The Salvadors

On to the first Groopease band that really caught my attention: The Salvadors. The Australian five-piece craft a beautiful form of indie-pop that takes enjoyable cues Afro-pop/beat. Rolling Stone and Australian radio station Triple J have already flagged The Salvadors as one of the most promising acts from Australia. But before you group them in with Vampire Weekend and the countless number of imitations, take a listen to their new album Misspent Youth. Featuring eight tracks with expansively buoyant choruses, sugary male-female harmonizing, and slick Afro-beat guitar constructions. Their music video for the excellent “Wilson” is quite effective in capturing the visions that their sound ignites; a carefree day in the sun, with your biggest worry being if your best friend catches a bigger fish than you. Catch a bunch of them for dinner, and then ride home in a pick-up as the summer breeze blows against your body. And there isn’t a cold chill in the air! Ah, many of us desperately need that feeling right about now. Just a few more months!

The Salvadors are more reminiscent of Little Joy and Surfer Blood than Vampire Weekend. There are some relaxed Latin influences in addition to the Afro-beat, but one can also expect familiar indie-pop in the sugary hook-filled vein of The New Pornographers and Mates of State. Misspent Youth is actually superior to either of those group’s most recent release. This is a debut that should give The Salvadors some international acclaim in addition to the pre-existing buzz in their native Australia. Songs destined for the charts include the exuberant “Wilson” and the soft jangly appeal of “Westfield”. Shimmering indie-pop is not the only flavor on here though. Delicate folk is echoed in “Miss Munroe”, with swaying acoustics and a slight touch of keys. The hushed use of strings during one verse is complete with a male-female duet, beautifully interwoven as the beautiful melody forms completely. There actually isn’t a weak track on the entire album. - Obscure Sound

s part of its much-publicised Ausmusic Month, Triple J have announced their Next Crop of 2010, highlighting the 20 artists they expect to make big waves in Australian music over the next 12 months. To find out more about the Next Crop, we caught up with one of its judging panel, Triple J’s Dom Alessio, and the only Adelaide band to appear on the list in 2010, The Salvadors.
Let’s just address the elephant in the room right now shall we? 20 artists, one from Adelaide. It seems a bit out of balance doesn’t it? I mean, we’re not the artistic hubs of Sydney or Melbourne, and there’s obviously something in the water up in Brisbane town producing all of their amazing acts at the moment, but it seems Australian music is a little east coast-centric at the moment. Surely Adelaide is better than this? I put the question directly to Dom Alessio.
“Undoubtedly it can be tougher for Adelaide bands,” says Dom, “mainly because geography dictates that it’s harder and more expensive for Adelaide bands to tour the rest of the country, but I don’t think Australian music is necessarily east coast-centric. Coincidently, as I’m answering these questions I’m listening to Cal Williams Jr’s new record! There are some fantastic Adelaide bands at the moment. I’m loving all the new stuff being released by Paper Arms, Steering By Stars, Southie and Pagen Elypsis. I think Adelaide is really strong and has a really unique musical voice.”
That’s all well and good, but it still doesn’t explain why The Salvadors were our city’s sole entry in the Next Crop, does it? Maybe the answer lies in the stiff competition they were up against. One look at the bands who did make it into the Next Crop suggests this might be a reasonable explanation. With acts like The Jezabels, Yolanda B Cool & DCUP, Gypsy & The Cat and Big Scary all in there, maybe there wasn’t quite room for Jimmy & The Mirrors or The Shiny Brights. So what was it about The Salvadors that stuck out for them?
“Simply, they are writing fantastic pop songs,” Dom explains. “Their debut EP was great and when we heard (new single) Wilson we knew these guys had the chops. I haven’t seen The Salvadors live, but others here at Triple J have and come back with rave reviews, so they were definitely one of the easiest choices for Next Crop.”
While Wilson might have sealed the deal for the indie quintet, Salvadors frontman Tom Opie thinks it was the impression his band made with their earlier work that got them into a position to even be considered for the list.
“Our single Atacama Disco has done really well for us, I guess this number has got us some attention. It’s a song that we’re really proud of. There are a few songs on the Misspent Youth EP that I listen back to and I’m not happy with this or that. I don’t have this feeling with Atacama Disco, I’m really happy with how it turned out. High rotation on the Js has meant that we have gone from being a relatively unknown band, to having a small presence in the Australian music scene.” - Rip It Up Magazine

It’s easy to see why The Salvadors’ Misspent Youth EP was such a hit with tastemakers around the country. It was the product of 18 months’ laborious work recording, editing, re-recording, mixing, mastering, remixing and, finally, releasing. Throw into the mix a name and line-up change and you’ve got a pretty tumultuous time for this Adelaide five-piece. But the work obviously paid off for them. Misspent Youth is brimming with spiffy pop melodics and dirty rock jams, resulting in the radio thrashing of lead single Atacama Disco. Who knows, the born-again Salvadors might just be the musical saviours we all didn’t know we needed. - Rip It Up Magazine

It's always a joy discovering a great song on triple j Unearthed, and The Salvadors' 'Atacama Disco' was one of those songs. Its bright melody lines sounded like they were made of sunshine, put to bouncy, afrobeat rhythms, topped off with terribly catchy lyrics. We loved it so much that we picked The Salvadors to open the Laneway Festival this year in their home town of Adelaide.

With a slew of killer shows under the collective belt now, plus a swag of new tunes in the works, it's easy to see why The Salvadors are one of the coolest new acts in Autralia right now. - Triple J Radio Station