Early Times

Angsty garage rock from Brisbane, Australia local favorites. Their debut album 4 years after formation, this consistent collection of tunes features straightforward drums-bass-guitar arrangements; jangly, distorted licks; emotional, layered vocals; and cynical lyrics "fueled by sarcasm or social observation". Similar to Cloud Nothings, Yuck. "Early Times manages to capture the band’s spontaneous live energy — with the sun-soaked optimism and scrappy pop-bent guitars playing off frontman Matthew Ford’s anxious-or-nonchalance vocal oscillation." - Rolling Stone. FCC Clean. Try 3, 10, 1, 13, 2.

1) Ditch * (3:37) moderate tempo rock, reminiscent of Guided By Voices, picks up in chorus. 2) Rics B.C. * (3:05) nice guitar-vocal duet in chorus, stuttery syncopated beat, nice guitar melody, much angst. 3) Company ** (1:47) lead single, faster, cheery, catchy guitar hook. 4) Room Doom (3:34) dramatic a la Modest Mouse, slow midsection, cool polyrhythmic guitar solo toward end. 5) Canned Opening (3:41) another moderate rock anthem, nice bass part in the verses. 6) Hippy View (1:25) bass intro, quick burst of energy, then atmospheric guitars and feedback. 7) Treehouse A.P. (3:06) groovy bassline, lots of tension build-up & release. 8) Whiplash (2:32) more chordal movement than other songs, otherwise another straight-up punk tune. 9) Brunno Brawl (2:28) song about getting into a fight with skaters, somewhat awkward chord progression. 10) D.D. ** (3:17) cool snare drum, summery sound, tempo slows for last minute or so & drums drop out giving it a neat ending. 11) Baroona (3:41) starts with bass by itself, very slow, then picks up into the same old. 12) Hassa Been (0:44) short, gritty guitar/vocal, based on "the common superficial Australian socialite". 13) Flat City * (2:46) heartfelt ballad with beautiful guitar riff & chords