Fuuuuck, this song rules. Mi Ami carry this pounding rhythm for over 6 minutes here, without losing any of it’s original steam. There seems to be heaps of reference to African beats when talking about Mi Ami, which I guess fits, but its the way they’ve made something so abrasive come off as so catchy that I think is the song / band’s real strength. Vocalist Daniel Martin-McCormick even throws down the chorus of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” mid-song, referencing that seems to be carried on throughout their sophomore album, Steal Your Face (which, incidentally, stole Bob Marleys face for it’s cover). There’s nods to Tom Tom Club and Springsteen, despite their being hardly any sonic connection between the bands (except, maybe, the fact that they use tom toms?). This track is a flat out chuggernaut, McCormicks vocals high and shrieking over tight, propulsive guitar / drums combo. Dance-punk? It’s more of a foot tapper than a floor stomper to listen to, although I’m guessing Mi Ami threw it down with maximum violence in the studio. Shit is AGGRESSIVE. Easily on of the highlights of the year so far.

Mi Ami – Latin Lover

So if you have  read this column at all regularly, you’ll notice I’ve got a bit of a semi for British 3-piece Male Bonding. Their simplistic pummel has been pretty joyous to my ears over the last year or so, even if it has been via terribly recorded tracks released on Paradise Vendors compilations or splits with the likes of Eat Skull. No more! Their debut LP, Nothing Hurts, is out on Sub Pop in May, and here’s a taster of their scrubbed-up pop racket. The most noticeable thing for me on the new tracks is the bass. As in, it exists. You can hear it. It doesn’t add much to the mix on much of Nothing Hurts, but on T.U.F.F, everything manages to mix in superrrbly. The vocal hook is effectively a better version of Paradise Vendors (which didn’t translate into album material well at all), and as long as you can endure brief cowbell spasms, you should come through this one alive and happy. The albums hit and miss, but it’s hits are worth the album. It’s what, 28 minutes long or something anyway?

Male Bonding – T.U.F.F

Male Bonding – Crooked Scene

T54 are a band from Christchurch. They used to be called Joe Sampson and the T54. They played at Glastombury, which was effectively a microcosm of the messiest parts of CALH, over New Years 2009 vs 2010. It was dusk, and it was pretty refreshing, after a few sloppy sets from bands that had already played at the festival, to have a band play a furious set that managed to be ‘hella tight’ too. Via bandcamp, T54 now have two collections of tracks – one which appears to be ‘pre-54′, and another of demos recorded voer the course of 2009, entitled ‘12 Songs Madras’. Hoooly. Many of the tracks are plain disgusting – like, 3Ds ripoff disgusting. Really, really good disgusting. ‘I can’t afford to record anywhere good yet which is a fucking shame because I’ve written some really good songs’ disgusting. Squalls of rackety guitar parts, which mould themselves into a pretty arrogant struts (a la Big Time) or Spaghetti Western punk in Localism. . It’s not all clamour and swagger, though – tracks like Chicken Roll Model exhibit restrained guitar pop that manages to echo Mestar in it’s frail higher-range vocals and simple, chugging distortion. Easily one of the best bands operating in Christchurch at the moment.Good cover of Hey Seuss every now and then too, for good measure.

T54 Bandcamp (Everything available for free download there)

(Photo by Chris Andrews)

So it’s not as intense as, say Frenchys, but Holy Fuck still churn out a bit of tension here in their new single, Latin America. It’s first three quarters keeps it lightish with some minor chord action and, weirdly, some Moby vibes, but it’s the home run that seals the deal, drums fading out into dashboard electronics and static sweeps that put their little toe into Fuck Buttons territory, but only ever so slightly. Holy Fuck aren’t exactly turning their sound upside down, but it’s good to have new material. Even if it is a little too relaxed to be exciting.

Holy Fuck – Latin America

Okay I think I first heard this at the Mount Pleasant / With Moths / Rhinoceros extravaganza at Watusi approximately a month ago (that was a p. cool show by the way, too many Phil Elverum vibes to count), and it’s almost disturbing in it’s fidelity to the original. I mean obviously it’s Julian Lynch so it’s not going to be a full on Lauper assault, but it totally carries the tenderness of the originaly ditty. Lynch’s voice gets all high and soaring and touching – inspirational stuff. It’s been kicking around for aaaaages and now that I’ve found it, pretty much kicking myself for not getting weepy and singing along in my room at night earlier.

