Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

3 singers, 2 EPs and zero bad songs. This band is making me very happy.

French Press is one of my favorite releases this year.

the best band down under or up over

they're awesome live too, saw them in march. a motorik guitar tornado

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmalT6ldk1M

Best rock band around IMO. Love them

That's...a long band name.

lol it does feel a bit like they had two ideas for a cool band name and wound up using both

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a guitar band in literally a decade. This is a big deal. They have no business being this good.

Are there other Melbourne this good? Because we don’t hear about them in New Jersey. Or at least I don’t.

And yes yes yes to the motorik! They have that sound down. Fast and precise. Everyone I’ve played them for have freaked out.

Xpost
If you're asking if there are other Melbourne bands this good yes they are like my 30th favorite Melbourne band and I think they're really good. That city is a hailstorm of great bands.

There's an Auz/Zealand thread that lists a ton.

Dick Diver
Total Control
Terry
Stevens
Stroppies
Ocean Party
Tim Richmond Group
Ausmuteants
Hierophants
Milk Teddy
Chook Race
Scott & Charlene's Wedding
Twerps
UV Race
Pregnancy
Zebras

Shoot - that's not thirty.

I like Chook Race a lot, but none of the other bands, like Dick Diver, come close. Their original plan was to have a full-length out by now but I think it won't be until next year. For those of you who only got The French Press, take the Talk Tight EP, with the “Write Back/Career” single, and four free 2013 tracks from their Bandcamp page for a very satisfying 42+ minute album (or 45 if you include "Cat In My Head" from the split EP, probably their slightest tune, but pleasantly shambling).

Aww man Dick Diver is probably my favorite current band. At least top 3. Maybe Total Control too.

Yeah I loved the last Dick Diver album

That's...a long band name.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, October 18, 2017 7:57 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol it does feel a bit like they had two ideas for a cool band name and wound up using both

― bodak horseman (voodoo chili), Wednesday, October 18, 2017 8:03 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

first release was as Rolling Blackouts, but apparently an american band of the same name objected, so they added CF.

pissed i missed seeing them earlier this year. think i slightly prefer the first ep.

Oh I don't mean Dick Diver is bad at all. I just didn't think they stood out from the pack quite the same way. I just didn't hear songs that made me want to listen to nothing but them for a week straight like RBCF. I'm relistening to last couple albums and are growing on me. Total Control are good post-punk, look forward to more from them.

i'll rep for salad boys! i'm a fan of pretty much everything i've heard from that scene but salad boys come closest to RBCF imo from the few contemporaries i'm actually familiar with

This is still on constant rotation for me. By far my favorite new band in years and years.

dig up just came on shuffle while at work :)

Nice! Apparently their new album may come out relatively soon, based on this interview from March 2017.

We’ve got this vision for the album which is really taking shape, a lot of the songs we’re writing are fitting within this overall theme. Not that it would be a concept album, but it’s got a vision to it, which is really exciting. So I think that we’ll look to record in the middle of the year, maybe have a song out—or two songs out, I’m not sure— towards the back half of the year. All being well, a release at the end of the year, or early next year.

Still fantastic. Still my favorite music I heard in 2017 and it ain't close.

They've got a new song out, Mainland. You can hear 30 glorious seconds of it below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/65e668e9-9cd1-4809-b7e7-26439732e1eb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqZPbcJQC2Q

It's tough pop/soft punk heaven!

to the list of bands above want to add the excellent Odd Hope who are yanks not kiwis but I think fit very well and their new album is great, friend of mine put it out on Fruits & Flowers (a label worth checking out for ppl who like Rolling Blackouts)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPtdihNCNFE

Yes ODD HOPE’s debut LP is finally here bringing an immersive set of anglophile jangle & Midwest gloom. Primarily the work of Oakland’s Tim TInderholt, here aided & abetted by the post punk-ish Edmund Xavier of Horrid Red/Der TPK, this record will feed a Twin Tone/Glass Records mid-80s fix. There’s something incredibly catchy & vaguely ominous about Tim’s songs that is totally now, & crucial. Come on down if you want to.

