Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours (Aarght/Shock 2008)

Hailing from In(High)Fidelity's musical and spiritual home of Melbourne, Australia, Eddy Current Suppression Ring hark back to a time when Australian bands like The Saints and Radio Birdman played brash, bratty rock'n'roll - and played it well. In a time when it is increasingly difficult to find a rock'n'roll band who plays just that: good, old-fashioned, meat-and-potatoes rock'n'roll; Eddy Current Suppression Ring need no bells or whistles to set themselves apart from the pack.
Drums, bass and guitars lock on to a groove; singer, Brendan Suppression, sings-speaks-screams over the top of a mighty fine raucous sound, and everyone is happy - i.e. all the folks here at In(High)Fideltity HQ.
The grooves are catchy as hell and embed themselves deep into your sub-conscious. It is just like that time when you and your mates were driving at high speed up the Hume Highway, listening to Neu!, just before ducking into the Dubbo zoo.
Brendan Suppression's lyrics are at times playful, yet for the most part, are poignant reflections of life in these troubled times (though he would probably never admit as much). The band leaves all pretension at the door, and yet, their ability to write intelligent songs - while never abandoning the brashness - is something to behold. Colour Television is perhaps the greatest anti-T.V. song since the Disposable Heroes Of Hyhoprisy's early 90's classic, Television. While, I Admit My Faults, is a man owning the fact that he is imperfect - something quite a few people should come to terms with.
The album's pinnacle, though, is the rip-roaring Which Way To Go - a sure bet for our end-of-year, best of 2008 list. Meat and potatoes never tasted so good.

Key Tracks: Which Way To Go, Wrapped Up, Colour Television, I Admint My Faults.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/eddycurrentsuppressionring

Rock'n'Roll Rundown

Our intrepid editor has been known to lend his pen to publications other than the amazingly good In(High)Fidelity. Check out his most recent work for L.A.'s Rundown right here: Rock'n'Roll Rundown. You're sure to recognize a few old favorites and a couple of new ones.

Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins (Jagjaguwar, 2008)

You know things have been busy at In(High)Fidelity HQ when we've have had our hands on the new Okkervil River album for over a month, and haven't yet found the time to write about it. For those of you who haven't been paying attention, we think that Okkervil River are the bee's knees, or, as Reinhoff would say: the cat's pyjamas.
Make no mistake, with the release of The Stand-Ins, our expectations prior to hearing the album were ridiculously high. Having seen the band improve with each new release, anything but the best could have very well tainted our view of Okkervil River permanently (Editor's Note: We have recently been researching the difference between "super fan" and "stalker" - luckily, we are still a short way from "stalker" status).
The Stand-Ins is an amazing album, and, quite possibly, the band's finest-to-date. At this point in his career, Will Sheff has few equals. His literary talent with words is explified on the Stand-Ins with tracks like Singer Songwriter, Blue Tulip, and On Tour With Zykos. His voice packs more of a punch than ever before and the band is on fire.
Holding a mirror up to both the life of a working rock'nroll band and the world of stage and screen might end up as a self-referential wank-fest in the hands of any other band. However, Okkervil River are not any other band. The subject matter is handled with a mixture of affection, empathy and disdain, backed by a soundtrack that reminds us of a time when the album, as a format, was still king.
I could write an entire thesis on this album, however, reading that would simply detract from the time you should be spending listening to it. So get out there and start listening.

Key Tracks: Lost Coastlines, Blue Tulip, On Tour With Zykos

Check Out: www.okkervilriver.com