Not From There - Sand On Seven

YOURZ

We haven't got really close to this kind of music in our collection, although The Mint Chicks fall somewhat in the zone.  And that zone is what is known as noise rock or post-rock, to some.  I can't admit to being a fan of a lot of what there is to offer but I know what I like.

Not From There chiefly came to the attention of Australian fans with the song Sich Offen, first released as a single and then with this album.  That the lyrics are sung mostly in Austrian didn't seem to make a difference to the listeners.  It's a grinding burst of dance-friendly rock.  I remember seeing the band live back around the time this was released and it was great to see the beard-strokers and the ravers mix it up.

Their follow-up album, Latvian Lovers, is a lot more playful with less of the vaguely Teutonic soundscapes this  album uses as padding.  But there are still a few gems to be found.  Hurricane Charlie opens the album, bursting out of the speakers like a siren.  This is followed by Juanita's Cocktail Party, a gear-changing piece of distorted mania while The Corkscrew builds on a distinct snare break and distorted vocals until it explodes in a wall of distortion.

I remember really liking all of this album at one point but now it just sounds a bit too wanky and conceited.  And I know Mine is going to be pretty damned impressed too, so lets...

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT 

MINE

Well, it started OK.  A well-paced, rocky opener... and then it all went south.  Tweets and buzzes, singing in German fer gossake. That deeply indie I'm-not-really-singing-this-is more-like-beat-poetry-set-to-music stuff.  Wanky is the word.  I have to admit I didn't really listen to much of the album, as I'd get about 30 seconds in to each track before screaming loudly and pressing the "next" button.  So I guess I'm going to be predictable here.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT or off a high cliff...

For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_from_There (we know its Wikipedia but this is all there is, folks).

In our collection we also have Latvian Lovers

The Mint Chicks - Screens

MINE

So I had really no idea about this band before listening to this album, other than they're from New Zealand and on the Flying Nun label (which most of the better NZ acts seem to be).  I'll have to admit I thought they were a bit noisier than they are - a pleasant surprise when I realised they're on the pop side of indie pop (mostly).

I'll also have to admit that I haven't really given this album the detailed listen I think it deserves, as I was cooking madly at the time.  But it was good cooking music apart from the last track Life Will Get Better Someday which didn't get better the longer I listened to it, just worse.  It was one of those tunes that crossed over from indie pop to indie yuk. A fine line to travel, and many better bands ahve fallen over it before the Mint Chicks, so I guess I'll forgive them one dud song.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

Signed to my favourite New Zealand label, Flying Nun, The Mint Chicks are some seriously crazy dudes (in fact, their second full length album acknowledged this with the title Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! )  Led by brothers Koby and Rubin Neilson, they take pop music down a twisted, idiosyncratic path and leave it to fend for itself.  Thankfully, under the Chicks tutelage, it thrives.

Screens, the third album from this now Portland, Oregon-based four-piece, sees them continue on this odyssey of giving the world their skewed pop fancies, devoid of any restrictions or limitations.  The melodies dart about like spastic birds in a psychedelic sky, led by Koby Neilson's effected vocal delivery.  And musically, theirs is a mixed-up world of vocoders, analog synths and garage punk rock.  I like it a lot.

But then, with titles like Don't Sell Your Brain Out, Baby, Life Will Get Better Someday and I Can't Stop Being Foolish, this is ultimately an album of well-disguised pop enthusiasm, something that always appeals to me.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to http://www.themintchicks.com/

In our collection we also have Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No, Octagon Octagon Octagon (EP) and Anti-Tiger (EP)