EIGHT FOR ‘08

Welcome to a very special issue of Rip It Up, as the RIU team have gone out on a limb to pick eight Adelaide acts that we think will make a massive impact on the local and national scene this year. Of course, a lot of deserved acts missed out and with the amount of quality music coming out of this city at the moment this was always going to happen. The eight bands RIU have chosen are either brand new bands or acts that have been around for a couple of years but will impact the scene heavily in 2008. A lot of time, effort, thought and arguing went into this list, but we feel we have picked a very diverse and talented bunch of bands that represents almost the entire local musical spectrum. So, enjoy reading about the Eight For ‘08, because we had a lot of fun organising it and presenting it for you. Without further ado, here is Rip It Up’s Eight For ‘08!

THE TRANSATLANTICS
by David Knight
There is a world of difference between pub funk and deep funk. A lot of Australian funk bands fall into the pub category (usually groups that are heavily influenced by Jamiroquai), but Adelaide’s newest soul and funk players, The Transatlantics, definitely fall into the deep category, as the eight-piece takes its cues from The Meters and James Brown as well as the new breed, as bass player Ross McHenry explains.
“There’s lot of influences in our music from the ‘60s like Eddie Bo, James Brown, The JBs, The Meters - a lot of that New Orleans kinda funk too,” says Ross. “Then there’s a gap of about 40 years and we have influences like Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings and Breakestra, The Bamboos and Cookin’ On 3 Burners and I guess more of those contemporary labels like Freestyle, Daptone and Ubiquity. They have a real sound to them - really deep funk sounding.”
Unbelievably for such a tight outfit (that has a gang of members including a killer horn section and a singer who has got the soul), The Transatlantics formed in March last year. The band only really got together because Ross was supposed to hook up some bands for a night at the Rhino Room.
“I totally forgot about it and the guy rang me about a week before and he was like ‘Who did you get for me?’ And I was like ‘I’ve got this great band, I’ll sort it out for you but I’m playing in it’. So, I got some people together and played some tunes, including some old tunes from a band that fell off the plate previously. We decided it was too much fun to let it slip, so we got into it and made it into The Transatlantics.”
Thankfully they all did get into it, as Adelaide finally has a group that looks to rival the Melbourne outfits Cookin’ On 3 Burners and The Bamboos. Most of the members studied jazz at the Conservatorium and in their short career The Transatlantics have already joined New Orleans legend Eddie Bo on stage as his back-up band. The jazz and funk journeyman was impressed with the Adelaidians.
“We had a rehearsal at Rocket, he got us to play something and we started playing one of his songs and he was like, ‘Oh that’s great’ and then, ‘Oh, do you know this one?’ Then about halfway through he was like, ‘What am I going to do?’ You guys know all my stuff’. He couldn’t really believe that a group of white kids from this tiny city with an average age of about 21 - and probably most of us look like we’re about 15 when we’re clean shaven - that we could play that music and that we got into that music as well. We had a lot of good feedback from him and that made us really feel like we wanted to keep going and make it something special.”
The Transatlantics play The Crown & Sceptre on Sat Jan 26. For more info on The Transatlantics head to <myspace.com/transatlantics>.

BIRTH GLOW
by Scott McLennan
Finding herself broke in Berlin while living there with her former band Jemima Jemima, singer Ellen Carey escaped back to Adelaide with little interest in engaging with the local music scene. Meeting Sweet Raxxx vocalist Nick Walton, the unexpected conception of Birth Glow was finalised by the addition of Steph Crase, with the band releasing their official debut Ultimate Relief in 2007.
Despite the band’s non-conformist approach to the regular principles of rock music, the album has earned high praise in street press across the country as well as mainstream publications such as The Sydney Morning Herald and Rolling Stone.
“I wasn’t even aware of the Rolling Stone review where they gave us four stars,” Ellen notes with surprise. “I’ve kind of had my head in the sand the whole time, so I don’t know much about the reviews, but every now and then I’ll hear something and it’s kind of cool. I’m glad it’s all working out as we’re all pretty proud of the album.”
The inability to easily pigeon hole Birth Glow’s tribal exotica, choir girl cadence and wonky country sounds have left many critics madly scrambling for touchstones.
“Some people nail it, but some just don’t quite understand it. They always talk about how Nick can’t sing properly, then they’ll talk about my Joanna Newsomy parts. Nick can’t really sing properly and can only play really minimal bass, but he fits perfectly with what we’re trying to do. It’s awesome that he can play with us and do his thing, even though he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.
But people are doing okay with it and we’ve been compared to The Moldy Peaches and other weird bands.”
Having previously travelled to New Zealand with Batrider to spread the Birth Glow gospel, the band’s 2008 plans will be worked in around the trio’s other musical commitments. Ellen is walking to band practice to finalise her vocal and keyboard contributions to Clue To Kalo’s forthcoming album release, Lily Perdida, when speaking to Rip It Up.
“We have Clue To Kalo band practice two doors down from where we have Birth Glow band practice, so it’s not too hard to jump between the two at all. We’ve got a good musical community in Adelaide at the moment. I’ve made some good friends and seen some really good bands. In Melbourne it was hard to filter out the good and the bad and everyone had their own egos to deal with, but over here everyone’s really nice.”
As for Birth Glow’s followers, what does the average disciple look like?
“Just average looking, but something NQR about them too,” Ellen giggles. “There’s something subtly really wrong about them!”
Not quite the cool kids, but not necessarily the social outcasts either – it sounds like a good place to be.
Ultimate Relief is out now through Remote Control.

