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Sunley - Apologies
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Gig Guide
Friday March 12th
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· The Terrace Bar: Amanda Goodwin and Joe Setefano
· Chicks Hotel: Tourettes And Jay Rocaher
· Tonic: Tono and special guest Michael Cathro
· Swell Cafe and Bar: Live Jazz at St. Clair
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18 May, 2009
Sex with Bowie CD review
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Sex with Bowie CD review
Page 1
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Self-released
Rich Valentine and Chris Keogh, the press releases will tell you, were once New Zealand’s premier fast-food jingle writers, until they developed addictions for contra product and headed on a downward spiral towards the creative wall known in the industry as “73rd jingle syndrome.” Reunited years later, Sex With Bowie have reinvented themselves as a lo-fi punk band.
Outside of Sex With Bowie’s world, Logan Valentine and Chris Keogh are members of ex-Dunedin pop band The Tweeks, who haven’t quite relocated to London due to some unfinished business.
And what business it is. SWB’s debut is a creative watershed for Keogh and Valentine, written and recorded on a ridiculously short timeline of two months. The songwriting is hilarious, topical, and doesn’t pull punches, lapping up topics like the Tony Veitch saga without thinking twice – “There’s nothing like breaking vertebrae, for relief of an eight-hour working day … Hit me, hit me Tony.”
But the songwriting is also clearly the work of experienced pop writers. ‘Not in California’ is a delicious duet that tells of lovers stung by the repeal of a law allowing gay marriage, incorporating equally delicious wit – “I bought this dress and everything, but the store won’t take it back. I guess men like us aren’t covered under the Consumer Guarantees Act.”
The recording may not be at the production quality of The Tweeks, but SWB has crafted an aesthetic around original, abrasive guitar sounds, lo-fi drums, left-in mistakes, and talking between takes that is cohesive and invites the listener into the recording process, rather than trying to hide it.
The album oozes with the kind of chemistry that can only come from a production made on this kind of timeframe. You can actually hear Keogh and Valentine still laughing at their lines as they put them down on tape. The choice of topics, the wit, and immediacy of this project is highly refreshing, as is the lack of seriousness. With Corporate Karoke Function, SWB have binged on contemporary culture, spewed it back into a cheeseburger box, and then returned the box to the counter, asking for another one.
Reviewed by Anthonie Tonnon
[Thanks to Critic]
Posted by scott
