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Pádraig Collins
Member
Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 813
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 - 08:50 am:   

Donat (or anyonbe else), do you know anything about new (to me) Brisbane band The Zebras? Their album Worry A Lot got a 4 star review in The Australian at the weekend. It compared them favourably to The Go-Betweens. Is the album worth getting if I can find it anywhere?
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David Matheson
Member
Username: David_matheson

Post Number: 108
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 - 09:42 am:   

The Zebras released a self-titled album in 2004 containing 9 tracks. It's a pretty good debut with at least a few really good tracks. The opening track 'The Forces of Light' received a bit of airply on TripleJ a couple of years ago, and the similarity I noticed to The Go-Betweens, while not too strong, led me to buy the album. Although it's not on my favourites list, it made me eagerly await a follow-up, which I have not yet heard as I did not know was available. Most of the songs on the debut album are short - the total playing time is 27:19.
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Donat
Member
Username: Donat

Post Number: 217
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 - 10:03 am:   

They played on the night of Grant's funeral at Ric's. They come highly recommended!

They're a neat little Brisbane combo, and are on myspace of course. Lost & Lonesome put it out, that's Mark Monnone from the Lucksmiths' label.

http://www.myspace.com/ilikezebras

This is what I wrote about them in Time Off:

THE ZEBRAS

Worry A Lot (Lost & Lonesome/Soundmalfunction)

With their long-awaited second long-player, Brisbane’s guitar-pop exponents are back. With a dry, no-frills production ethic, the sextet and their 12 songs continue on with a sound that’s split three ways between Dunedin’s Flying Nun bands of the mid-80s, Brisbane indie-pop of same era (particularly DogFishCatBird) and Scottish groups such as Teenage Fanclub and The Pastels.

It makes for an exciting mix of tricky drum patterns, melodic down-strokes and sweet harmonies. Vocalist Jeremy Cole’s situational lyrics about the perils of loaning vinyl on the title track ‘Worry A Lot’ display a slight sense of tweeness, but this record isn’t as wimpy as one might expect. And with three electric guitars chiming away at any one time, it resembles a Spector-like wall of melody that carry the three minute songs from end to end. If you were to take seven songs out, ‘Worry A Lot’ would be a killer EP, but stretched out to an LP form, it’s still a masterpiece in Brisbane pop terms.

Shine on, Brisbane!

3.5/5

(Donat Tahiraj)
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Pádraig Collins
Member
Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 820
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 03:34 am:   

Thanks David and Donat. Nice review Donat. I was hoping you would have written about them. I walked by Ric's on the night of Grant's funeral and saw there was a band on! I would have gone in but I was so drunk there was no way the bouncers would have let me, so I didn't bother trying. The review in the Australian bemoaned the fact the new album is only 35 minutes long David!
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Pádraig Collins
Member
Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 821
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 04:08 am:   

Just ordered the album through their myspace site.
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Jonathan Evans
Member
Username: Jon

Post Number: 51
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 06:08 pm:   

I've ordered it as well, any talk about belle & sebastian and Manchester has to be worth $20.

Hope that covers postage to the UK, but I'll give them a quick message.

Cheers
Jon

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