The Aves

Global Music With a New York Edge
Catchy, Exuberant Stuff from the Aves
by delarue

The Aves, from Adelaide down under, have their latest album, Panic up at their Bandcamp page. It’s one of those albums that people would be claiming bragging rights to after picking up a dusty 30-year-old copy of the import vinyl at a flea market. You know, “forgotten classic from the 80s,” that kind of thing. Except that it’s from 2012. The four-piece band flex some serious classic pop chops through ballsy guitar rock – two genres they list themselves under are “squonk” and “space pop” – with influences that never quite make it to the 1990s.

The best track is Grow Up, a pulsing vintage Kinks musichall-rock tune with an absolutely searing, noisy guitar solo about halfway through. “We look through the window and we look to the sky, in the suburb which the monsters swallow up,” seems to be one of the lines in the chorus. The vocals are totally early 80s androgynous, so it’s not clear who out of Lucy Campbell, Thomas Williams, Tasman Strachan and Clair O’Boyle might be doing the singing.

There are two verisons of Standby: the first is 80s Britpop with a boisterous barroom singalong vibe, the second is almost two minutes longer and worth sticking around for a very cool outro, the bass artfully handing off to the lead guitar on the way out. The two other tracks are the minor-key, reggae-tinged Panic, which looks back even further to the very beginning of the new wave era, and Thick As Thieves, which reminds over a Johnny Cash gallop that indifference can be even harsher than outright hostility. - New York Music Daily

The evening started with the hypnotizing tunes of Inlet Sound, who in addition to rocking a stand up bass and some great tracks from their EP treated the crowd to some new stuff, including a great cover of The Wooden Sky's Weighty Ghost (a song that causes me to melt into a pile of nostalgia). Afterwards, Australia's The Aves put on a high-energy performace that had us dancing, hard, in the front row. There's a touch of Japandroids about them, and lead singer Lucy is our newest crush. Continuing the party and keeping up our front-row-dance-jam, East Coasters The Town Heroes filled the small space with huge sound, rocking hard and sending us out into the night ready to LIVE LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW!

All these bands are on the edge of great things. Inlet Sound are working on their new album with producer Lawrence Currie (who's worked with Holy Fuck, Sloan, Wintersleep and Het Rosetta!), The Aves are finishing up a North American tour then cutting a single in New York before heading home and record an EP, and The Town Heroes are gigging for the rest of the summer then recording a new album. Keep your ears perked! - She Does The City

From Adelaide, Australia, The Aves made their first trip ever to Toronto, playing a packed NXNE schedule, including this in-store performance. Comprised of Lucy Campbell (vocals, rhythm guitar), Thomas Williams (guitar, vocals), Tasman Strachan (bass, vocals) and Clair O’Boyle (drums, vocals), the band plays a really fun old-school version of garage-pop-rock. Add in their amazing Aussie accents and they are automatically cooler than pretty much all of us.

They had the store dancing and even caused some art to fall from the wall, they were rocking so hard. You can download their EP Panic on their Bandcamp. | CD - Buying Shots For Bands

From Adelaide, Australia, The Aves made their first trip ever to Toronto, playing a packed NXNE schedule, including this in-store performance. Comprised of Lucy Campbell (vocals, rhythm guitar), Thomas Williams (guitar, vocals), Tasman Strachan (bass, vocals) and Clair O’Boyle (drums, vocals), the band plays a really fun old-school version of garage-pop-rock. Add in their amazing Aussie accents and they are automatically cooler than pretty much all of us.

They had the store dancing and even caused some art to fall from the wall, they were rocking so hard. You can download their EP Panic on their Bandcamp. | CD - Buying Shots For Bands

The Aves

Adelaide band The Aves took the stage next, winning the audience over with their charm and unadorned rock songs. ”Letters To Cleo soaked in Johnny Walker” is the best description I was able to settle upon, and it is extremely complimentary.

