Candle

Reviews

The Lucksmiths
Where Were We? (CD)
This collection of singles, compilation tracks and demos includes alternative versions of Lucksmiths favourites 'Southernmost' and 'The Great Dividing Range'. Also here are the wonderful 'Cassingle Revival' making it onto digital for the first time, and the wonderful 'A Downside To The Upstairs'. Despite the fact that these songs are culled from a variety of sources, the Lucksmiths' songs have a consistency of sound and quality that is well suited to such compilations.

The Lucksmiths
Why Doesn't That Surprise Me? (CD)
For a band whose sound has barely changed over half a dozen previous releases, the subtle inclusion of additional instrumentation here is downright adventurous, and it pays off too. The usual guitars and puns are still there, but arguably the sweeping strings are what make 'The Great Dividing Range' one of the best songs that the band have recorded, whilst the sublime 'How To Tie A Tie' benefits from a fluegelhorn solo and the rare appearance of a female vocal.

The Lucksmiths
Greatest Hits (Cassette)
This cheekily titled release from The Lucksmiths actually consists of two new songs, released on cassette only. If further explanation is required, the excellent opening song is titled The Cassingle Revival, a tale of lost summers and lost love: "Your loyalties are divided between digital and vinyl, but I'm biding time til the cassingle revival, because you promised when it happens you'll return."

Various Artists
Banter (CD)
Candle is best known internationally for being the home of the Lucksmiths, but on this compilation the Australian label shows that it has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Appropriately enough the compilation kicks off with the Lucksmiths, but the two previously unreleased songs are a little ordinary for such an extraordinary band. This leaves the Dearhunters free to steal the show with two dreamy country tinged pop songs reminiscent of Mazzy Star. If the Dearhunters dabble in Country, then Fibrotown are the genuine cotton pickin' article, and their Country Girl Gone Wrong is an amusing tale of a country girl in the big city who swaps her cowboy boots for sneakers and falls for an indie-pop singer. The songs on this compilation are almost entirely of the gentle guitar pop variety, with Richard Easton providing one of the noisier exceptions, despite having the boys from Sodastream as his backing band.