Smarts
Who Needs Smarts, Anyway?

Over the last four years the Geelong group have become a burgeoning force in the Australian punk scene. Their burly, brusque yet supple songs have evolved from the garage rock of 2017’s TV Organs album into the post-punk panic attack of last year’s Company Man EP. Now they’ve sculpted their sound further, the barrage now offset with robust songwriting, their full-pelt bounce tempered with flailing guitar lines and sardonic commentary. Bringing to mind Wire tackling tracks from early 7”s by The Yummy Fur, it’s an inspired approach, both striking and effortlessly mirthful. Vintage Crop still dish-up plenty of commanding stomp, their lyrics remain as keen-eyed as ever, but now they’re unafraid to mess with the tempo and drive their point home.

Drawing from a collective musical lexicon as seen in Amici, Sogni (which translates to 'Dreams') reflects on themes of decision-making, change, time, heartbreak and the practicalities of work and daily life. Primo!'s music is a study of duality, weaving through these themes with an idiosyncratic delivery that is punctuated by post-punk sensibilities, upbeat jangle and unexpected electronic flourishes.Sogni sees the introduction of Amy Hill on bass, adding to the original trio of Suzanne Walker (drums), Violetta Del Conte-Race and Xanthe Waite (guitars). There’s a freshness here, a breaking of new territory that's a testament to the group’s collaborative work ethic and experience in their associated bands.Spanning just under 30 minutes, Sogni’s twelve songs were conceived collectively in the rehearsal room and perfected in a live setting, before being recorded to an 8-track with Al Montfort across a number of home studios in Melbourne.The resulting LP comes with a languid and fluid pace. Opener “Things To Do” sets the tone for Sogni, a record that reflects Primo!’s day-to-day life, with sharp lyrics and a chiming encouragement. “Perfect Paper” propels the album into cruise, with splintering guitars, “Machine” highlights the work-hierarchy struggle (you told me just what I should do / but the problem is you’re only human / and I just can’t listen to you / machine, machine, machine”). “Best and Fairest” questions the idea of an ideal life, while “Love Days” reflects on past relationships and “Diamond Day” deals in accidentally being swept up in love. Before long, the LP is wrapped up with a hazy and intimate final track, “Reverie”.Primo! are making guitar music that explores the boundaries of everyday life with calm levity, tilted grace and grit.

Originally released in January 2019 on Anti Fade, and then re-released in the UK by Full Time Hobby in September, both pressings are long out of print and much sought after.The reissue of Do Yeah features reworked artwork by drummer Jimi Gregg as well as a bonus third track, “Crane In The Tiger’s Mouth”, which was recorded at the same time as the rest of the 7” and released in the UK on the Full Time Hobby repress, but never saw the light of day in Australia until now. A heavily flute based track, Crane In The Tiger’s Mouth sees the band venturing into some jazzy areas blending ba-ba vocals and a lovely harpsichord melody over a tricky, off-kilter time signature.Do Yeah was recently announced as part of the soundtrack for Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2021 video game, which has welcomed many new fans far and wide to the Bananagun fanbase.Limited to 500 copies (with the first 150 on red vinyl).

Bananagun have hatched another slick psyched-out gem that's part Motown banger, part funkadelic soul train that's just rolled in from the Melbourne outback. Rapid fire congas take hold before a close to home love story unfolds, as leader Nick explains:"It’s located in the heart and is basically me dealing with a break up and putting that into a song. Love is strange? You jump in the deep end with someone, roll the dice and pay the price but there’s no floatation device when the river runs dry. I just got married and then suddenly it all turned pear shaped, what the hell can you do? In those hard times the best way to get some clarity is to make a song about it, sing it back to me! Look inside, no answers, only dancers. Hopefully there’s as energy transfer."With the aim of merging the proto-garage rhythmic fury of The Monks with the tropicália grooves of Os Mutantes, the band have forged a sound that is loose and unravelling as it is focused and taut, with an aim of creating a real sense of place and environment. “We didn't want to do what everyone else was doing,” the band say. “We wanted it to be vibrant, colourful and have depth like the jungle. Like an ode to nature.”

Creating their own world of cheerful melodies, playful rhythms and absurdly catchy hooks, Parsnip carry on with what they do best but only with more charm and charisma than ever, resulting in the the four fine tracks that complete “Adding Up”. The members of the band share around the song-writing and even throw a cover of Fire’s “Treacle Toffee World” into the mix!Celebrate the new Parsnip record however you can best, in your own time, space and home!

Hailing from Melbourne, but with a sound stretching from 60s and 70s afrobeat and exotica to Fela Kuti-esque repetition, the proto-garage rhythmic fury of The Monks and the grooves of Os Mutantes, there’s an enticing lost world exoticism to the music of Bananagun. It’s the sort of stuff that could’ve come from a dusty record crate of hidden gems; yet as the punchy, colourfully vibrant pair of singles Do Yeah and Out of Reach have proven over the past 12 months, the band are no revivalists. On debut album The True Story of Bananagun, they make a giant leap forward with their outward-looking blend of global tropicalia.The True Story of Bananagun marks Bananagun’s first full foray into writing and recording as a complete band, having originally germinated in the bedroom ideas and demos of guitarist, vocalist and flautist Nick van Bakel. The multi-instrumentalist grew up on skate videos, absorbing the hip-hop beats that soundtracked them - taking on touchstones like Self Core label founder Mr. Dibbs and other early 90’s turntablists.That love of the groove underpins Bananagun - even if the rhythms now traverse far beyond those fledgling influences. "We didn't want to do what everyone else was doing,” the band’s founder says. “We wanted it to be vibrant, colourful and have depth like the jungle. Like an ode to nature."Van Bakel was joined first by cousin Jimi Gregg on drums – the pair’s shared love of the Jungle Book apparently made him a natural fit – and the rest of the group are friends first and foremost, put together as a band because of a shared emphasis on keeping things fun. Jack Crook (guitar/vocals), Charlotte Tobin (djembe/percussion) and Josh Dans (bass) complete the five-piece and between them there’s a freshness and playful spontaneity to The True Story of Bananagun, borne out of late night practice jams and hangs at producer John Lee’s Phaedra Studios.Bananagun are first and foremost a band enthused with the joy of living and The True Story of Bananagun is a ebullient listen; van Bakel - as the main songwriter - is keen not to let any lyrical themes overpower that. There’s more to this record than blissed out grooves and tripped out fuzz though: The Master is about learning to be your own master and resisting the urge to compare yourself to others; She Now addresses gender identity and extolls the importance of people being able to identify how they feel. Then there’s closing track Taking The Present For Granted, which perhaps sums up the band’s ethos on life, trying to take in the world around you and appreciating the here and now.The True Story of Bananagun then is perhaps a tale of finding beauty in even these most turbulent of times.