THE SWISS
by Danielle O’Donohue
You could hardly call The Swiss overnight sensations. The smooth, disco-funk trio have been playing together for five years. But unlike most musical groups, who expect everything to happen to their band right now, the members of The Swiss have been content to keep the band on the down-low while they’ve pursued other musical projects. Luke Godson, keyboard and synth player in the trio, says that’s about to change.
“We’ve never pushed it. It’s always been something that we’ve let breathe naturally,’’ Godson explains. “We’ve never really gone out there searching for more gigs. But now it’s gotten to a point where it’s starting to move on a bit and get a bit more attention.’’
The reason for the attention is the band’s debut vinyl release Movement 1, 2 & 3.
Recorded by Donnie Sloan (Sneaky Sound System) at Broadcast Studios, the release will be followed up more several more this year, again recorded by Donnie Sloan - hopefully in the next few weeks.
Godson, who is joined in the band by Tony Mitolo on drums and Surahn Sidhu on bass, guitars and the occasional vocal, says the band’s brand of disco is very much about getting together and seeing where a jamming session will take the trio.
“We want to do the next releases like our first and keep it authentic. Not just put it together on computer. We could do that but we’re just trying to capture the vibe that was back in the ‘70s.
“If you listen to our first release the time does go a bit all over the place. It’s not rock solid, which is annoying for some DJs who try and mix it in, but we kept it all natural. I think we gave them an eight bar intro that was mostly in time.
“So they’ve got eight bars to put it in or they’re in trouble,” Godson says, laughing.
With the band’s first release walking off record store shelves in London and New York, overseas plans figure prominently in conversation with Godson.
The Swiss play music that can be transported anywhere, all that is needed is people keen to dance and a small stage where Godson can set up his vintage synths, Mitolo can lock in a beat and Sidhu can explore a never-ending groove.
The Swiss play the Big Day Out at Adelaide Showground on Fri Feb 1.

FORMER CHILD STARS
by Robert Dunstan
Adelaide indie rock band Former Child Stars (guitarists Ed and Todd, singer and keyboard player Luke and bass player Jade along with drummer Dan) have been going for just over a year but have already been selected to open this year’s Big Day Out.
“Yeah, we’re on early – 11am,” Ed Mitchell, formerly of Foreshore, laughs over the phone. “But the good thing is that we’re playing on one of the better stages - the Converse Essential stage. We’re excited about playing that stage. And we can play at 11am and then get stuck into a few beers and check out all the other bands.”
Former Child Stars have played some big gigs in recent times.
“Yeah, we did Thebbie with Sneaky Sound System and just last week we played Summer Party with Bloc Party and Vanilla Ice. That was interesting. No, it was awesome actually. And we also did Schützenfest – that was good - and now we’ve got Big Day Out coming up. And we’re also playing at SoCo Cargo in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights [a free entry gig on Thu Feb 20].”
The band will also head up to Sydney very soon.
“We’re doing about 10 gigs and some of those will be with Operator Please.”
Ed also reveals that the band have a new manager, Melbourne based Danial Caneba.
“He’s got a business called Majorbox Music and also manages Dallas Crane, Tex Perkins and Tim Rogers. So that’s looking good for us. I think we’ve got a promising year ahead of us.”
The band have already issued an EP which was recorded and mixed in six days with Finn Keane (Souls On Board, theredsunband and SubAudible Hum) at St Kilda’s Hot House Studio in Victoria but are currently recording more songs.
“So we hope to put something out in 2008 but we want to get a label behind us,” Ed says. “So we’ve got the material and we’ve been doing some recording with Matt Hills. We’ve got about seven songs and we’ve added them to our first EP to make a 12-song CD for promotional purposes.”
Ed, who remains on good terms with his former band, Foreshore, considers that the local scene is very healthy at the moment.
“I reckon it’s the best it’s been for a long time. Better than it’s ever been in fact. Former Child Stars have only been around for a year or so but we’ve done a lot. And there are lots of good bands out there.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Special Patrol,” he adds. “I reckon they’re awesome and deserve to do well. As far as new bands go, I like Femme Fatales and Bakewell Street. They both show some real promise.”
As well as Big Day Out, the quintet is also looking forward to playing a charity gig at Rocket Bar on Sun Jan 27 with Bakewell Street and Sydney DJ Sleater Brookman.
“My girlfriend and some of our friends are involved with a South American orphanage in Peru,” Ed says. “So we want to raise as much money as we can at that gig.”
Former Child Stars play Rocket Bar on Sun Jan 27 with Bakewell St (a charity gig), Big Day Out on Fri Feb 1 and SoCo Cargo in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights on Thu Feb 20.