New song. It’s great. The debut album comes out in June.

https://youtu.be/Zj5tH-6vNKY

You can pre-order now! https://rollingblackoutscoastalfever.bandcamp.com/album/hope-downs

fuck yeah

oh boy

preordered!

I like what little I've heard so far!

Wiiiiide eeeeeyyyyes

great show in Seattle last night

good to know, I was thinking about seeing them Monday

Another KCRW show here...

http://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/rolling-blackouts-coastal-fever

Iwantyouiwantyouiwantyouiwant you

These guys are unfairly good. I hope they never write a slow song.

Saw them tonight. I've mostly seen metal shows the past decade but this was glorious. Three guitars, harmonies and alternating vocals. They were SO into it, nice to see a band that's not worn out or jaded yet. Before first encore the only place for them to go was outside (no backstage), where there were apocalyptic thunderstorms. They said it was "beautiful" but they'll just go ahead and get back to playing.

Nice! I'm going next week in Brooklyn. I can't wait.

They were so great. This band is ridiculously good.

New track last week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK2usB-nCwc

Seeing them in London tonight, v glad to hear good things about the live shows.

Have fun! I think you'll enjoy the show. Air Conditioned Man is yet another excellent song. It takes a couple listenings to sink in, but if it's any indication, the album will be great.

I unfortunately missed their DC show. Kinda jaded about rock bands, but like this group

"An Air Conditioned Man" is ridiculously compelling for some reason. Not sure I've ever before returned to a Youtube clip so many times in a week.

Yes they are very good.
Jnagle pop classic.

great guitarist too.

they have three great guitarists

https://www.subpop.com/news/2018/06/06/rolling_blackouts_coastal_fever_share_the_hammer_and_announce_us_tour_dates_hope_downs_out_next_week_on_sub_pop

So good and unpretentious.
The hooks,the melody,the guitars. Perfect.

The record is out and unsuprisingly it's great. AOTY as they say..

how can this band be so good

Yes..

The first e.p sounds like they've alredy been around for ages.

WHOOSH, this album is just so thrillingly fine. I have to see them live in October.

The album is good.

Good is this album

Oh man I can't wait!

Saw them in Camden last month and had been really excited but it really put me off them tbh. Dunno whether it was a heaving venue full of aussie blokes, but they felt a bit boorish, there was no space in the music, they almost felt like a jam band, patiently taking turns for their solos. Was hoping for something elliptical, cryptic to them, but the Go Betweens influence seems pretty superficial.

The album makes me think War on Drugs way more than Go Betweens and that wasn't the case with the earlier stuff.

and better than WOD!

I thought about WOD too. But RBCF are Better indeed. If only because they don't take themselves so seriously and don't suffer from pretentiousness.

These guys seem to have one too many band names in their band name(?)

first release was as Rolling Blackouts, but apparently an american band of the same name objected, so they added CF.

pissed i missed seeing them earlier this year. think i slightly prefer the first ep.

― mizzell, Thursday, October 19, 2017 6:26 AM (seven months ago)

They should’ve rebranded as the Rolling, I dunno, “Stones”

listening to the new one for the first time right now. initial thoughts: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - the best band since the smiths

Saw them in Camden last month and had been really excited but it really put me off them tbh. Dunno whether it was a heaving venue full of aussie blokes, but they felt a bit boorish, there was no space in the music, they almost felt like a jam band, patiently taking turns for their solos. Was hoping for something elliptical, cryptic to them, but the Go Betweens influence seems pretty superficial.

Will give this a spin though.

LOL. Two things can be true. We are all desperate for a good indie rock band, and RBCF would be fantastic no matter when they came out.

Really nice album, but two songs -"Talking Straight" and "Mainland" - are just 'amazing wowwow holy shit' good

This strikes me as a very “Sub Pop” band/record.

Surprised to be getting "Creation/Sarah/Subway/etc guitar bands circa 1987" sort of vibes from some of the new tracks.

It sounds like a slightly peppier Real Estate.

this is really good. i also noticed the real estate chord struck. fanatical midtempoism and maybe guitar tone. also similar, even when a couple of songs are inevitably slight or underwritten, they just sound good. first 5 songs are cap g Great, little spotty after that but still some keepers particularly the closer.

