THE WINDS HAVE KARMA

The Diamond Sea - Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures opens with hyperactive bass and scattershot drums, basically proving that The Diamond Sea know EXACTLY how you start a debut EP when you're a post-punk band from Melbourne. Comparisons to Love Of Diagrams and Sleater Kinney are fairly inevitable when you've got female vocals like this up front, but those comparisons have more to them than sexism. They've probably got Dig Me Out on vinyl. That's not to say Slow Signals is derivative - the nods to the band's heroes are there, sure, but it's so frenetic and heartfelt that the comparisons become simple points of interest rather than indictments. Incidentally, this EP is out on Melbourne's Yellow Ghost label, which was set up a couple of years ago by the very nice young men from Quebec. NICE TO SEE THEY'RE DOING SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE WITH THEIR POST-PUNK STREET CRED.

[Buy Slow Signal from Yellow Ghost]

The Fauves - Underwhelmed

The Fauves, on the other hand, don't get so much leeway when it comes to a lack of creativity with their sound. This single, the first from their new album When Good Times Go Good, has the usual Fauves lyrical punch (at the expense of year-old Aussie PM Kevin Rudd) but continues their four-album slump into dad rock. It's a fairly ballsy move to name your comeback single "Underwhelmed", and unfortunately it has more in common with the bland Mr Rudd than the Fauves probably would like.

[Buy When Good Times Go Good from Shock]