Jangle pop that's anything but what the name might suggest from Australia’s Full Ugly

First in a series of releases on their way from Brisbane’s Bedroom Suck records via Fire Records

Full Ugly - Spent The Afternoon (OUT 7TH APRIL)

Up to now my exposure to the musical talents of them folks down under has been shamefully limited.
Men At Work's
'Down Under' of course readily and lazily springs to mind, conjuring recollections of car journeys listening to my Dad's mixtapes on the way down to Cornwall. Same goes for
Midnight Oil's
'Beds Are Burning', both forever enshrined and entangled in memories of formative years. More latterly over the last decade or so I've had a slow-burning romance with
Nick Cave and his
Bad Seeds, first teased with the bruised heartache of
'The Boatman's Call' and coming to full penny-drop devotion with last year's
'Push The Sky Away', but you can safely say my Antipodean musical literacy is rudimentary at best. On the evidence of
Spent The Afternoon, the debut release from Melbourne psych-pop slacker’s
Full Ugly, that could all be set to change. The album’s the first in a tie-up with the excellently named Brisbane-based DIY label Bedroom Suck for Fire Records (home to the none too shabby likes of
Guided By Voices,
Robert Pollard and
Howe Gelb as well as a back catalogue that boasts
Teenage Fanclub,
The Lemonheads and
Neutral Milk Hotel for starters), and as an opening statement, a glimpse of the burgeoning underground scene way over yonder, mighty fine it is too. Pitched somewhere in the ballpark of a more lo-fi
Real Estate,
Spent The Afternoon is
nine tracks of woozy jangle, spindling guitar riffs and stoner melodies (not to mention song titles –
‘Hanging Around’ and
‘No Plans’ for instance). Like
Real Estate they’re seemingly heavily influenced by the bands of the C86-era with a more than a passing resemblance to
The Television Personalities, which coupled with the
Syd Barrett-esque vocals of Nathan Burgess belies their roots, some distinctly English sounds from way down under. Either way it bodes well for the tie-up and certainly sets the bar high for what’s to follow.
7/10
http://bedroomsuckrecords.com/
http://www.firerecords.com/site/index.php http://youtu.be/qk0BbsqTRaw  

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