NEWTONHEATH
by Scott McLennan
Last year included the death of friends, relationship troubles and dodgy publicist deals that left them out of pocket, but Newtonheath are set to take their music to the world in 2008. The band are set to take the passionate kick of their rock debut Come Together And Unite to an international audience before the year is out.
“Everything internally with the band went fantastic, the album went well, we got a grant for its recording and the band’s working well as people, but everything externally made it a really testing year,” bassist Rachel Warburton reminisces of 2007. “We were looking forward to the New Year kicking in so we could have a fresh start. We’re just trying to push the album again as we got a bit of a late start after we had a few problems with our publicist. We’re trying to get a national tour for the first half of the year and we’re looking at a few overseas leads in the second half of the year, so we’re just seeing how they fall into place. We’ve got a few leads in Singapore and the UK. The underground scene is pretty strong over there in Singapore and in the UK it’s connected to a [Welsh] band we played with here last year, Dopamine. We got on well with those guys and got into each others’ music. My sister lives in London so we can use that as a base, so we’ll just see how it all falls out. Going overseas has been a goal since the start of the band.”
Rachel and her partner, Newtonheath vocalist and guitarist Matthew Ho, initially put together demos for the band while living in America and Europe. While many acts miss the importance of striking visuals and aesthetics when it comes to music promotion, Rachel states Newtonheath are strong believers in eye-catching imagery.
“We definitely put a little bit of effort into the visual stuff. The music comes first and that’s really important, but the way we present ourselves is part of the whole experience. What we do in the design is quite important as well as part of the whole package.”
Putting forward Tiger Stripes and Sundance Kids as locals to watch in 2008, Rachel also lets slip her interest in another local boy.
“We like a bit of pop stuff and we have to be Guy Sebastian fans by default, since Matt’s mum is in love with Guy Sebastian and buys us tickets to all his concerts. He’s a great musician but he’s not something I put on for my listening pleasure.”
Come Together And Unite is out now.