I came to the conclusion the e.p's were better

Same.

Don't get me wrong though- the record is pretty great. But...

Yeah EPs are better but they are still a great band and will make much more excellent music.

I wish Time In Common was longer. Definitely my favorite song on Hope Downs.

I like "Air-Conditioned Man" and the somewhat atypical "Cappuccino City" more than anything on the EPs. Such that I even bought a physical copy, which virtually never happens.

they felt a bit boorish, there was no space in the music...
Everything bled over the top of everything else so that each song was practically indistinguishable...“are we that desperate for a good indie rock band in 2018 that we’re salivating over THAT?

I'm excited to see supremely b***y comments like this, because I believe it means the band has arrived! They may not be making any magazine covers or headlining festivals within the year, but it's a start. I think the album is an improvement over the EPs. They are touring hard too, doing their second North American tour of the year this fall. When I saw them in April, the sound was crystal clear, plenty of separation. It was a small room with great acoustics. Perhaps the venues had shit sound? Or, since guitars have been so fashionable in pop and indie for a while, some brains aren't used to processing all the multiple tones snaking from three guitars?

http://fastnbulbous.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/rbcf-schubas-2018-05-02.png

"Sisters Jeans" and "How Long?" just sit there. Often their sound is so attractive that I mistake it for songs. I listen to "Bellarine," "Talking Straight," and "Cappuccino City" all the time, though.

i love sisters jeans! conversely, that's exactly how i feel about bellarine, which could've been a great song with a bit more work on it, but as it is is mostly raw materials

I love Sisters Jeans and Bellarine. Conversely, that's how I feel about How Long and Cappuccino City.

clearly the takeaway here is there is something for everyone, and they ought to have done better with how long

...and added a couple minutes to Time in Common.

you're not talking straight!

"There's fire in the west, I never did my best"

This lyrics ruin the song foe me

I only listen to songs 1-4,8,10 from the LP. Time in Common is thr best indeed. More post punk than pop. When they are less sugar-y they are beteer

Agreed re "How Long?". I'm increasingly skipping that now.

"Exclusive Grave"--the one track I haven't seen mentioned by name--is quite attractive. A rare instance where I can actually hear the Go-Betweens vibe alleged in most reviews.

Is that the one that sounds a bit like "Secondhand Furniture"?

^ Something like that! Very much 1983-84 model GBs anyway.

This album's major flaw is ending with the two least good songs.

Not really. The Hammer (last song) is great.

+1

It's good, yeah.

Also, Fran Keaney is the best songwriter out of the three

which is which?

they don't use credits, right?

Yeah they don't use credits. Just based on youtube videos

..assuming the singer is also the songwriter

To the best of my knowledge:

Fran Keany sings Wither Where You, and sort of sounds like Robert Forster. On new one he sings Time in Common and Air Conditioned Man

Joe Russo sings my alltime favorite, Heard You’re Moving. On new one he sings Mainland and Sisters Jeans.

Joe White sings Wide Eyes. On new one he sings Talking Straight and Bellarine.

This is the first band since The White Stripes where I’ve even bothered learning the band members names

band's publicist sent me this:

An Air Conditioned Man – Fran
Talking Straight - Joe W
Mainland – Tom
Time in Common – Fran
Sister’s Jeans – Fran
Bellarine – Joe W
Cappuccino City - Tom
Exclusive Grave – Tom
How Long? – Joe W
The Hammer – Tom

that's lead vocals, not songwriters

Damn, they tricked me on the Sister's Jeans. And I confused the Russo brothers. White Stripes is easier to remember.

