Schizophrenic twisted Quasi-Religious Groove Thing
Currently based in New York via Melbourne, this Aussie four piece rock band start their assault on the UK with a freely-downloadable single. Wooden Hearts prepares the ground for an as yet unnamed first album. On the strength of one track, it's difficult to tell what sort of impact they'll make on us Poms, especially one as schizophrenic as this.
It's certainly not what you'd expect from a band down under - militaristic drums act as the background to a shady dockside meeting between scuzzed guitars and clean keys whilst Matthew Hutchinson wails an roid rage aggressive impression of The Crimea, seamlessly switching between vocals and spoken storytelling, this is more sedated ACDC rather than Rolf Harris.
Australia are due a new credible band to carry on it's musical legacy and Our Mountain, through their preacher-style lyrics could fill the void. Could being the operative. A story of love leading to a slow death, it starts off sleazy, turns melodic and descends into chaos but oddly fails to go anywhere. Wooden Hearts punches itself out with more than a minute left. Aiming for atmospheric, the result is a tired fade to indistinct black rather than glorious technicolour.