Indie Band Of The Week
The Foreign Objects- Amongst Ghosts, By The Sea
Just yesterday I was having a discussion with the editor of this very website – the one and only Dan Clarke – about the disappearance of good old fashion Aussie pub rock. Now, whether or not this is actually true I’ll admit I can’t tell you; you’ve got a better chance of seeing me exercising than in a rural Aussie pub (simply unspeakably low), but from the perspective of a teenage Sydney-sider, real Aussie pub rock is essentially non-existent. It seems that every pub I walk into either provides a dance floor for an untalented ‘DJ’ to ‘spin discs’ (press buttons) for lame white people to sway to, a sad white guy with an acoustic guitar singing the blues or no music at all. What ever happened to the good old days of getting beer spat at you by a shirtless bloke screeching about Vietnam? Shame on you Sydney. Shame.
Fortunately, about five hours north of boring old Sydney, a band named The Foreign Objects are making Port Macquarie a safe haven for lovers of true Aussie rock. A simple trip to their myspace should give you a glimpse into what these cats consider important: their by-line reads “Booze, Brauds and Burners…”. Now, I don’t know what a “burner” is, but it sounds like something a man should have. A real fuckin’ man.
Their EP, titled Amongst Ghosts, By The Sea, will take you on a journey from bar to toilet bowl and back again as they belt out seven tracks of beer-fueled fury. Right from the opening track ‘Get Outa My Sun’ (say that name out loud; if you’re twelve like me you’ll laugh a lot) the band show raw unbridled passion for their music that would sound simply majestic coming off a low stage in a smoke-hazed watering hole. Sure, the arrangements aren’t groundbreaking, nor is the orchestration flawless, but the energy in songs like ‘Ball ‘N’ Chain’ and ‘Love The Devil’ is hard to argue with, while ‘The Vampirate’ reminds me of some of The White Stripes’ more raw material.
The Foreign Objects aren’t the most sophisticated band going around, nor are they the most pleasant. But the next time you’re sitting around in a pub being treated to the musical delights of DJ NuMbNuTs, think about what’s going on up north – four drunk Aussie blokes thrashing all that is holy from their instruments in a room that smells like piss and stale beer. Oh how I long for thee.
You can purchase the EP on their myspace page.
