LULU'S SEPTEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER

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Featured in this newsletter

THE PRIZE - "WRONG SIDE OF TOWN" 7"
NO APOLOGIES - "SURVIVAL" LP
V/A - "ABSORB: THE WORLD I WANT WOULD BE CELESTIAL, WET" 2xLP
THE FROWNING CLOUDS - "GOSPEL SOUNDS & MORE FROM THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY" LP
HER MUSIC EQUALITY / SPEED BPM THREADS

Happy spring babes!!!

It couldn’t came at a more needed time - finally what has felt like the longest, most brutal winter in recent memory (is this just me? It was bad right?), is breaking and new growth is beginning to push through.

We’ve got heaps of amazing friends in the racks at the moment - this past month was a beautiful one for Melbourne music. And that shows no sign of slowing down - just check out the calendar this month to suss all the exciting stuff happening all around us.

Speaking of, we’ve teamed up with our friends down the road at Capers this month for a lil takeover every Thursday night in September. Expect to see Lulu’s crew and loved ones curating vibes and playing records each Thurs from 8pm till midnight. Capers is a real cute spot - best date spot on the northside hands down. Bring your hunni.

Please look forward to some incredible international crates hitting the shelves shortly - including huge boxes from La Vida Es Un Mus and Hozac.

In the meantime, love you lots, enjoy the sun, stay safe.

Lulu’s xx

NEW ARRIVALS

THE PRIZE - "WRONG SIDE OF TOWN" 7"
Anti Fade Records

Hell of a debut. The Prize are rightfully one of THE bands to watch right now. You want it? They got it in spades. Nice with a bit of bite and simple with some sonic complexion, they are a power pop total package. Each song on "Wrong Side Of Town" contends for that place between your ears, where whatever is perched there finds itself spilling and humming out of your mouth throughout your day without you even realising it at first. Guess you'll just have to listen and let nature do its thing. Special mention goes to Nadine who has the unenviable task of being both the drummer + lead singer of The Prize and my oh my does she pull it off with class. The boys do a great job at backing up her drive, not shying away from harmonised vocal melodies / harmonised twin guitar lead. The advice: Don't miss this record and don't miss 'em live. This is the distilled sound of a group who grew up on The Ramones and if these cats were Joey's rugrats it'd be chips and ice cream whenever they wanted. Sweet and salty, the way it should be. Let's go.

100% - "CLEAR VISIONS" LP
it Records

This is music made for dancing in the dark. 100% are back; a trio whose members are spread across the land unite with a vision which remains raw and abounding with darkness but 100% are (after all) a synth-POP outfit and the darker undercurrents should not be confused for simple bleakness - they are a low red light throbbing in the distance, beckoning. Emotion certainly plays a large role in these hits with synths serenading, serving as a vehicle for tales to be told and felt, while a sense of camaraderie and relationality is inescapable and reinforced by big beats. The album closer is a remix by Nuxx Vomica and is one of the best instances of album-track-remix-on-the-same-album that I've come across lately. All told there is a lot to digest so the gorgeous pastel-piped cake which adorns the album cover is not just a playful piece of juxtaposotion with the music but an appropriate visual metaphor - an invite to slice it open and reveal layers hidden inside. So what's stopping you? Step into their personalised after-hours club and don't stop moving 'til the smoke clears.

NO APOLOGIES - "SURVIVAL" LP
Last Ride Records

Released 15 years ago this record continues to thoroughly kick my ass. It felt like a landmark Australian Hardcore LP at the time and it still remains that way. At its core are the hammer time riffs smashed down by NYHC’s sickest (Killing Time, Madball, Cro Mags et al) crossed with the bombastic nature and production values you’d hear on a Terror or Hatebreed record. On recent listens I’m hearing way more of Iron Age’s ‘Constant Struggle’ in Pete Bursky’s riffs than I ever had - that record only came out a year prior to this but I’ll be fucked if they aren’t cut from the same cloth.

No Apologies formed out of the ashes of the ultra crucial Last Nerve. After releasing an early straightforward EP, No Apologies had a pretty good run up to produce something special. With a little help from Todd Jones (NAILS, Terror etc.) they'd created a monumental album. As silly as it might sound, ‘Survival’ is a concept record. Every last bit is thought out - from the art to the lyrics to the flow of the record. The themes of birth, existence, death, and above all; living in the moment permeates all the lyrics. There’s jazz influenced interludes, organ, piano and yidaki and strangely for a hardcore band they found the album's talented drummer studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. If you’ve never heard this before, that all might sound strange but it works. Originally released on CD in 2007, Last Ride Records have finally given it the LP treatment it always deserved.

V/A - "ABSORB: THE WORLD I WANT WOULD BE CELESTIAL, WET" 2xLP
Absorb

Long awaited debut full length from label/curators/family Absorb, "The World I Want Would Be Celestial, Wet" collects and presents the cream of Melbourne's experimental underground during the period of 2020-21.

Keen ears will recognise the likes of E. Fishpool, J, DBR, Bridget Chappell, and Third Space (who also just announced a new LP on .jpeg Artefacts, congratsss) amongst the roster; though a familiarity with these artists' previous work won't necessarily offer any hints here. Absorb has offered all artists the opportunity to stretch out and get comfy, an offer that has been seemingly relished.

Opening with a beautiful 10 minute Lily Tait composition (featuring, among it's movements, a poem from which the title is sourced), the following hour and a bit ebbs along; stretching and snapping time at it's whim. Tracks meld and fall into one another, maintaining a strong sense of narrative without sounding homogeneous.

A combination of a near-perfect curatorial ear, combined with incredible compositions from what was (and remains!) a particularly fertile time in Melbourne's experimental scene, make "The World I Want Would Be Celestial, Wet" not only an essential time capsule, but gorgeous art of its own. A+++

THE FROWNING CLOUDS - "GOSPEL SOUNDS & MORE FROM THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY" LP
Anti Fade Records

From what I can gather this album is made mostly of cuts from a songwriter whose tunes were left on the cutting room floor for previous albums, but listening to Gospel Sounds... it's hard to imagine why because these numbers are stellar. I guess it's a matter of good things happening on God's time because these pretty daisies sitting all in a row have made for a delicious platter. From the outside it always seemed as though The Frowning Clouds were a cornerstone of the Geelong Garage Music Revival and it's not hard to see why. You hear their DNA in groups coming from that crowd, and much like you hear tales of groups from yesteryear who got their inspiration from seeing certain bands on certain stages, it's easy to imagine the same thing happened here. History repeats itself and it's appropriate in this instance; given their sound is about as dizzyingly accurate a 60's garage throwback as you'll find, right down to the broom-closet drum sound (the best bit!!!). For those of you who enjoy digging the crates, mags and online archives looking for that next dose of 60's sauce, you'll be forgiven for taking a week off and just enjoying the fruits of the Clouds because this is what you're looking for.

HER MUSIC EQUALITY / SPEED BPM THREADS

We got some fresh merchandise from HER. HER strives to promote equality in the community for local and international musicians and artists through discourse and dance parties. HER explores issues of women and gender equality and supports all who contribute to the music and art industries. The label is connected to SPEED BPM - an ongoing electronic music night with a focus on, well, speed! With six-panel hats that read: HARDCORE, GABBER, 160BPM, PHILIP K DONK you should be able to read between the lines.