THREE cheers for the ANCIENT MARINATORS, two former Novocastrians and two other blokes from Sydney, who've produced an independent album that's about as fresh as a briny summer breeze.
It even has a nautical flavour - with the delightful moniker of MULLLET - which is a bit of a misnomer really, since there's nothing fishy at all about this five-track CD.
Playing at the Northern Star Hotel this Saturday night with PEEPSHOW, the Marinators are singer guitarist MURRAY LEE and drummer MARK HETHERINGTON, formerly of early 1990s Newcastle pop group THE BUGBEARS. Other members are GLENN CONE on bass guitar and BRUCE THOMAS on guitar.
Track one WICKED SMILE is reminiscent of THE MAVIS'S brand of soaring pop and harmonies in the melodies department, but with more of a riffola rock instrumentation. The track has just been picked up by THE BIG BACKYARD radio program which is distributed to hundreds of college stations across the United States and Europe.
The second song MELODY MAKER edges towards Brit Pop, a la PULP and OASIS, but the lyrics are not about the London music mag, but rather that elusive muse that peeves songwriters everywhere from time to time.
There's also a wonderful upbeat fuzz-ringing version of the normally ethereal-sounding 10CC song I'M NOT IN LOVE, dragging the 1970s dinosaur heaving into the stripped back and raw-as-hell late 1990s.
To round things off SLEEP has a pensive brilliance while DADDY'S A SPIDER, is a piece of punk nonsense that caps off an album you'll want to set on repeat immediately.
TE has two copies of MULLET to give away. To go in the draw send an envelope with your name, address and telephone number on the back to ANCIENT MARINATORS GIVEAWAY, PO Box 200, Newcastle, 2300. Or enter on-line through the TE web site at www.nnp.com.au
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