errol jm and the trade secrets

Indie rock outsiders Errol J.M and the Trade Secrets emerged from the Australian blue-collar port city of Newcastle in late 2005. Following a seven year tenure as co-founder of Australian indie rock road warriors Muzzy Pep, Errol J. Moyle wasted little time recruiting Muzzy drummer Luke Bennett to begin the writing and recording of Moyle’s debut long player, The Truth Is Boring. Released under the banner of Errol J.M, it features renowned Australian sound engineer and producer Tim Whitten behind the mixing desk.
The debut single Zeros and Ones enjoyed instant success, receiving high-level national airplay, glowing reviews and a place amongst Australia’s best independent releases for 2006 on Triple J’s annual Home and Hosed Australian music compilation CD. Errol and Luke then teamed up with fellow Novocastrians Cameron McKenzie and Anthony Frampton to round out the Trade Secrets line-up. No strangers to the follies of relentless touring in previous bands, they opted to spend the following two years writing, recording and performing select gigs and small festivals throughout regional N.S.W, Newcastle and Sydney areas, developing a modest yet devoted fan base. Mid 2008 saw the band return to the studio to begin production of their ‘difficult second album’. With an ongoing desire to embrace a stronger D.I.Y ethic, Cameron and Errol (both experienced tradespeople) constructed permanent recording studios at their inner city homes. This time they chose to write, perform, record and produce the band’s second album at their own pace, without the cliché burden of time limits and budget pressures. The second long player, creatively titled Errol J.M and the Trade Secrets, sees the band finding its core sound. After years experimenting with various sonic ideals and exploring individual musical tastes, the new album is a far more abrasive and angular listen than its predecessor. Multi instrumental layering and keyboard fluff has been replaced by a more intentional, sometimes nasty, wall of guitars. Errol J.M and the Trade Secrets will be released through fledgling Australian indie label Rack Off Records in April 2009, followed by a string of nationwide inner-city and regional shows throughout the rest of the year and beyond. www.myspace.com/erroljm

The Receptionists

The Receptionists, sisters Alice and Jazz Williams, have been writing and performing together since they learned to be civil to each other in their teens, producing a large catalogue of carefully crafted folk/rock songs with a focus on dynamic vocal harmony.  After growing up in the Bega Valley, Alice and Jazz worked in Melbourne and Sydney before settling for three years in Newcastle, where they developed a strong following through local venue and festival gigs, and received the Broadcaster’s Choice award in the 1233 ABC Music Awards in 2006. Their debut EP will be released in late 2009 through Rack Off Records.

www.myspace.com/receptionists

The Dennis Boys Band The Dennis Boys Band is one of the best things happening in contemporary Australian country music: An important breath of fresh, authentic, country air. In a time when every half-arsed ex-rocker is donning the hat and boots and trying to get themselves on CMC ('Jimmy Barnes sings the hits of Earnest Tubb' must surely be on somebody's whiteboard...), the Dennis Boys are the Real Thing.

The band, comprising three brothers, a sister and a close family friend, have been making music together in one form or another for something like twenty years. In 2004, after years of each of them doing other gigs, they joined forces and seriously got their act together - doing a lot of shows, writing a bunch of songs and using the head start that sibling understanding gives them to turn the band into a formidable live outfit: In 2008 they won the Tamworth festival Battle of the Bands. By miles.

The beauty of the Dennis Boys sound is their originality and their irreverence. The band take classic sounds and put them in a modern context. It makes no sense in the modern era, no matter how red your neck, to pretend that punk and reggae (for example) didn't happen, and the Dennis boys don't, incorporating everything they've been relevantly influenced by into the sound of the band while retaining certain core country music making values, which I suppose would be something like 'let's actually play it and sing it and use clean guitars'. The result is solid earthy songs but with big variety in the rhythmic feels and sophisticated chord changes. Basically, you could hate country music and still really dig the Dennis Boys Band. Conversely, it makes the old school country music lovers happy to hear brand new stuff of the old quality.

All this is made blatantly evident on the Dennis Boys' new recording, 'No Story To Tell'.

Recorded at Col Joye’s Glebe Studio and with the band occasionally augmented by Jeff Mercer (dobro), Jason Walker (pedal steel) and Tim Byron (Hammond) all the sounds that make up the Dennis Boys bag are there: Lyle’s left-handed-upside-down guitar western swingingness; Shane’s syrupy crooning; the lovely Leah’s pure contralto and a rhythm section (Erle and Dave) of startling dynamism. These put to work on skillfully conceived thoughtful songs... This band is going places. Fast.

Listen to the album. Go to the gig. You won’t be hearing the same old three chord beers and tears shit. This is modern country as good as it gets.

www.myspace.com/thedennisboysband