Pulling the strings in Australia isn't as easy as it may seem, they work for
it - work, work, working on their hits. Over the last few years, we've seen a
driving force in the alternative Australian music scene, and the same applies
to their Australasian neighbours to the South East. Cut Copy released an
absolutely stunning house album last year, as did Jagwar Ma with the same level
of British sound references. Meanwhile Nick Cave released a lyrically pleasing
album for the soft rock / singer-songwriter fans. In terms of pop filled
electronics, Cut Copy and Jagwar Ma don't quite fit the bill. And you can't
tell me we'll see the return of The Avalanches in 2014, because that just
doesn't seem possible. It's down to the electronic whiz kids who take an
influence from the UK and more so America to kick start a scene which never
seems to leave the coastal cities of Australia.
Little Earthquake may not be the most experienced of artists, but they certainly
have the potential to set Australia's synth pop / indie pop scene on fire. It
may not even seen possible for fans of brothers Justin and Matthew Hyland
to take their music beyond the reach of Australia, but the Hyland-ers took
their sound over to the states in 2013 as touring members of USA rockers Lydia. They're
named after a Facebook post (I seem to read about band naming this way all the
time now,) with the intention to inflict the power and attention of a little
earthquake on their listeners.
It's what "Planets" seems to do with its hard hitting percussion and textured synthesizers. Little Earthquake sound like an established act, ready to take on the world with layers upon layers of neatly arranged electronic instrumentation. "Planets" features more than just a façade of synths though, there’s acoustic instruments in there - with vocals bordering the twee preaching’s of one time Cali hitsters Iglu & Hartly. Though I'm sure Little Earthquake’s upcoming debut EP will sound more like MGMT's early work than a shirtless surfing summer. Regardless of geographical origin and location (though it does matter greatly in an artist’s rise and demise) Little Earthquake has room to improve and a healthy single to take forward in support of the EP.
~Eddie Gibson
