All posts tagged beast

  • December 21, 2016

    The Weekend Australian album reviews, December 2016

    I reviewed 14 albums for The Weekend Australian in 2016. Many of them were great, but the only five-star rating I awarded was to the below album, which was released in April. The full review follows.

    Halfway – The Golden Halfway Record

    It makes sense that artists get better with age, for with age comes experience and thus a greater palette of colours with which to paint becomes available. Yet in popular music — in rock ’n’ roll especially — the common narrative arc is for young bands to burn brightly with their early releases before eventually losing some of the energy, hunger and joy that brought them together to make music in the first place.

    There are exceptions to this trend, of course, and Brisbane band Halfway is one of them. The Golden Halfway Record is the fifth album that this eight-piece band has released, and it is the third album in six years on which the band has exceeded its own high standards. Any Old Love earned 4½ stars on this page in 2014; it was a near-perfect collection of songs that prompted me to describe Halfway as one of Australia’s best rock bands.

    And after careful consideration I can only conclude that this album is perfect, and that there can be no doubt that Halfway is among a handful of the most talented and consistent acts in operation. It’s a major statement to make about a band that most Queenslanders haven’t heard of, yet alone those who live in the country’s south and west, but all of the evidence can be heard in this sensational 11-song set.

    Book-ended by a dramatic intro and outro, The Golden Halfway Record offers yet another significant stylistic leap for the performers and particularly for the primary songwriters, guitarists John Busby and Chris Dale. The progression from 2010’s An Outpost of Promise to Any Old Love was pleasing and commendable, but this is something else. Heard here is a band at the peak of its powers, to use a critics’ cliche, yet the most scarily impressive aspect of this ascent is that the octet may have only just passed base camp. One can only imagine the summit Halfway yet could reach.

    The trouble with writing, recording and releasing a perfect album, of course, is that the task becomes even harder next time. But that’s for the band to worry about, not us. We listeners get the pleasure of living inside such exquisitely crafted rock songs. The album as a whole is so well plotted and paced that to pick single moments feels barely adequate, but to name just one, fifth track ‘Welcome Enemy’ is a new high-water mark.

    It pulses with an effortless wisdom and depth that belies how hard it is to write music so affecting with the same old ingredients available to every rock band in the world. From front to back, The Golden Halfway Record is exactly what its title describes. It arrives with the highest possible recommendation, and an insistence that if you’ve ever enjoyed the combination of guitars, bass, drums, keys and vocals, you simply must hear this.

    I also reviewed the below albums for The Weekend Australian in 2016. They are listed in chronological order, with the publication date and my rating noted in brackets.

     

    No Comments / Music Criticism, Published Writing /

  • February 8, 2011

    Australian Penthouse story: ‘Man Vs Beast’, February 2011

    A story for the January 2011 issue of Australian Penthouse. Click the below image for a closer look, or read the article text underneath.

    Man Vs Beast

    Death matches between a man and a monstrous foe dominate the worlds of literature, film and television. Australian Penthouse takes a look at seven of the best…

    Chief Brody & Jaws
    When & where: 1975, Amity Island, Massachusetts, New England

    Few man-versus-beast conflicts are more notable than police chief Martin Brady pitting his wits against the greatest shark of them all (known among crew members as ‘Bruce’ and named after director Steven Spielberg’s lawyer). In what has since been recognised as a watershed film in motion picture history, Jaws proved terrifying to audiences through its tense, dramatic, and – most importantly – realistic portrayal of a seaside town in the grip of shark fear. After killing five people, the fish meets its match in Brady, who meets kills it by exploding an air tank in its mouth.

    David & Goliath
    When & where: 11 Century BC (allegedly), Valley Of Elah

    The ultimate tale of the underdog. Twice daily in the midst of a 40-day war, the Philistines’ biggest, strongest fighter – between six and nine feet tall, according to conflicting interpretations – challenges the Israelites to engage him in single combat. None dare face him until regular dude David happens upon the scene and accepts the challenge. Opting to fight with just a staff and a slingshot, he immediately hurls a sling stone at Goliath’s head, knocks him down and beheads the beast with his own sword, thereby turning the tide of war. David: the original MacGyver.

    Peter Griffin & The Chicken
    When & where: 2000s, Quahog, Rhode Island

    An infrequently recurring character in the television series Family Guy, Ernie The Giant Chicken is the rival of protagonist, Peter Griffin. In perhaps the best example of creator Seth MacFarlane’s fondness for non sequiturs, Ernie and Peter engage in extremely long fight scenes that results in both characters causing obscene amounts of property damage and beating each other to the point of ridiculousness. Despite having made just seven appearances and four fight scenes, the Ernie vs Peter running gag remains one of the program’s most popular and is immortalised on tee-shirts. Remember, Peter: the chicken could strike at any time. Remain vigilant.

    Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
    When & where: 1886, London

    From the pen of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson emerged The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a story noted for its vivid portrayal of split-personality disorder. Its narrative concerns outsider observations of the gentlemanly Dr Jekyll and the deranged Mr Hyde, who is suspected of murdering several citizens. We learn that the doctor, seeking to separate his good side from his darker impulses, discovered a way to transform himself periodically into a creature free of conscience – Mr Hyde. Trouble arises when periodically becomes regularly, then involuntarily, and ultimately, permanently. At least, the doctor’s dark side would have become so had Jekyll not committed suicide.

    Ahab & Moby Dick
    When & where: 1851, Pacific Ocean

    Captain Ahab seeks revenge against a gigantic white sperm whale that crippled during a previous voyage, and he’ll stop at nothing to achieve his goal. The tale is told through the eyes of Ishmael, a Manhattan native who believed the purpose of the expedition to be harvesting the mighty mammal’s oil. In fact, the crazed captain forces the crew the follow the whale across the seven seas, hoping to harpoon it into submission. In the end, Moby Dick prevails – it dives deep with Ahab in tow, thereby dragging the captain to his watery grave.

    Perseus & The Kraken
    When & where: Ancient Greece

    What is more fear-inspiring than a giant whale? A giant squid, of course! In this case, the mythological monster known as the Kraken. Legendary hero of ancient Greece, Perseus faces the 100-foot beast in a climactic battle in the 1981 movie Clash Of The Titans (and the 3D revamp in 2010). In an unexpected turn, the Kraken is turned to stone upon gazing at the decapitated head of the Medusa, previously killed by multi-tasker Perseus.

    Luke Skywalker & The Rancor
    When & where: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

    The dictionary states that the word ‘rancor means “a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will; hatred; malice”. Yet, despite its fearsome appearance, the Rancor – a giant creature with long claws, originally imagined by its creators as a “cross between a bear and a potato” – ultimately proves less of a death match for Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, who lures the creature into a smaller section of its cave and crushes it under a steel door, leaving its keeper to sob quietly. Surely the Rancor could have achieved maximum sustenance by munching on morbidly obese space gangster Jabba The Hutt?

    No Comments / Feature Journalism, Published Writing /