Julian Lynch – Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper cover)

Ummmmm so looks like Foals did a total Primary Colours on this one, their new track Spanish Sahara proving that they can move beyond mathy hi-hat ravaging annoyance pretty expertly. For one thing, it’s tender. Vulnerable, even. Younis Phillipakis (best name ever amirite) gets pretty emo amongst his (admittedly middling) opening lyrics, before we get beeps and guitar builds, Foals actually showing some restraint across the 7-minute track. Pretty funny that the lyrics are constantly referring to leaving the ‘horror’ behind, considering parts of this (ie where the swirling effects speed up mid-track) echo Sea Within A Sea a little too closely. That being said, it still holds its own. And it’s always nice to see bands grow up a bit. New albums called Total Life Forever, out in May on Sub Pop.

Foals – Spanish Sahara

(Holla @EMJ / Michael Harvey for this KILLER AS shot of Jupiter Keyes exorcising his inner demons)

I can’t believe my timing on this one. Actually walked in as HEALTH were walking onstage. For real. I’d been warned off Beast Wars – something about ‘Nickelback vocals’. Buy hey, I can’t really make that call. THAT is why I used speech marks. Anyway. I think I’m still in shock from just how incredible this set was. Dripping with bizarre electronic tidal waves and monster machine sounds, I was soooo doubtful as to whether they could emulate their records live. Seriously. They didn’t just emulate the record, they reproduced and obliterated it. Die Slow began with this bizarre 90 second riff jam, before, with a twist of a knob from John Famiglietti, the glitched beat emerged from nowhere, before being swallowed whole by Jake Duzsik’s juggernaut riffs. It was the obvious crowd favourite, and with good reason. But we were treated to so much more. Triceratops literally gave off heat, all of the band joining the wordless vocals between the noise explosions. Pedals, toms, zoothorns were all shared as they maniacally spasmed around onstage (except for prettyboy Famiglietti, whose role seems confined to enigmatic, still power chords and a trancey, swaying dance around his instruments du chanson), tearing through almost every song you’d want to hear (but for the life of me, I cannot remember if we got Glitter Pills). Nice Girls and Before Tigers, despite being two of the more ‘downbeat’ tracks on Get Color, managed to provide two of the most intense moments of the night. Particularly the latter, with BJ Millers frantic floor tom hits creating all kinds of thunder in the air. It was punishing and intense, yet also HEALTH kept everything insanely precise. Nothing was missed. Actually. Nothing. The telepathic pause & crash moments in We Are Water were picture perfect, Death + had its intensity on record multiplied a millionfold, without losing any of its menacing rhythm. Seriously, this has to be one of the most flawlessly intense shows I have seen.

And then, as quickly as they had erupted into this angry frenzy through their blistering set, there was a sudden moment of total bliss as they exited with In Violet, muted and shimmering, as the crowd effectively stood in awe. Oh yeah, crowd was a little quiet – I think I expected a lot more energy from everyone. But, given the spectacle that was HEALTH’s stage presence, everyone can be forgiven for not moshing a little: noone wanted to miss a second of what was occurring onstage for the sake of a little headbanging. The encore was acknowledged, and they returned for two tracks, finishing on Girl Attorney (I may yet stand corrected), which served as a perfect microcosm for the show as a whole: short, precise, a little bizarre, incredibly abrasive, and somehow, as I think about it know, kinda infallible. Think about it: has anyone heard any complaints about this show?All I can think of is that Jupiter Keyes’ murder eyes as he screamed at his tom (see above) gave me nightmares. Even then, I’m not complaining.

A Dead Forest Index: A

One incredible find for me this year. Working on the spaces inbetween vocals / guitar / drums as well as the aforementioned instruments themselves, ADFI created these incredibly haunting tracks, vocals ranging from an almost Liars falsetto-ish delicateness to strained belting – the live looping kept everything interesting in terms of the creation of their tracks live, and the minimal drumming complemented the stark fucking bleakness of their tracks perfectly. Stunninggggg.

Bandicoot: B

The sketches have gone from their sets, it seems (thank god), replaced by a pretty amazing array of rap hits, from Soulja Boy to Big Dwayne (Yip. That one.) That being said, it almost feels like they need new moves for their live set – I can’t imagine their band’s longevity when almost every show includes moving of the drum kit and a rap breakdown in the middle of, or after, Silence is Golden. It’s still incredibly entertaining, I just hope they can keep it fresh for themselves and the crowd in the coming year – their camp sets hinted towards the opposite of that.

