When did we start saying "I'm going to go see that band tonight"? Was it when Pete Townsend smashed his guitar? When GG Allin smashed his face on the stage? When AC/DC inflated Rosie? Who can say, but one thing's for sure - somewhere along the way, listening became secondary to looking.
In the case of Melbourne's Little Red, however, people would filter out of their early shows, raving about the harmonies, the guitar tones, the whip-crack drums. Sure, the outfits were sharp, and the smiles were mile-wide, but here was a band who had so expertly cultivated their sound that you just wanted to shut your eyes and let it wash all over you.
It's fitting, then, that their debut long player is called Listen To Little Red. It's as much a throwback to the days of naively didactic album titles as it is a command: once that bouncing bass-line of Coca Cola hooks you in, you won't be able to do anything but listen (and maybe, dance).
Since they first appeared on the live circuit a year or so ago, Little Red have played at nearly every music festival in the country, and with just about every band you'd care to mention, but most of us were waiting patiently for the day when we could listen to Little Red in the comfort of our own conversation pits.
Recorded with producer/engineer Steven Schram and released on the band's own Hooch Hound Records, Listen To Little Red polishes up the band's live favourites and adds some fine new sounds to the catalogue.
In the former category, the space-race R&B of Speedo and the (frat) party-starting Little Annie and Jackie Cooper sound fresher than ever. In the latter, "side two" kicks off with Stare In Love, which would be as at home on Beserkley or Stiff Records as it is on Hooch Hound, and the bittersweet bookend, Autumn Leaves, as touching a paean to the end of summer as anything from Brian Wilson's sandbox.
The record sounds clean and fresh and ready and willing, like it's turned up to take your daughter to the junior prom with a refrigerated corsage and a souped-up convertible waiting outside. But this is no retro freak-fest; it's timelessness.
As Dom sings on Stare In Love, "Simple little things say a lot about a man", and you could easily replace "man" with "band" and find yourself with Little Red's mission statement. Listen To Little Red is as accurate a summation of a band's powers as you can get. There are no stunt guest artists here, no fiddly production, no electrorock keyboards or "Eastern period" sitars. Such simplicity teeters close to the brink of unfashionability if you ask any of the million-member, fifty-instrument "ensembles" doing the rounds today, but it shows that Little Red have the guts to let their songs speak for themselves.
It's hard to pinpoint just what makes a band great these days. In fact, it's questionable as to whether we ever really knew; after all, once upon a time it was hep for the Daily Mirror (in 1964) to describe the Rolling Stones as"on the beat with Not Fade Away, which is in the modern idiom" - hardly an illustrious critical beginning to the 40-year rock'n'roll juggernaut that Jagger and Richards et al would become. And, on the flipside, my Dad once took a bet that Gerry & The Pacemakers would be bigger than The Beatles. Good one, Dad.
The point is, ignore the hype all that matters is music. And if it's music, great music, that you're after, you will find it when you Listen To Little Red.
Particularly if that's all you listen to.
the cuckoos and the hondas supporting the greasers this fri at royal derby. Be sure to come down early we're launching our new ep Perfect View it's awesome..
Thee Wylde Oscars this Saturday July 18 @ the North Melbourne Town Hall Hotel, 10pm - FREE! New obscure garage R&B and powerpop numbers to shake ur ass to!
Just dropping by to say hey, and to wish you a good up coming week. Hope all is good in your world. Keeping it low. No music,No life. Bernard from Geneva/Rio.
In Light In ------------ Deep and difficult can be the thoughts. Profound realizations may be too late. Skilled the subtle wants to find you here. Penetrating the weightiness of the occult. Lessons on how to keep the mind informed. Shrewd and serious are my statements. Reflective I see my past as so mysterious. Philosophical in wants but less in life's ways. Cavernous are your own pits of hidden things. No bewilder on the blame as you know its home. Edify but advise as you take hands to hold. Appraise and give cause to fully understand. Preach to persuade from actions as reactions. Reveal some savvy cultivations of wanted thought. No luminescence to show the true of your advice. Teach more than you have been taught the rest. Convert the sophisticated to make it all so simple. Just improve the information and checks its clout.
fantastic set on wednesday night guys! Come back soon! And thanks for the autographs/photos too, its great when bands take time out for their fans! Hope you enjoyed Townsville, and we made an impression on you to come back! xxxxxxx
hey lads! was just listening to ur album and it took me back to big day out in perth... oh wat a day ha :) cant wait for the new album and cant wait for ur show in perth!
no she didnt but that sounds awesome!! I will let lindsay know... i can bring the tv since i have a semi big one lol I hate unpacking. It suckkksss. Why didn't you tell me you wanted to go, I would have taken you, since i'm making that extra coin i make from taking those paid surveys online helps out alot tho; you should really do them too; i mean, hey, the extra money comes in handy, right? i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is: www. work4surveys .com
Sooo goood!<BR>Awesome gig tonight. It was realy great finally having a conversation with you dominick, and we'll defs stay in touch.<BR><BR>Takahiro was so good on drums :D ryan (our drummer) loved him. Haha<BR><BR>Jarrod.<BR>MirrorMade.
LTD TOUR EDITION ALBUM/DVD
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