Acid Mothers Reynols
Vol.2

Efficient Space: ...Efficient Space continues to expose Australia’s esoteric musical history with Oz Waves - a collection of 80s DIY recordings, compiled by odd wave anthropologist Steele Bonus. Definitive proof that inhabitants of the Down Underground were links in a global network of creative kooks, Oz Waves connects those who utilised mobile recording rigs and small press releases to create and disseminate misfit synth-punk, tape loop experiments and inner city pop. Through overseas mail order exchanges, anonymous groups like Zerox Dreamflesh could find place on Belgian compilations, while Chris and Cosey lullabied their son to sleep with Irena Xero and her interdisciplinary art collective Zip.

Bonus selects 10 survivors from this fertile period (1982-1989), most of which were only issued on cassette in tiny editions of 5 to 100 copies. M Squared affiliates Prod join the extraterrestrial Software Seduction, minimal wave neglect from He Dark Age and the irreverent cut ups of The Horse He's Sick and MK Ultra & the Assassins of Light. The remaining tracks have been sourced from musicians’ private archives and are being officially released on Oz Waves for the first time - Andy Rantzen’s industrial dub Itch-E & Scratch-E precursor, the buoyant vocal-drone of Ironing Music and Moral Fibro, Sydney’s short lived answer to Weekend and Marine Girls. With detailed track by track notes, lines are drawn to Severed Heads, Scattered Order and other antipodean post-punk royalty.

As a DJ, Steele Bonus has gained notoriety via the exquisite selections that form his ongoing mix series Odd Waves. Sydney-born, Amsterdam-based, his graphic design has not only been responsible for sleeves on Efficient Space, but also trusted Amsterdam connoisseurs Music From Memory and Young Marco’s Safe Trip.

When the Tree Bears Fruit is the debut album from Melbourne four-piece Parsnip. Following on from two 7-inches in the last two years, Parsnip’s first full-length is playful, poetic, propulsive punk.An album perpetually in motion, When the Tree Bears Fruit is just over half an hour of absurd, understated energy. There’s an immediacy to the sheer joy, velocity and whimsy of Parsnip’s delivery. Bass player and most-of-the-time lyricist Paris Richens is the first to admit that she finds inspiration in children’s verse and the sonics of nursery rhymes – “Sprouts” is an ode to plants in their first form, and “Trip the Light” is about the sheer joy of dancing. That said, Richens’ bandmates – drummer Carolyn Hawkins, guitarist Stella Rennex and keys player Rebecca Liston – are quick to remind her that nursery rhymes are almost always pretty twisted.No one is being baked into a pie in a Parsnip song, but they deal in themes of loneliness, longing, the unknown and the mundane, almost as much as they dream of travel and make a romantic spectacle of the everyday. Across the album, transport and movement recur as an image, mostly alluding to a dreamy sense of possibility: lead single “Lift Off” is a plea for a quick flight away, “Seafarer” is a voyage against nature’s adversity, and “Lighthouse Beacon” sees a hope in the distance.Ultimately, this is an album that invites its listener to join in its celebration: the record’s title, inspired by the ideas of guru and poet Sri Chinmoy, refers to the idea that a tree will grow fruit and it will be offered for anyone and everyone to share in. The band see this principle as it applies to their work – to sharing their joy and nonsense with the world, and hoping people will enjoy it.

hellosQuare: ...Agency's stream of consciousness art-punk might seem miles away from their previous and parallel bands - A Drone Coda, Hoodlum Shouts and Spartak - but the influences that have always been in the background come to the fore with this piece of power pop in the style of Husker Dü and The Stooges on this debut single. On the flipside, Assad (Ben Andrews from My Disco/Agents Of Abhorrence) pulls apart an Agency instrumental and sets it adrift in a wash of Islamic prayer calls and Jakarta street sounds.

Rory Heane and Jonno Ross-Brewin have been best mates since their first year of primary school in Melbourne's south-east, and have been playing music together since forming two-piece SeeSaw when they were 18 years old (Rory has also kept busy with the likes of The Blinds and The Stroppies). The seeds for Program were sown in the duo's sharehouse in 2016 when they began writing songs together on guitar for the first time, and the band sprouted in earnest the following year when old friends James Kane (The Faculty, Meter Men) and James Tyrell (Meter Men) were roped in on bass and drums respectively. Since then, the group has graduated from jams and house shows to regular gigs around Melbourne, adding keyboardist Jessie Fernandez (DARTS) along the way.October 2018 saw Program record with Anti Fade mogul Billy Gardner in his Geelong studio. The lightning sessions yielded the band's debut LP, Show Me. Also mixed and soon to be released by Gardner through Anti Fade, the LP will be the band's first release of any sort.The nine tracks on Show Me channel the deeply personal and often unfathomable nature of modern being through snarling, tangled riffs and power chords into a fresh brand of unhinged, modern Australiana - just as easy to dance to as is it to cry to. "It's personal heartache, disappointment, broader social panic, everyday confusion and a general acceptance of it all" says Jonno of the record's themes.The lead single "Motorbike", penned by Rory, showcases the band's knack for tight guitar harmonies, effortless noodling and endless charm. It's the electric twang of Neil Young with the cool swagger of Pavement. The Go-Betweens burning the Midnight Oil. Rory describes it as an anthem of frustration and self-doubt: "The protagonist sits static in traffic while a woman on a motorcycle whizzes past. It's a metaphor for your position in society: feeling stuck and watching haplessly as someone else zooms ahead".

ORANGE MILK RECORDS: ...Drose is on the forefront of the evolving experimental / outsider metal scene, and have developed a devout following from their incredible live shows. Their music contains the power and aggression of traditional metal music without the macho posturing. At times the heaviness takes on a sense of beauty or bittersweetness, aided by an alternately hushed and scathing unconventional vocal performance. Boy Man Machine is also built on a foundation of industrial machine samples which create a rigid, mechanical base that perfectly contrasts the overarching human elements.