Punk-sassy and playful, The Aves sound like the best elements of Little Fish and The Like, choosing to skip effects boards and computer loops for the earthy feel of guitars and drums. It works extremely well – think early Green Day – and expertly frames Lucy Campbell’s rich vocals. Bluesy, almost rockabilly undertones permeate their work, lending a sense of being at a kick-ass street party where you can’t help but tap your feet and nod your head in time. I found myself unable to stay still, and isn’t that the point of rock music? It should move us, not bore us. It should excite and incite.

The simplicity echoes the humble charm of Campbell, who introduced songs briefly, only to quickly decide that we didn’t need a long story – we needed the melodies. In speaking with her post-set, she notes that in Australia, audiences tend to tell bands to shut up and play – something I’ve heard before. I explain the strangely polite audiences of Canada that are the norm and she concurs happily. We also concur that the recent heat is baffling (memo to Nature: what the hell?). On and off stage, The Aves are relaxed and passionate about music itself, a winning formula.

There are other local gigs on tap for The Aves and I strongly suggest you make the effort to catch them live. - 4 Right Chords

Please see link - Spoz Spozington

'Arblaster' is filled with charm and attractive nonchalance, at once reminiscent of The Jam, the Beatles and even New York bands like Talking Heads. A cover of Count Five's Psychotic Reaction throws everything in the mix, whilst originals The City and Panic are lovely garage jangle pop. - Hot Press Magazine (Ireland)

'Arblaster' is filled with charm and attractive nonchalance, at once reminiscent of The Jam, the Beatles and even New York bands like Talking Heads. A cover of Count Five's Psychotic Reaction throws everything in the mix, whilst originals The City and Panic are lovely garage jangle pop. - Hot Press Magazine (Ireland)

Second on the stage were young tyros the Aves, who have been making slight waves with their mod take on Beatles pop. The Aves have marked themselves out by their industrious work ethic, which has seen the young band already record a demo along with heavy gigging. - DB Magazine

Second on the stage were young tyros the Aves, who have been making slight waves with their mod take on Beatles pop. The Aves have marked themselves out by their industrious work ethic, which has seen the young band already record a demo along with heavy gigging. - DB Magazine

When I arrive, The Systemaddicts are playing – a rag-tag bunch of spiky-haired misfits all crunching their instruments in a haphazard manner that I suppose you would describe as punk. It sounds like an early Horrors pastiche belted out as some cathartic diatribe against the system, and all this with a faulty keyboard.
After just two songs, they pack up and it’s time for Diesel Witch (the sets have to be kept short in case the police come to break up the mayhem). Diesel Witch are loud. Really, really loud. They’re the latest phenomenon in Adelaide’s emerging garage rock movement. They occupy a similar headspace to bands like Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Health, but with more of a wall of sound approach.
Next up it’s The Aves. Again, these guys are quite punky, but probably the most melodic of the four bands on tonight. The crowd clatters into mic stands and collides with band members during their set, but it’s all part of the fun. No one gets upset, no one threatens to pull the plug, although it does feel like pandemonium could break out at any moment.
Finally, up steps Dusty Adams & The Good Time Five, who curiously number eight in total. These guys are like the anti-Mumford & Sons. Taking their roots in rockabilly, bluegrass and folk, The Good Timers are the mean side of Johnny Cash, the angry Bob Dylan and the hedonistic Jerry Lee Lewis all rolled into one. This is what a ho-down should be like. - Rip It Up Magazine

