Monster Elephante Unleash One Beautiful Beast. Rawr ;)

It’s not very often that you hear a local release that literally sends a chill down your spine, in all honesty it’s probably never; but, when Monster Elephante unveiled their debut album “People Of The 5^th Dimension,” something truly special was born. Never have I heard such a prolific offering from a Canberran group, and it’d be a lie to say that it’s not right up there with the best this country has ever produced.

Kicking off with the funky-as-fuck, hip-hop infused Da Da Da Da, you know immediately your ears are in for the greatest 43.6 minutes they’ve ever endured. Josh Molony’s dead set jaw dropping vocal abilities are on full display from the first track, and you’ll be thanking whatever deity you believe in that you got a chance to hear them. It has been far too long since Australia coughed up another über talented vocalist; in all honesty the standard has been steadily dropping, like a brick from an airplane, over the last decade since Daniel Johns popped up.

We’ve all heard the jokes regarding bass players, and the “fact” all they do is sit up the back and bludge, and many of you probably had a good chuckle at the time. But, let me tell you, the second you hear the near-revolutionary work of Will Haskovec on this album, all you’ll be able to do is sit there, mouth gaping, at what this man can do with a bass guitar. Imagine if you will, Tim Commerford (Rage Against The Machine), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and the smallest hint of Victor Wooten, all combined together, and you will have Monster Elephante’s own bassist extraordinaire.

While this album is, without a single doubt, the best thing to be released this year, “People Of The 5^th Dimension” is not without it’s problems. The band loses the heaviness of a few songs on the recording, which is a dying shame knowing their full potential, but this is by no means a fault on the band’s part. While the bass playing is amazing, the album obviously lacks the low-end tones you generally come to expect from a low-register instrument; but this and the lack of heaviness, is solely a mixing and production problem.

The highlights of this album are virtually endless, but because you’re all so deserving, I’ll narrow it down for everybody. First and foremost, you cannot look past the two closing tracks “Sherlock Holmes” and “Vikings From Hell,” while the latter lacks the edge it packs at a live show, it still undeniably the band at their best; “Sherlock Holmes” is just awe inspiring, and makes you wonder just how long it’ll be until these guys break it big. Now, while Monster Elephante are well known for their fast and furious funk chops, one of the best songs of this album is the down-tempo “Sunday Song,” the emotion that drips from this song is so powerful you literally feel every word that Molony sings. On the topic of lyrics, without a doubt, the lyrical strongpoint of the album is “Into The Night,” and while at times Molony’s lyrical prowess is somewhat questionable, he shows that he’s more than capable of penning a good tune. And just as a side note, the drum fill at the end of Space Funk…. orgasmical.

“People Of The 5^th Dimension” is out now independently; and you can pick it up after witnessing Monster Elephante’s amazing live act at any one of their upcoming tour dates; check their MySpace at www.myspace.com/fistfulofnothing for details, and for a few songs to check out. And if you’re even considering to dodge this album, you are robbing yourself of the most audible fun you’ll have all year, and we both know you don’t want to do that to yourself, don’t we?

Have a sticky beak at Amber Calling

SPOTLIGHT ON

Amber Calling

This week I’ve decided to showcase one of Australia’s premiere bands, Amber Calling. In an Australian music scene, that, as of late, has been throwing up a great deal of samey rubbish; this outstanding South Australian 5-piece shatter the mould, and give us all one more reason to be proud Australians.

Getting together in 2005 under the name 919, the band quickly built up a strong following around their hometown Adelaide and the rest of Australia. After roughly a year of touring and writing, the band released the EP ‘Road Rage’ in late 2006, followed by an extensive tour.

As far as debuts go, ‘Road Rage’ is possibly the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. There isn’t a single track on this disc, that you won’t want to listen to over and over and over again, and the cherry on top of this magnificent musical sundae is the jaw dropping “This Cell.” The strength of the song led to it’s inclusion on the Starving Kid Records, Scratch Records and Perisher Blue compilations, which provided the band with some well-deserved publicity.

The band went on to share the stage with big-name Australian groups Grinspoon and Something With Numbers, as well as appearing on the local stage at 2007’s Taste Of Chaos tour. 2007 also saw the band appear on the action sports channel Fuel TV, as well as scoring the feature spot on the MySpace Australia homepage. With a few high-profile gigs under their belt, and with the huge publicity of featuring on MySpace and national TV, the anticipation grew for the new release the band had been working on for quite some time, but the world would have to wait.

When Amber Calling began work on their second recorded effort, no one would have expected the trouble that lie ahead for the band. Shortly after work was finished on the record, vocalist Mike Porcaro ran into some hefty throat problems, which his doctor attributed to his smoking and drinking habits. After putting a stop to both, and still not seeing a notable improvement, Mike had no choice but to leave the band.

Left gasping for air, and looking where they should go next, the band attempted to patch up the gaping hole that Mike had left behind. Amber Calling recruited a stand-in vocalist, and headed out on the road. But, fortunately for the band, and all of us, it was only five months later when Mike was given the all clear, and rejoined the group. Back at full-strength, the future once again looked bright for Amber Calling.

The band originally had 11 tracks written for their second release, but decided after pre-production to whittle that number down to six. Mike defended the decision by saying “If we were to have done an album out of those 11 songs, we wouldn’t have been happy with it anyway. The songs that made it to the EP were the ones we were happy with.” The EP was released on 14^th April, 2008, on the newly formed independent label, Tenspeed Music.

The EP entitled “The Truth About Lies” features six tracks of audio heaven, and is available for purchase world-wide on iTunes right now. But, if that’s all too high-tech for you, then head on out to a show and pick up a copy in person. For a measly few dollars, you can get what is definite candidate for Aussie release of the year, and music that’ll stick with you for so long, you’ll still be singing it on your deathbed.

In recent news, Amber Calling were announced as the winners of a competition which, will see them perform alongside US giants Panic At The Disco at their Adelaide show, later this month.

With so many achievements in such a short period of time, Amber Calling look set to take over the Australian music scene, and it’s about bloody time. With a brand new, mind-blowing EP, and a live show that’ll kick you right in the face, Amber Calling will give you the most electric eargasm of your life, and you’ll always be coming back for more.

Clancy.

The Truth About Lies is out now on Tenspeed Music, and available for download on iTunes.

Check Amber Calling out at: www.ambercalling.com.au for everything to do with the band.