The influence of Brisbane's Go Betweens on Sydney's Flowertuck is quite phenomenal. It's an influence that hits you hard on a number of levels all the way through a listening session with their latest album Partly Cloudy.
I'm not complaining. I love the Go Betweens. They're one of the greatest musical love affairs of my life. I do find it slightly strange that young bands are so upfront about where their sounds come from. Partly Cloudy reminds me of other things. Most of all that whole giddy, irrepressible Eighties Indie sound.
So at various points you get Orange Juice. You get The Brilliant Corners. You get Blue Orchids. You get Vic Godard. Housemartins. You even get reminders of more abrasive sounds. The Nightingales. Stump and Cud,
I found a tour of the jangling sounds of my youth highly enjoyable but slightly disorientating at the same time. There are moments when Flowertruck are themselves. You can't not be if you choose such a mode of expression as they have done and there are some truly excellent songs here.
But ultimately I found it rather more disorientating than inspiring. The album seemed locked in a time capsule and no record should entirely succumb to that temptation seductive as the idea might be.
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