By John Sturm
I'll be honest, I turned this album off halfway through opening track 'Work In The Morning', which at only 1 min 34s long was something of a personal record. The lo-fi production and somewhat unique vocal stylings made me think this was one of those pretentious records made by middle class sixth formers with first world problems who really need to keep their "poetic art" to themselves. Safe to say I wasn't a fan of Melbourne-ites Lower Plenty
About a week or so later (because I stupidly offered to write the review) I pressed play again and braced myself whilst also cursing the editors of this site for allowing me to do this. So, expecting the worst what I got was, for lack of a better descriptive sentence, a bloody lovely record actually.
Hard Rubbish has a sound to it that is frighteningly intimate, almost like you are listening into whispered conversation held in a dark corner of a room. Recorded on an 8 track reel-to-reel machine (digital? PAH!), this is an album that eschews the clinical studio sound for a warmer more organic atmosphere. Intakes of breath before lines, the rattle of a snare, the scratch of guitar strings are all part of the ambience. That's not to say that the band ignores technology all together, 'Dirty Flowers' has what sounds like a distorted wind howling through it. Eerie. It’s even more compelling an album when you know that the whole record was done in one take…..
Even before you hit play, you can certainly get a gist of the contents from the visuals used. The cover shows a backyard strewn with detritus; beer bottles, bags, chairs, a battered sofa an upturned crate. I suspect that the choice of that photo for the cover was deliberate as it replicates the sparseness of the music within; perfectly mirroring the earthiness of the playing and the vocals.
All in all this is a release worth persevering with, it doesn’t reveal its delights initially you have to go digging for them. You have to let it wash over you. Let it get under your skin.
