Re: Rolling Blackouts C.F.

Much-loved young Australian quintet. I know there are other admirers here. I just did a quick write-up of their impressive (to date) catalogue.

[trouserpress.com]

Thank you for that. The singles off their latest certainly caught my ear, but I had no inkling their back catalogue was so robust!

Notably Ira edited out the adjective "snooty" in "device to brew coffee" about "The French Press":

The French Press is brief — just six songs — but even better than Talk Tight, especially the sparkling title track, whose title refers to both Parisian media and a device to brew coffee...

also snootily,this is very informative about a French press: [www.thekitchn.com]

a french press, which is actually called something else in both England and France, is the most proletarian of devices. I have owned and used them, and there is nothing at all snooty about a glass tube in which coffee grounds and boiled water are poured. Not the most efficient at keeping a beverage warm, and hard AF to clean, but truly not snooty. Now if they had named the record French Nespresso, I would have stood down.

I have a wide array of snooty devices to make coffee in my house, from an Aeropress to French press to a cafetera, and I still mostly use the single-cup pourover filters. But unlike Aussies I don't drink a flat white, although I remember seeing them when I lived in New Zealand in 1994. (There is apparently a longstanding trans-Tasman dispute about which nation actually can take the credit for the flat white, although I find it boring as a beverage. [www.australiaunwrapped.com])

I tried one of the albums (don't remember which one) and it just seemed like Go-Betweens lite to me. (I preferred Dick Diver.) After reading this, I'm gonna go back and revisit, though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2020 01:29PM by Michael Toland.

I really like their last one, Hope Downs, from 2018. Go-Be's influence is there, but the songs stand on their own. Some real edge to the guitar playing and intensity in the music. The new is less grabbing, but it's growing on me for sure.

Nice write-up Michael. I got Hope Downs after the band was much hyped by some of the regulars on this site, and I must say it was one of the better records of 2018. I'll have to check out the new one even if you seem less enthusiastic about it.

I saw a cheap used copy of the French Press a couple of years back at a used record store and I'm still kicking myself for not picking it up, especially since that store is south of the border and it's going to be a while until we can travel freely again...