LET'S CALL THIS ONE 'TERRIBLE BANDNAME WEDNESDAY'

The Alcohotlicks - Drag

The Alcohotlicks sound like a mashup of Battles and Deerhoof. They're sweet and playful yet muscular, with the kind of perfect pop catchiness that's so hard to explain since it's a) comprehensively impossible to sing along to, and b) actually incredibly complex music.

Pivot's (excellent) album O Soundtrack My Heart got a lot of publicity earlier this year, both for its qualities and the fact that Pivot were the first Australian signing to Warp Records. The Alcohotlicks' You, You deserves just as much recognition, and that's obviously never going to happen, which sucks because these guys are brilliant musicians, always tight and perfectly in control. More importantly, they're excellent songwriters who have Deerhoof's ability to reign in their conservatorium training. This shit is subtle and powerful and it rocks the fuck out.

[The Alcohotlicks MySpace]

The Oyster Murders - New year never came

These young gents from Brisbane are apparently named after the bit in Alice In Wonderland where the walrus and the carpenter lure the young oysters away through song. Well, alright. It's an interesting reference, but I'm probably more into keeping molluscs out of rock 'n roll. Also, walruses and baby oysters get grosser when you think about how Lewis Carroll was a paedophile. Allegedly. (Don't use your imagination too hard, it's not worth it.)

Anyway, The Oyster Murders are actually rather good. This song is taken from their self-titled, self-produced debut EP and, as you'd expect from a song called "New year never came", is full of wistful lyrics and reverby guitar lines. Sounds kinda like Interpol when they were still good, but more upbeat. So that's a good thing.

[The Oyster Murders MySpace]

[Buy The Oyster Murders from Indiestore]

Worldstatic - Not Like You

Don't download this song. Really, don't. Unless you're a visiting time traveller from, say, 1999, and Limp Bizkit's Significant Other is rocking your world. If that's the case, welcome to the Web (it's World Wide!), and when you get home, please tell your 20th century pals that they'll hate themselves for giving nu-metal their patronage, so someone should probably assassinate Fred Durst. Oh, one more thing - RIDE NAPSTER HARD. That l'il pointy-eared guy is gonna corporatised before you know it.

Now, Worldstatic. My pitiful attempts at criticism are no match for the poetry in frontman Craig Stanley's soul, so I'll let you absorb this cracker of a quote from Worldstatic's press release:

Passion is the driving force, the need to create, express. Music is worthless unless it emotes something relays some kind of emotion. It has to make a connection.

Amen to that, Craig Stanley.

[Worldstatic MySpace]