Sea Priest
Fire! Santa Rosa! Fire
Score:74
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: Remote Control (Australia), Rough Trade (UK)
Reviewed: Apr 28th '10, Released:2010
Were it not for the fact that the two bands were founded at almost exactly the same time, it would be incredibly easy to accuse Adelaide’s Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! of straying a little bit too close to the futuristic tech-rock of The xx. Instead, it seems apparent that this post-post-post-post-punk sound is one that is emerging independently among a generation of musicians whose parents probably hadn’t met when Ian Curtis died.
Indeed, the resemblance is strangely uncanny, but dissonant. Where The xx are hyper-minimalist, FSRF are happy to load up every channel available to them; theirs is a sound that feels much more inclined to actually get kids moving on the dancefloor, rather than staring at it glumly, fretting over their persistent virginity. Also uncanny is the fact that co-singer Caitlin Duff appears to have stolen Sarah Blasko’s voice.
Compared with their EPs, Sea Priest is a remarkably restrained effort, quite likely due to the fact that Duff’s voice is so subdued in contrast to former frontman David Williams’ deranged, raspy scream (Williams stepped back from vocal duties when his rasp began to cause some serious damage to his vocal chords), and the change is entirely for the better. Gone is the overtly aggressive distortion, while retaining the hardcore-influenced guitar sounds and chord progressions. Williams, when he does opt to sing, is infinitely improved in his new, gentler guise, adding verve and pathos without losing the attitude that drew attention years ago, working neatly in tandem with Duff on ‘April/May’.
But this is overwhelmingly a guitar record, and the guitars are what make it, weaving between the vocals and the tight grooves created by the rhythm section of Josh Flavel and Sam Stearne. While they tend to get a bit solo-happy at times, the syncopated simplicity of many of Nathaniel Morse’s licks make this a mandatory entry for Australian-indie-debut-to-watch 2010.