Bang Bang Eche: B+

It’s not their fault that their set got hammed, a broken sampler gave the crowd total blueballs treatment about one bar out from the drop in Fistful of Dollars, but in-band joke fights and a hyperactive / angry first half of the set satisfied the masses who were still out for partying (some even looked out for blood, FUCK YOU VIOLENT TOPLESS HACKS). For a camp which has stepped further away from guitar-based music than any camp prior, it was a pretty good ‘circle of life’ set to end campus on. If only technology hadn’t failed us all.

Batrider: A-

Whilst their barn set was the one with the blood on the guitar and the crowd of angry Jens Lekman haters, it was Batrider’s midday set in the pool which completely sold me. There’s something madly hypnotic in the sway of Sarah Chadwick as she built up the tension of their last track, a refrain of ‘Did you try to take me for a ride’ repeating over the course of what felt like five minutes, hanging in the air palpably before erupting into screams and metal brutality. New favourite old band. Not actually old though. More like ‘old’.

Brains: B+

The DDD influence is still obviously pretty hard to avoid when watching a Brains set, but they’ve taken on their own ragged sense of fun to their music. The rolling on the ground / animal hat combo seemed a little forced ‘we are a FUN noisy band OKAY’, but the performance as a whole totally justified the amount of exposure they’ve had over the last few months – now where the FUCK is Constant Love Forever??!?

Dan Deacon: F

Sure, his set was amazing. I have no problem saying that. But I resent that nerdy cream puff SO FUCKING MUCH for making me more exhausted than I have ever been in recent memory. I signed up for grape expectations. Not grievous bodily harm.

Dent May: A

I only caught his set at 1030am on the last day, but it was stellar. Taking cues from all your favourite 60s wireless radio beach hits, he crafts these amazing tongue-in-cheek odes to women, dance parties, alcoholism and the like, accompanied by someone who could only be a failed contestant in Fleet Foxes idol on perfect falsetto harmonies, breaking the Robin Pecknold mould only once to shriek out ‘SHRED IT MOTHERFUCKERRRRR’ pre Uke solo. I don’t think there is any better way to start the day than this.

DHDFDs: A+

Those early RHCP basslines seem to have been eschewed in favour of savage 80s noisepunk Bad Brains brutality, and there was even a Big Black cover in their set (thanks Bhan). So now, not only do DHDFDs put on the best show you’re likely to be scared by, their sound matches up perfectly. Name me one other band where you could witness a vocalist smashing his head on a 44 gallon drum, rolling it down the middle of an empty pool, surrounded by minions, before mooning the crowd, and, micless, screaming out the final verses of their set closer like some demonic nazi warlord. Seriously. Their singer out-Iggy’d Iggy.

Die! Die! Die!: A+

Valedictorians Die x3 showed everyone how it was done on the last night. The crowd edging ever closer throughout the whole set must have been pretty annoying for the band, but they countered it by throwing themselves into the crowd at every opportunity and basically just delivering a perfectly balanced set: Ashtray Ashtray and  Out of the Blue mixed in with a whole host of terrifyingly good new songs, capped off with a full stage invasion during an encore of Britomart Sunset. AND YOU THOUGHT THEY COULDN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THEY ALREADY WERE.

Dodos: A-

Slightly lower mark than they would otherwise have received solely because their new material is nearly as lacklustre live as it was on record, paling in comparison to the total total TOTAL bliss of Fools / Jodi / Park Song. Or maybe it was just the acid.

East Brunswick All Girls Choir: A-

The music on its own probably merits this band a slightly lesser grade (not that it’s bad, their take on Veilsy balladry is amazing – think Nux Vomica without the wanky posturing and silly hats), but their set was phenomenal. Drunken abuse of bandmates, intermittent cries of drunkedness. If you couldn’t smell the booze on them from the front few rows, you could definitely see it from anywhere in a 100m vicinity. Not that it was a bawdy mess- rather, it supplied EBAGC with a sloppy charm that brought their set from being a collection of noisy epics to being simply the perfect mess.

God Bows To Math: A

Savage, and funny. Easily the best banter of camp, and the mere fact that Jeremy Amos can wake up with a tube in his dick, come back to camp, play a 130pm set, and manage to rip on Gaywyre, Brooke Howard Smith, and certain incredible kids whilst delivering an insanely brutal set alongside his (ex-) bandmates is intimidating. So intimidating that I’m not going to dare giving a lower mark than an A for their set.

