6 memorable Aussie bands of 2013

We were recently asked to write a post for Brazilian blog Lizt highlighting some Aussie bands that we’ve loved in 2013. Click here to check out the post.

As it’s in Portuguese we’ve kindly gotten our arses out of this awesome ocean pool to post the translation here:

Lizt now has an international correspondent. The staff of the 7SecondsOfSound blog, Aussie brother of Lizt, will produce some posts telling to us what is happening in the music scene there. The first post is their Australian highlights of 2013.

It seems that every second person in Australia is making music, and I’m not talking about crap music that only their parents would be proud of but really amazing tunes that deserve national and international attention. This made my task of coming up with a list of memorable Aussie bands of 2013 pretty horrific. I’ve managed to cut my initial list of 473 down to just 6 but I’m now sweating and in physical pain so hope you all appreciate the effort. The following alphabetically-ordered list focuses on bands who are not as well known as the Tame Impala’s of this world but have been equally as amazing in 2013 and are far from finished impressing us with their brilliance.

Adults 

Formed in mid 2012, this Sydney trio are masters of fast-paced post-punk. Being relatively new, they only have five tracks on Soundcloud but it’s definitely quality over quantity in their case. And the best thing about their music is it’s perfect to show off your groovy dance moves to, as demonstrated by two funky dudes in their video for Ominous. Keep an eye out for their EP which should be released early 2014.

Adults Facebook
Adults Soundcloud

Big Scary

Melbourne duo, Big Scary released their second Album, titled Not Art, in 2013. It’s a really atmospheric, genre-bending album full of lush instrumentals, haunting vocals and interesting samples. The album will be available in US in January via Barsuk. Unsurprisingly, a few acts have remixed some of their tracks, notably US bands The Antlers and Menomena. These remixes are included on a 6 track EP they released shortly after the album, titled Twin Rivers.

Big Scary Facebook
Big Scary Soundcloud

Bored Nothing

Melbourne’s Bored Nothing started as a solo project for then 22 year old Fergus Miller. His self titled album is a piece of lo-fi brilliance full of reflective, often cynical lyrics sung in a gentle, wispy voice to heavily 90’s influenced instrumentals. What makes the album even more impressive is that he played every instrument himself and recorded the tracks mainly on cassette tape with the use of one microphone. Bored Nothing is now a fully fledged band and have played a number of live shows around Australia as well as Europe. There are plans to release another album in 2014, which is good for my sanity as, perhaps now, I can stop playing the current album every second days and start obsessing over something new.

Bored Nothing Facebook
Bored Nothing Soundcloud

I’lls

Remember falling asleep in the car when you were little and being wrapped up in a blanket and carried into the house by your parents? That feeling of comfort and warmth is how I’d equate listening to the evocative electronic soundscapes and delicate vocals of Melbourne three piece electronic outfit I’lls. Every track on their recently released EP, A Warm Reception, is a perfect balance of restraint and euphoria. They also released an EP of some amazing remixes of their tracks by other Australian electronic producers, which is basically like your parents giving you a cup of warm cocoa after carrying you in.

I’lls Facebook
I’lls Soundcloud

Sticky Fingers

In 2010 Sydney band Sticky Fingers were rejected to play at the Newtown Festival for the fifth year in a row so they grabbed 500 milk crates, hired a sound system and set up a makeshift stage in a friend’s backyard overlooking the festival. They then waited for the last band to finish playing, stood on their pile of milk crates and unofficially headlined the festival, drawing a crowd of three thousand people to their stage, the largest crowd of the day. Organisers smartened up and gave them a slot on the main stage the next year. How cool is that for a rise to fame story? I’d say it’s almost as cool as their fun mix of Reggae, dub and rock. They had a pretty wild 2013 touring Australia and Europe after releasing their Caress Your Soul album to rave reviews and got up to some crazy shenanigans, according to their tour diary. That’s really not surprising for a band that thinks nothing of creating their own festival and playing on top of a bunch of milk crates. 

Sticky Fingers Facebook
Sticky Fingers Soundcloud

Willow Beats

Imagine you’re at an outdoor music festival in a mystical fantasy world surrounded by ethereal beings dancing to ambient dubstep. That pretty much sums up the feeling you get when listening to Melbourne’s electronic outfit Willow Beats. The uncle/niece duo’s recently released Alchemy EP is truly a thing of beauty, combining beautiful samples from nature with entrancing vocals and choppy beats. They’ve also produced some pretty fantastic remixes, adding their special brand of mind altering sounds to sublime tracks from other Australian artists such as Fractures and Cosmo’s Midnights.

Willow Beats Facebook
Willow Beats Soundcloud

Apologies to my fellow Aussies who will no doubt reprimand me for not showcasing the countless other amazing Australian acts out there that have been impressive in 2013 (Courtney Barnett, The Ocean Party, Seekae, Palms, Braves and Cloud Control, just to name a few). I just need to stop now or I’d be writing about them all until the end of 2014.