LEADER CHEETAH
by Danielle O’Donohue
If Pharaohs were the sound of a late night out on the town club-hopping, then the band that has risen out of Pharaohs’ ashes, Leader Cheetah, are a lazy walk in the country.
All sun-drenched harmonies and rich melody, Leader Cheetah feature two of the three members of Pharaohs, Dan Crannitch (guitar and vocals) and his brother Joel (drums). The third member of the former Pharaohs trio, Joel Amos, has moved to Sydney.
Joining the Crannitch brothers in their new project is Dan Pash (also on guitar and vocals), while Mark Harding takes care of bass duties.
While Dan - the older of the Crannitch brothers - enjoyed his time in Pharaohs, he says this time around things feel much more natural.
“My old man is just a huge country music and folk freak and I’ve always loved it. The first song I learnt was Harvest on the acoustic guitar, when I was 12 years old,” he says. “My natural voice - which is Leader Cheetah - never seemed to work with Pharaohs. It was frustrating for me. It never quite felt I was giving people what I honestly wanted to even though I think there was some fucking great songs that we wrote. I just feel so fucking comfortable and happy with Leader Cheetah.”
After a year writing songs and rehearsing, the band decamped to Mixmaster Studios late last year to record their debut album.
Through a series of connections the band was able to secure the services of US producer Kramer (Urge Overkill, Galaxie 500) who joined the band in the hills and helped them capture the rich live sound that Crannitch had envisaged.
“Because they’re such melody driven songs if things were slightly too fast or slightly too slow it would just completely lose its dynamic and lose everything. I think we really got the tempos pretty much perfect. Once we got that done everything just happened really quickly. Kramer likes to work really fast so we were doing 12-hour days. We finished 13 songs in seven days and that’s including horn sections and violins and pianos and harmonies and everything.
“In a non-wanky way, he’s the most indie-minded guy, in as far as he doesn’t deal with record labels. He only works with artists and will work with anyone he likes. Very down to earth. He’s worked with some big names and he’s worked with some smaller names. But he treated me with an incredible amount of respect.”
Though it feels like things are starting to happen for Leader Cheetah, Crannitch says he expects to spend a lot of this year waiting; waiting for the album to be finished, finalising record deals and finally getting the album out. After the album’s release, Crannitch hopes to take the band overseas.
The band’s sound is something that isn’t heard a lot around Adelaide at the moment but as Crannitch says, good and simple songs don’t date.
“Melodies and harmonies are timeless. We’re trying to write songs without any pretension, without any trickery that people will be able to listen to in 10 years and not have people say, “God, that sounds fuckin’ dated’.”
Leader Cheetah play the Big Day Out at the Adelaide Showground on Fri Feb 1 and the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival at Fowler’s Live on Sat Feb 23.

FEMME FATALES
by David Knight
In just under six months indie dance upstarts Femme Fatales have supported Spank Rock, Muscles and Cut Off Your Hands, plus they’ve parted ways with the Christian contingent of the band. Hoping to get an EP out soon, this three-piece are due for big things and the band have clicked with its latest addition, drummer Mitch, who has joined high school friends Tom and Luke. Tom briefly explains to Rip It Up the band’s history.
“Luke and I used to play in a cover band and then we met Mitch through a friend and then he said he was a drummer and we were looking for one. We originally tried a show with two other guys first, like back in July, but we didn’t get along with them very well musically, so we decide to split and we got Mitch in August. We then went into the studio after we got Mitch on board after a week and then had our first show in September.”
Tom says they didn’t connect with the former band members musically or spiritually.
“They wanted to make a different style of music to us and they were on a different level to Luke and I. Plus it was the whole Christian thing and preaching that Luke and I didn’t take too well to - we’re here for a band, not for God.”
When the band, that sounds like a cross between The Rapture and Muscles, hits the stage, Tom says it’s the band’s intention to make the room sweaty with dancefloor action.
“I’d much rather play to a dancefloor of people jumping around and having a dance rather than people just standing there rocking there heads back and forth along to the music. That’s why our music has taken a more electronic direction with beats just ‘cause we prefer to make people dance.”
The Femme Fatales should have an EP out soon through the Sydney label Vamp and Tom says its been hard to transport their live energy onto record.
“We’re trying to put more energy into it, we had a few comments from our first recording from people that had heard us live and it was like, ‘Man, it sounds nothing like it does live because it hasn’t got that energy - hasn’t got that drive’. We’re just trying to cover that, just boosting it up a lot.”
For more info on Femme Fatales go to <myspace.com/femmefatalesband>.

SKELETONS
by Danielle O’Donohue
It starts as a whisper - a couple of friends mention a band they’ve seen and suggest you check them out. Then the whisper gets louder and the suggestions more insistent, “Seriously dude, you’ve gotta see this band, you’d love them”.
Then before too long there’s a new buzz band on the radar - a group everyone is talking about.
Right now in Adelaide the buzz band is Skeletons - a group of five 19 and 20-year-olds that sound like the best moments of the last 30 years of rock all being played at the same time.
Skeletons member Tim Deane-Freeman says he’s wary of his band’s current buzz status.
“It’s kind of scary,” Deane-Freeman admits. “Whenever bands are over-hyped they generally end up disappointing people or stumbling at some point. I’m always very suspicious of bands that people talk about.’
“A lot of the Adelaide bands I’ve liked no one talks about. They seem to soldier on and do awesome stuff no one notices a lot of the time.’’
But for a band high on everyone’s radar, Skeletons are happy confounding expectations. Two songs have only just appeared on their MySpace page - previously if you wanted to hear the band you had to see them live.
And if you have been to a Skeletons live show in the last couple of months you might have found yourself watching a headline band that varied from powerhouse noise rockers Young & Restless or Melbourne alt-country crooners Wagons to Swiss free jazz drummers, Buttercup Metal Polish.
“We’ve done some pretty strange supports,’’ Deane-Freeman concedes. “It comes down to the diversity of tastes in the band. We get to do the poppy ones and the weird ones. Buttercup Metal Polish were insane. They were playing so fast you couldn’t even see their arms moving.’’
Ask Deane-Freeman to name his ideal producer and the artists he’d most like the band to collaborate with and his answers sum up the broad-minded musical existence that Skeletons enjoy.
Behind the desk as producer, Deane-Freeman would put to work famed British post-punk icon Andy Gill (Gang of Four) while hip hop duo Clipse are his ideal musical collaborators.
Though local sound guru Dan V - the producer of the band’s debut EP, out later this year - rates very highly on the Skeletons scale of people to work with.
While a credit on a Clipse track seems unlikely, Skeletons are living up to the hype so far.
Skeletons play at the Big Day Out at the Adelaide Showground on Fri Feb 1.