Golden Axe: A-

Whilst their set in Animal House was good but not great, it was in the pool where Golden Axe nailed it. Obscured by and silhouetted behind a massive landscape banner, their set consisted of constant instensity from the beats, Ibiza rave lasers, and instant coating of sweat, even from the very back of the room. Epileptics beware, Golden Axe have stepped up their game a millionfold, and they are coming to test the limits of yr sanity. Their Katy Perry cover still brings tears to my eyes.

Jens Lekman: A

Yeesh, didn’t he have a really slow start? I mean other than Black Cab, the acoustic half of the set was a total flop – moments of questionable cheesiness (beating the mic on his heart like a drum?), but as soon as the hits kicked in, complete with backing tracks via laptop, it was total swoon city. Opposite of Hallelujah / Postcard To Nina / Sipping on the Sweet Nectar / Into Eternity could almost have been his entire set and I’d have been happy. Cheesy, yes, but completely charming.

Nevernudes: A-

Even a set which was far from the best they have played managed to be thoroughly enjoyable in the pool. Ostentatious drama queen antics aside, watching a bearded streaker invade the stage to be mauled by the two vocalists before tearing through Socialite is one of those camp memories that will forever be burned into my retinae, for better or worse.

Ouch My Face: B

I’m not so sure about Ouch My Face now. Yes, they have their formula down, but expansion upon their Albini-esque slownoise might be a necessary next step to keep me interested. Last year it was amazing, but repeat viewings have made their shows last year seem all the more awesome for the shock factor – nobody knew who they were then. It’s probably just overexposure to their brutal live show, but seeing them at camp left me kinda numb. And not in a particularly good way.

Parking Lot Experiment: B-

Undeniably the most positive vibes of the whole camp. The problem is, I think the only thing they do more than smile and make everyone else smile is listen to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

The Ruby Suns: A-

Dodos syndrome. They reprised their role as 7pm party starters (and tropical disco masters) that they held last camp, only this time, the nice stage was swapped for the pool – complete with balloons, party poppers, one-piece swimsuits, and synchronised handclap gestures. Cranberry and Don’t Trust The Dusty Fruit held up incredibly well from the new album, but the rest fell short of moments like the transformation of Oh Mojave into a straight club banger. Even when it got a bit circle jerkish (more on this later), it was still one of the most fun sets of campus. Especially since it echoed their previous camp set so closely.

Signer: A

Totally cathartic, not the most ‘amping’ thing I saw at camp but the overwhelmingly positive side of chillbangers (look at my terrible neologisms up in here) kept me grinning for the entire show. Additional help from Dodos and Ruby Suns members lifted this from ‘really, main stage, 10.30pm?’ skepticism to gaping mouths and general happy flailing.

Signer vs Spring Break: C+

Fun, but we’d kinda seen it all before: between The Ruby Suns and Signers sets, all of these people had played together at least twice onstage already. It was fun enough, but the knowledge that Daedalus was playing at the prom and Bang Bang Eche were playing a renegade set was enough to stop me from staying too long. In the words of a veritable bangers DJ: ‘It’s just a Pitchfork circle jerk now!’.

So So Modern: B+

I feel like it’s a really good reversal for So So Modern that I can now be more excited for their album than for seeing them live – it used to be completely the other way around. Their performance of new tracks from the upcoming Crude Futures may not have had the spontaneity / reckless fun that used to be synonymous with their earlier material and shows, but comparing their pool set with their performances circa 2007, it’s impossible not to say that they are a far better band now. The set just missed…. something. Fun’s not quite it, but it’s close. I think I’m just going to have to come back to the spontaneity thing. Precise as fuck, though. And Berlin?! Easily the best buildup track they’ve ever done. The New Internationale got served.

Witch Hats: B

For one of the bands I was most excited about heading into camp, I wasn’t totally blown away by their performance. It was good, don’t get me wrong. I think maybe I set my expectations too high for them, maybe. Before I Weigh is still fucking mindblowing live though. Plus, bubbles during their set – was a weird juxtaposition, but getting moshy and popping bubbles worked surprisingly well.

The Twerps – Good Advice

Okay so my laptop has been pretty destroyed recently so posts will be sporadic, but in the meantime, here’s an autotuned, not-quite-right cover of Beyonce’s Halo, by Major Lazer (via GVB). It doesn’t launch into the chorus properly, which is a bit frustrating, but it’s a good novelty track, at the very least. Plus, best piano part of 2009 meets artist behind best video of 2009 (NSFW ish), I’m pretty sure.

Major Lazer – Halo (Beyonce cover)