THE AVES (****1/2) myspace ::
A question that was pretty much answered the minute they arrived on stage for their second set. Or more accurately after I caught the last five minutes of their FIRST set, downed two or three beers in the interim and thought "you know what? fuck this.. it'd be hilarious!" (as much as I'd already pulled this prank with that "nervous breakdown" blog back in March and with that Buster Fidez blog back in February but do we really care at this point?). Yup this is The Aves. Don't ask me how to pronounce it as I'm pretty sure I fucked it up myself (I mean is it with a "U" emphasis or an "A"?) but they are every reason justified for coming to The Exeter tonight.. DUUUDE ARE THEY EVER!! And if things turned out differently I totally would've caught them six weeks ago too at one of those infamous "alleyway shows": only a generator blew up, their show got cancelled, fifty odd people went to drink goon in a warehouse instead and..? oh yeaaah they're totally ONE OF THOSE BANDS (aka: The Witch, Fake Tan, Stan "You're Going To The Wrong Shows" Mahoney) but either way I'm no less thankful I caught up with them now. As such (and in the simplest of terms) think of them as Patti Smith fronts The Libertines: as much as their lead singer Lucy Campbell has that same "lived in" quality to her voice (as much as you could also throw in elements of Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane and maybe even Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on acoustic to round it out) while the band around her possesses that same jangling 60's style britpop swagger. But obviously that barely scratches the surface, there's so much more eclectic shit swirling about in here, so at a stretch think Patti Smith fronts The Libertines only mixed in with Pavement, The Strokes, Split Endz and an A-Z of New York inspired art punk (only in the purest primordial sense of it) then picture it performed in a style so blissfully casual and nonchalant they could totally fall out of bed horribly hungover, light up a cigarette and STILL cough up genius again and again and THAT'S what we're dealing with here.. "DUUUDE!!". Yes I know, and they only get better the more you hear it too. Fronted by Lucy with her loose rhythm guitar riffs, vocals half slurred (and all the better for it), she provides the main focus in selling it. But with the band absolutely killing it in accompaniment they're more an all-star ensemble in delivering it. Thomas Williams provides a proverbial "sketch pad" in scribbling flourishes and rapid fire solos on lead guitar; Tasman Strachan goes for a jerky, stabbing, swinging off kilter rhythm on bass; while Florentina Pergoleto pulls it all together with a spideringly light percussion on drums; and in combination they might sound equal measures dog's breakfast and happy go lucky in threadbare arrangement but it never fails to pull mad shapes in your mind all the same. More befuddlingly still their songs frequently and unexpectantly slip in and out of covers like they're using them as live performance "mix tapes": referencing everything from "Help" by The Beatles, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Devo (by way of The Rolling Stones) to "Good Golly Miss Molly" by Little Richard and that's just to name a few. They perform a wacky love letter to Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park called "Ian Malcolm" (with Florentina on vocals). They perform a rapidfire homage to shambolic Alleyway shows in the form of "Alleyway Blitz". I mean there's just so much swimming about in this mess to inspire you it'd literally take hundreds of pissy indie disco "buzz bands" on a hundred microkorgs to match their genius and they'd still come up short; and I'm not the only one bugging out to this shit either. The crowd here are dancing up a swinging 60's storm, they're the ones screaming for an encore, only to scream for another encore after that, random passerbys are poking their heads in eyes wide as saucers only to join in the fun, I swear this beer I'm drinking has never tasted SO good, I mean WHERE THE HELL HAS THIS BAND BEEN ALL MY LIFE? FUUUCK!! Yup that's The Aves. Just when you thought I could blow the whole night off, get rubbishingly shitfaced and forget it all? they're the ones to pull me back in! - spoz.blogspot.com

