their music is pretty much all guitar bass and drums, there’s certainly none of the instrumental textures found in the E Street armoury.

I think it’s a fair bet to suggest that there are a few other albums in these guys collective record collection – The Replacements, The Smithereens, Wire Train, Soul Asylum, Semisonic, early Cure and The Caulfields probably all got some airplay in New Brunswick, New Jersey bedrooms as these guys were growing up,

Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that.

Apparently the label that releases this, the bands second album, is primarily a punk label and there’s just a hint of that aesthetic in these guys but they are clearly a long way removed from being a punk band.

Where the Springsteen influence is most noticeable and most welcome is in the lyrics written by lead singer Brian Fallon. There are plenty of familiar Jersey shore references and they could easily be regarded as “Jersey clichés” if it wasn’t for the fact that now – just as they were when Springsteen wrote about them – an accurate word picture of the place. It’s a unique place on the American East Coast landscape and it simply provides great fodder for rock n’ roll. Every rock geek needs to make that pilgrimage at least once.

Brian Fallon is a hopeless romantic and a authentic disciple of rock n’ roll as a redemptive force and while that may seem a little idealistic to anyone over 25 and over jaded, its hard to avoid finding yourself cheering for Fallon and his cast of lost souls, lonely hearts and true believers. Sure, they are going to find out the truth eventually but I’m happy to let them dream a while.

I’m going to be interested to see where The Gaslight Anthem story leads. At this point there is a slight formula at work in their songs and to fulfil their potential they are going to have to find a few more musical dimensions, but the potential is there as displayed by the more subdued Here’s Looking At You Kid.

Along with The Hold Steady, The Gaslight Anthem represent a new strain of rock n’ roll bands that fans of older rock n’ roll bands can adopt without feeling old. And that has to be a good thing right?

Hailing from Minneapolis the members of The Hold Steady did time in any number of bands both in Minn. and in New York. They are no teenagers and in fact you get the sense that the Hold Steady might well have been their last band rather than their first.

They are not exactly a new band having been formed in 2003 by vocalist, lyricist, and guitarist Craig Finn and New York City bartender and bassist Galen Polivka. Finn and lead guitarist Tad Kubler (both formerly of Lifter Puller) developed the idea of The Hold Steady when, while watching the The Band concert film The Last Waltz, Finn reputedly asked Kubler, “Dude, why aren’t there any bands like this anymore?” That was a good start.

Over the course of four albums The Hold Steady have managed to remind me of (in no particular order) : Soul Asylum, Bruce Springsteen, Husker Du, Dramarama, The Tragically Hip, Tom Petty, Jim Carroll, The Replacements, Godfathers, Cheap Trick and Dogs D’Amour.

Yep it could be argued that they play their record collection, but a/ it’s a bloody good record collection and b/ they exceed that record collection on a regular basis.

The mainstay of the band is Finn – a dorky looking mid thirties guy who manages to look at sound like he finds his role as the frontman for a rock band as slightly ridiculous but at the same time cant help but be hopelessly in love with rock n’roll.

The Hold Steady have songs that most literately describe being in a band and the whole indie band scene (Chill Out Tent, Boys and Girls In America and Sequestered In Memphis). Finn populates his songs with recurring characters and like Springsteen we are able to follow their evolution from mid twenties idealism/isolation to dealing with more adult situations.

Their evolution begun with Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday but they really started to hit their stride with Boys And Girls In America. Released in October, 2006, Boys and Girls in America was ranked #8 on the Rolling Stone Best Albums of 2006 list. Pitchfork Media’s Scott Plagenhoff wrote of the album, “[Craig Finn] not only has a commanding, rousing voice but he also says something worth hearing, displaying gifts for both scope and depth that are all too rare in contemporary rock — indie or mainstream.”

The band’s fourth album, Stay Positive, was released in the UK on July 14, 2008 and in the U.S. on July 15, 2008 and more recently in Australia.

It’s a remarkable record – managing to expand their musical palate to give them a set of textures that recall the E Street Band or Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, but without losing the indie-rock aesthetic.

In an interview Finn explained the dichotomy of being a new classic rock band. “I would say the Hold Steady is classic rock with a lowercase “c,” in that the riffs are familiar. Everywhere but in New York, part of your teenage years were spent in cars. I graduated high school in 1989, and there was no alternative rock radio, and there wasn’t really good college radio you could get on a car stereo. Once you get a car at that age, you’re spending all the time you can away from home, sometimes just driving around aimlessly. Listening, or not even listening, but subconsciously soaking up this classic rock barrage. I can still sing most Eagles songs, even though I never bought a record and never liked the band. So there’s a familiarity to the Hold Steady. “That’s kind of a Zeppelinesque riff there.” It makes you feel okay or something”

The Hold Steady will be touring Australia in February as a part of the St Jeromes Laneway Festival. They have now announced two headlining sideshows of their own:

Melbourne

Monday 2 February
The Corner Hotel

Sydney

Wednesday 4 February
The Metro Theatre

Consisting of only two members -  James Leg (aka John Wesley Myers) on vocals and keys and Van Campbell on drums – Black Diamond Heavies recently toured Australia and played at the Meredith Music Festival but I suspect that many of the festival goers might have missed the point.

The point about this duo is that they are deeply steeped in tradition and for all the suggestions that they are ‘the next big thing” chances are they will appeal a lot more resoundingly to fans of older blues and dirty rock fans.

Artists that are obvious reference points for Black Diamond Heavies include Tom Waits (who is a oft referenced vocal inspiration for Leg), The Doors, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Green On Red and Leon Russell. Their take on blues is dirty and confrontational but it’s not a case of random violence.

There’s real musicianship at work here and for all the reviews that will lazily call them ‘ass-kickin’ or ‘brutal’ there will be a few fans who realise that there is real method to the madness and the music is calculated to infiltrate your senses rather than just bludgeon you into submission.

Their latest album (only their second) is called A Touch Of Somebody Else’s Class and it opens with a cover of Ike and Tina Turner’s Nutbush City Limits. Don’t judge the album on this as it’s probably the weakest track.

Instead lock into Numbers 22, a Leon Russell styled rave up, Bidin’ My Time (an aching ballad), or Take A Ride (a T-Model Ford cover that could be a companion piece to Roadhouse Blues).

James Leg is a great organ player – he has a tone that wouldn’t go astray in a Southern Baptist church but plays the sort of hypnotic runs that have you on the edge of your seat wondering if he will get back in time to catch the train that Campbell has leaving the station.

In short this is the sort of band that this section was created for!