BLANK REALM - Grassed Inn

We missed the boat on Australia's Blank Realm until this new release for Fire Records, all energetic, droning, synth-enhanced guitar pop delivered with a sneer and a smile that comes off like the sensibilities of Royal Trux or The War On Drugs filtered through a rough 'n' tumble take on the Flying Nun sound (and with previous album Go Easy having just been reissued by Fire, listeners can double their fun if that description at all appeals).

"It's barely a year since this enormously appealing Brisbane psych outfit gave us their last record, the terrific Go Easy, and now they're back with another treasure of an album that goes even further in resolving their hazy, noisy art-rock beginnings into a wonderfully weird and wobbly party-pop sound. Opener 'Back To The Flood' spurts into life like a shaken bottle, or indeed a bursting dam, its whirling little guitar figure eddying around and around atop a glorious swell of chords and synths. This great initial deluge gushes on through the rabidly catchy, organ-led 'Falling Down The Stairs,' then subsides a little for a run of calmer, floatier songs, every one rippling with hooks." - The Guardian