THE AVES (****1/2) myspace ::
A question that was pretty much answered the minute they arrived on stage for their second set. Or more accurately after I caught the last five minutes of their FIRST set, downed two or three beers in the interim and thought "you know what? fuck this.. it'd be hilarious!" (as much as I'd already pulled this prank with that "nervous breakdown" blog back in March and with that Buster Fidez blog back in February but do we really care at this point?). Yup this is The Aves. Don't ask me how to pronounce it as I'm pretty sure I fucked it up myself (I mean is it with a "U" emphasis or an "A"?) but they are every reason justified for coming to The Exeter tonight.. DUUUDE ARE THEY EVER!! And if things turned out differently I totally would've caught them six weeks ago too at one of those infamous "alleyway shows": only a generator blew up, their show got cancelled, fifty odd people went to drink goon in a warehouse instead and..? oh yeaaah they're totally ONE OF THOSE BANDS (aka: The Witch, Fake Tan, Stan "You're Going To The Wrong Shows" Mahoney) but either way I'm no less thankful I caught up with them now. As such (and in the simplest of terms) think of them as Patti Smith fronts The Libertines: as much as their lead singer Lucy Campbell has that same "lived in" quality to her voice (as much as you could also throw in elements of Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane and maybe even Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on acoustic to round it out) while the band around her possesses that same jangling 60's style britpop swagger. But obviously that barely scratches the surface, there's so much more eclectic shit swirling about in here, so at a stretch think Patti Smith fronts The Libertines only mixed in with Pavement, The Strokes, Split Endz and an A-Z of New York inspired art punk (only in the purest primordial sense of it) then picture it performed in a style so blissfully casual and nonchalant they could totally fall out of bed horribly hungover, light up a cigarette and STILL cough up genius again and again and THAT'S what we're dealing with here.. "DUUUDE!!". Yes I know, and they only get better the more you hear it too. Fronted by Lucy with her loose rhythm guitar riffs, vocals half slurred (and all the better for it), she provides the main focus in selling it. But with the band absolutely killing it in accompaniment they're more an all-star ensemble in delivering it. Thomas Williams provides a proverbial "sketch pad" in scribbling flourishes and rapid fire solos on lead guitar; Tasman Strachan goes for a jerky, stabbing, swinging off kilter rhythm on bass; while Florentina Pergoleto pulls it all together with a spideringly light percussion on drums; and in combination they might sound equal measures dog's breakfast and happy go lucky in threadbare arrangement but it never fails to pull mad shapes in your mind all the same. More befuddlingly still their songs frequently and unexpectantly slip in and out of covers like they're using them as live performance "mix tapes": referencing everything from "Help" by The Beatles, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Devo (by way of The Rolling Stones) to "Good Golly Miss Molly" by Little Richard and that's just to name a few. They perform a wacky love letter to Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park called "Ian Malcolm" (with Florentina on vocals). They perform a rapidfire homage to shambolic Alleyway shows in the form of "Alleyway Blitz". I mean there's just so much swimming about in this mess to inspire you it'd literally take hundreds of pissy indie disco "buzz bands" on a hundred microkorgs to match their genius and they'd still come up short; and I'm not the only one bugging out to this shit either. The crowd here are dancing up a swinging 60's storm, they're the ones screaming for an encore, only to scream for another encore after that, random passerbys are poking their heads in eyes wide as saucers only to join in the fun, I swear this beer I'm drinking has never tasted SO good, I mean WHERE THE HELL HAS THIS BAND BEEN ALL MY LIFE? FUUUCK!! Yup that's The Aves. Just when you thought I could blow the whole night off, get rubbishingly shitfaced and forget it all? they're the ones to pull me back in! - spoz.blogspot.com

"I imagine The Aves rattle out chunks of great garage pop like this in their sleep. This is the best one yet that I've heard from the band and it's loaded with tangled guitar twangs and Lucy's Ziggy-like natter. 4.5 from me." - Triple J

Australia's The Aves led off with a garage-pop set heavily indebted to the grittier side of New Wave, following the time-honored verse-chorus-bridge pattern, with the typical rock quartet setup of two guitars, bass, and drums. This is solid, well-crafted, hooky rock 'n' roll—albeit written in a relatively narrow range. The band's most unique asset is vocalist Lucy Campbell's throaty howl, which is perhaps underutilized in its music. - Feast Of Music

The night opened with Adelaide band The Aves. These guys got a real boppy indie rock sound. It kind of made me think of The Libertines mixed with Dinosaur Jr. I particularly enjoyed the tasteful riffs from the lead guitarist accompanied by the jangly Rickenbacker rhythm guitar. A really strong opening for what was yet to come. - Casual Band Blogger