Australian group The Icypoles finally released their first 7″ a couple of months ago on the Kooky label. It’s a step in the right direction from their earlier cassette Getting Ready, which featured a few demos and short compositions for a video work. The three songs on Promise to Stay are slightly longer and full of the playful arrangements you’d expect from alumni of the first incarnation of Architecture In Helsinki. Yes, Tara and Isobel sang och played on the first two albums by AIH and if you loved their vocals then, you will love them now. But in fact Icypoles existed as a project before that and is rather gloriously single-minded in comparison. With their influences drawn more from doo-wop than girl groups, it is definitely the vocal interplay that makes this EP, and not even the backbeat guitar on “Girl Next Door” seems out of place. The record ends with a “melted” mix of the a-side – melted, perhaps, into a Twin Peaks mold of muted guitars.
Another great single you can check out on bandcamp, is the new offering from Outer Minds. Much delayed, it’s finally out now on Push My Buttons based in Sweden. The a-side “Gimme a Reason” might be their best track yet and starts with an intro that might have placed on any compilation of moody 60s garage, as usual featuring the tinny sound of a Danelectro 12-string. The b-side “Bohemian Grove” is great as well, and a tad more psychedelic. Watch the video above (made by Chris Anderson who also did The Wrong Words’ latest video). After three solid singles, it feels like it’s time for an album for the Chicago outfit, if they can manage it with their respective duties in other bands. Outer Minds should be everyone’s first priority!