WHO’S NEXT?

WE GROW UP
Winning the opportunity to support Missy Higgins at her Thebarton Theatre show last year, locals We Grow Up are now preparing their 2008 album Night Kitchen. Filled with atmospheric passages, fragile liturgies and surprising chord progressions, We Grow Up’s accomplished sound and production on Night Kitchen is an impressively creative calling card akin to Crowded House at their Together Alone peak.

HEADSTRONG COMPANY
Headstrong Company have been one of the tightest and most impressive live hip hop outfits going around A-Town for the last few years. When new material finally drops expect this crew to blow up in a major way – but we’ve all been waiting for new material for a while; put some new joints up on your MySpace page and then get that album out, guys!

TIGER STRIPES
With truckloads of experience in other bands (Antiskeptic, Move To Strike, Thinktank) spiky, angular pop newcomers Tiger Stripes are about to record their debut album. The band will be do South Australia proud when they showcase their sounds at the Fuse Festival in February, including tunes from their EP, Mexican Salsa Disco.

SOCIAL CHANGE
This three-piece hip hop outfit dropped its debut EP late last year and it impressed on a massive scale. Part of the Butterthief collective, Social Change, consisting of MC Social Change, Funkwig and DJ Snair, has got a sound that can be enjoyed by the heads and the Triple J crowd. Look out for anything Butterthief related this year, as this crew is dropping quality all over the place.

PICKS FROM THOSE IN THE KNOW

Troy J Been, Nova FM assistant program director and well-dressed DJ
"Lowrider have really impressed me from the get-go with their talent and professionalism. While others are stuck complaining about their lot, Lowrider simply set about quietly learning their craft, racking up an impressive amount of gigs from local pubs to entertainment centres and festivals. The fellas have the amazing ability of being able to transcend the local scene while simultaneously being a major part of it. They're local boys with global vision and '08 will be their defining year! I'm hangin' to hear their new shit - if they get it in the hands of Gilles Peterson they'll surely blow up worldwide..."

Tam Boakes, Jive manager
“Former Child Stars are pulling capacity crowds to venues like Jive and Rocket Bar. They have a really loyal fan base, are playing at Big Day Out 08 and tour consistently interstate. There’s lots of hype surrounding them at the moment. The John Woods Band are also pulling huge crowds to venues like Jive and The Gov. They’re also playing Big Day Out 08. They’re really talented musicians extremely dedicated to their craft and are a very hard working band.”

PJ Murton, Pulling Strings Management (representing Hilltop Hoods)
“Lowrider are definitely my number one choice for local bands to look out for in 2008. Basically, the main reason for choosing Lowrider is that these guys plain and simply make good music! They are all naturally talented musicians, with a flair for adding their own unique flavour to any project they're involved in. As their new single, film clip and LP are all due out early to mid 2008, keep more than one eye out for these guys. You can catch them touring nationally onstage with Hilltop Hoods at the Big Day Out and anyone lucky enough to score a ticket for the MySpace Secret Show, will surely agree that they are indeed the next best thing to come out of SA. When it comes to the Aussie hip hop genre - there's a load of talent here locally that are all ready to blow up. Look out for a new release from Crossbred Mongrels, the true legends of the local scene, and Terra Firma release their highly anticipated sophomore LP real soon. This year's winner of the Hilltop Hoods Initiative, Jimblah, will be releasing his debut LP. There’s also artists like Kadence, Headstrong, Common Cause and K21 (in my opinion the standout in young local talent), with many more MCs all set to rock the spot in 2008!”