A selection of new Australian music for the dancefloor, rumpus room and smokey dark corners of your mind/car/lavatory.





So I'm Jo - 'Everything's Ahead'

Still yet to see them live but it seems Sydneysiders So I'm Jo are offering a way out of the squelch-heavy fluro scene afflicting much of the country right now.

There's still hints of it in their "laid back > banger" approach to the dancefloor - and arguably a touch of Cut Copy in their melding of indie rock to beats and whatnot - but most of all there's something comforting about the washes and gentle pulses running through their otherwise hip-shaking tunes. 'Everything's Ahead' (via electrorash) suggests an element of craft and consideration rather than just trying to hype the crap out of everyone from the get-go. Sure there's a place for that as well but the dynamic between the two is what eventually sets artists apart from the bandwagoneers. There's also something about the ghostly vocals that reminds me a lot of slow-core Adelaide group Aviator Lane as well. This is a pro.

The duo - Glen Cassidy (vocals /instruments) and Damon Cameron (instruments) - are hooked up with the Modular crew (but don't let that put you off harterz) so expect to see more of them shortly I'd suggest.

www.myspace.com/soimjo

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Crayon Fields - 'All The Pleasures Of The World'

Whispery Melbourne pop group Crayon Fields have a new album on the way in September. They're gearing up for it with a 7" single in August featuring the title track 'All The Pleasures of the World', and if you can absorb lines like "I curl up my body hoping you'll protect it / I mess up my collar just to feel you correct it" - because let's face it, not everyone can - then there's some craftily arranged classic pop gurgling underneath.

The group have been quiet of late on the live front, so get yourself to their run of launch shows in August. Details on their MySpace:

myspace.com/crayonfields

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(Pic: Ben Butcher)



Margins - 'Shot'

Margins are a "new" Melbourne instrumental group made up essentially of the dudes from Blacklevel Embassy and a guitarist from now-defunct spiky guitar shouters Rythym Bell. Blacklevel might have made their name on tough-as-fuck guitar workouts and chest-puffing but they do have links back to a quieter time; bassist Brett O'Riley was in the short lived/much loved instrumentalists Little General way back when post-rock was still a shiny new term.



Margins - 'And Manowaltz'

There are definitely hints of that band in Margins, but the muscularity of Blacklevel shines through constantly; no matter how laid back the band grooves, there's a tension that threatens to bubble over at any moment. It never does but the threat is there, making Margins a dark horse that trots rather than bolts. Which is a good thing. Sometimes there's more devastating evil and dramatic beauty in restraint, than full throttle guitar histrionics could ever hope to achieve. Margins encapsulate this perfectly.

Their album is out now.

myspace.com/marginsband

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The Scare - 'Could Be Bad'


The Scare are one of those bands that seemed to have shapeshifted through a few genres but haven't found a foothold in one. The result is that one could be excused for arguing they're guilty of trend-hopping vs still finding their feet, but a healthy array of fans probably couldn't give a shit. They're back from a stint provoking crowds in the UK with a new Daniel Johns produced affair, a suave take on pub rock in the vein of old school Tex Perkins and friends. Problem is this kind've stuff is supposed to be unhinged, squalid, manic. On 'Could Be Bad' - a song about being wasted; vomit, girls, smoking, pick a vice - The Scare sound like they're just passing through. And perhaps maybe more worrisome, unmemorable.

Their album Oozevoodoo is out August 7th.

myspace.com/thescare