It could be a good week

Friday's coming (it occurs at least once a month), and with it comes five releases in Australia which have me excited. In no particular order, other than alphabetical

The Fall - Your Future, Our Clutter

For the uninitiated, The Fall has been going around for over 30 years now. More accurately, Mark E. Smith has been going around for 30 years, others have come and left. You may know him for supplying the vocals for the Gorillaz track Glitter Freeze, or you may know him for his almost always loud, slurred delivery of lyrics. Lyrics which are always eccentric, and often make sense of madness.

I cannot possibly describe the sound without simply reinterpreting John Peel's quote of how "They are always different, they are always the same". Put simply, the subtle changes in their style has kept them from being just another post-punk fare, and made them a joy to follow, or to try and follow if you're younger. Here's something from the overlooked 2008 release, Imperial Wax Solvent.

The Fall - Wolf Kidult Man

The Golden Filter - Voluspa

From what I've heard of The Golden Filter, I can see them going down two paths. One is becoming one of the better new electro acts. The other is for them to be just another synths and female vocals act. Maybe I haven't heard enough and there's more to it. No matter what, there is promise, hopefully Voluspa does offer something different to 2009's electro assortment.

Kate Nash - My Best Friend is You

2007's Made of Bricks had some terrific moments. Songs like Foundations and Mariella were exciting, humourous and quite refreshing. Unfortunately, and with the exception of We Get Along, it fell flat when the tempo slowed down, sincerity lead to almost painful lyrics and it became quite dull.

My Best Friend is You keeps the good pieces of Made of Bricks, and takes a few from others. The screaming vocals and screaming guitars make I Just Love You More sound like a missing Yeah Yeah Yeah's track, while the first half of Mansion Song is like listening to a modern, female John Cooper Clarke. Still, rest keep the pop-jingle style that make Kate Nash a joy to listen to.

We Have Band - WHB

Debut album from this impressive 3 piece band from the UK. Electro mixed with funk based post-punk, occasionally straying into dance-punk, resulting in only the occasional bland spot. Whether or not this dynamic stays the same with a full album of material is yet to be seen. There is always the possibility of the slower song or two electronic acts seem to be obliged to do nowadays, few of which interesting. Hopefully that temptation has either been arrested, or succumbed to with good results.

We Have Band - Time After Time

The other Australian release that has me excited is the debut album from Parades, titled Foreign Tapes. Alas, I haven't heard so much as a note of their music, so can't really preview this album. According to the JB Hi-Fi website, their style is art-rock, and they contain Jonathan Boulet, so it seems worth taking a punt on it.