Our Monk
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | SELF
Music
Press
Guitarist Mark Giurissevich and Bass player Anthony Ortuso of headliners Our Monk shared lead vocal duties. It's pretty much the perfectly composed band: solid drums from Ross Ferraro, Ortuso's cute sister Alexandra played keys, there was sax and trombone. Horns can be questionable but when done right there's nothing better and Our Monk did it right. The tunes veer gaudily from sax-driven, soda pop fizzy sockhop numbers to Motown stompers, wartime swing and straight-up pop fun. Late in the set Bleak Week featured wheezy melodica to great effect, almost a cheesy facsimile of cliched parisian accordion. And A Little Monk had all the catchy, whimsical silliness of White Album-era Beatles. For me, Our Monk pulled of the tasty retro pop Little Red try to do with even more style and fun. Higly Recommended. - The Drum Media
The Sydney four-piece have their own unique style that exists somewhere between jazz, diet Man Man and amusing popstastic tom foolery.
The band has just finished recording their debut, self-titled album, which was set to be released via iTunes on July 12, but that now seems to have been changed to 'soon'.
If you can't wait for the album then you can contact the band via theirSpace and request some sort of meet-up/exchange to get your dirty mits on a copy of the group's current EP, In Your Dreams. The release features the song above as well as three equally delicious numbers.
You can catch Our Monk playing shows around Sydney over the next couple of weeks and months. - Polaroids O' Androids
'With the once-guest brass section now fully intergrated, they offer two angles of their personable styles. Dear Dear softshoe shuffles in, has a little wonder round your lounge room, stopping to check what Kinks album you've got, before raiding your fridge. Bleak Week also has a touch of the music hall about it, but thankfully doesn't end up being Ben Folds. There is a good-natured feeling that they are really quite enjoying themselves in both these tunes, which in these careerist days is really rather charming. Quaint, even.' - Ross Clelland - Drum Media
Discography
Our Monk - Self Titled Album
In Your Dreams - 4 Track EP
Dear Dear/Bleak Week - Double A Side Single
Photos
Bio
Boldly pilfering from increasingly audacious sources, Our Monk have produced a body of material that discloses the quartets unbiased keenness on pop history, from the 50s doo-wop of Its Not Easy, the festive Dixie of Ill Be Around, to the straight-up pop of In Your Dreams.
Their songs - recorded swiftly in the groups home studio in Sydney - were keenly added to rotation on Sydneys FBi Radio and Melbournes Triple R. Soon after, Our Monk were picked up by Triple Js Home and Hosed, who also featured the group on Unearthed TV on ABC2.
Ceaselessly writing and recording, the group is beginning to amass a remarkable catalogue of music - music that has been recognised and listed by US licensing agencies for TV and Movie placement.
Live, Our Monk, with their Monestary of Sound horn section, have fashioned an inimitable show that veers gaudily from sax-driven, soda pop fizzy sockhop numbers to Motown stompers, wartime swing and straight-up pop fun (Drum Media). They have recently shared the stage with the legendary 10CC (Dreadlock Holiday, The Things We Do For Love) as support act during their Australian tour, receiving an exceptional response.
Our Monk are Antonious Monk, Mark Giurissevich, Sam Maniscalco and Marilee Mai. Justin Fermino and Grant Arthur join on horns.
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