I think i read somewhere The Hammer is a Fran tune?!

there is a lot of consistency in style, i wonder if that's just the group dynamic homogenizing or whether one of them does the bulk of the composition and maybe gives tunes to the others for lyrics/vocals

No-one told me they dig Orange Juice! Bless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBFhBK3vzBQ

hey that's sweet

Took me a few listens to finally click with the album which is unusual as I've always took an instant shine to their songs. The album feels a tad overproduced imo

New single (In The Capital) is great

It's a grower. 'Watery' was certainly my impression way before reading this:

“I first had the idea for the melody and some of the lyrics when I was swimming. It’s taken a while to finish the song, to make it feel like the initial feeling. I can’t neatly describe it, but something like connection despite distance. I was thinking about transience and water and death and big cities and fishing towns and moon river.” - Fran Keaney

The other side of the single, just released, maintains a similar mood.

I sense that ILM has cooled a little on RBCF post-LP, but there's a new song! With trumpet (?) and choreography. Not sure what to make of it, but it took me months to decide I really liked both sides of that last single, so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G93J8FKmrn0

Not bad

..at all

new album announced and another track
https://rollingblackoutscoastalfever.bandcamp.com/album/sideways-to-new-italy

It's about time for a Joe W song.

I like how they make 'strayah look ever more like a parched wasteland with each new video.

The first single was great. The 2nd and 3rd... :(

first song one the album is great. the 2nd one not so bad so far . . .

4-5 good songs, the rest didn't really click yet.
i like them when they are less mellow/mid tempo

Had no idea the album was out

They seem to get more tidy and 'pop' without necessarily bringing many actual hooks. Though all four of the previewed tracks (plus that opener) suddenly sound pretty good bundled together like this, so there's certainly hope for the remainder.

New album is a grower. They did better stuff before, yes, but this one is pretty good too

Yeah, I've been enjoying it.

Not sure why everyone is so down on it

I like it too. There's no song as singular as "French Press", but I think it's really strong.

I think because it is more mellow and mid tempo. And rhey are known for the opposite

Xpost

I resisted listening to this because it sounded like they were going in a direction I wouldn't like, but I checked out today and really liked it. It maybe has fewer hooks than the last one, but all the cool guitar layers and band interaction is absolutely there, and sounds great.

I tend to think of these guys as jangle shoegaze.

It's a disappointment. To my ears they've peaked already.

"She's There" has been running through my head most of the summer, such a great song.

New vid! Today! LP in May! etc, etc.

Not sure what I think of the second and third preview tracks

Tidal River
My Echo

If ILM has lost interest in this band then I sense, three listens in, that Endless Rooms will not be the LP to win folks back.

The second half remains an undifferentiated cloud of reverberating guitars and mostly moderate tempos. It's not unpleasant, at least. Admittedly their records rarely make much of an impression on me till 4 months later anyway. I mean, they'd largely unveiled the first half already and I've only just come around to "The Way it Shatters". Though having typed that, "Caught Low" and "Blue Eye Lake" are suddenly feeling like pretty immediate earworms, if hazy ones. I guess I'll try to decipher the lyrics in the fullness of time. Lucky they've virtually the only current guitar band I'm this persistent with lol!

This is quite illuminating:

https://www.stereogum.com/2185502/rolling-blackouts-coastal-fever-endless-rooms/interviews/footnotes-interview/

It's becoming one of my favourite sorts of the records. Ones where I have no idea whether I actually like it, but feel compelled to keep listening repeatedly in order definitively settle it. Maybe I'll arrive at an answer and then won't need to listen any more, either way lol. The haziness of the second half is kinda sorta appealing now, at least.

The Spotify algorithm keeps choosing "Julie's Place" and then the Twerps, when the album concludes, as if to illustrate that they don't actually sound especially like that song these days, nor terribly much like old-school Melb dole-wave etc.

I'm digging this one quite a bit. I can see what you are saying about the second half, but the first half sucks me in so thoroughly that I'm enjoying the ride.

Thanks for the link, I really want to hear the 8-minute version of "Open Up Your Window" though, that's one of my favorites.

these guys should really take up the art of the 10 minute jam

they have a number of songs that remind me of shoegaze with less volume and more jangle, they could totally lean into that

Anybody know what's up with these guys? Haven't updated Instagram in almost two years now and no new action on their website. Could use a new album from them soon!

I was wondering the same thing. Last week I randomly pulled out the first two EPs. Love 'em both.

Heard nothing for a few years, then 3 or 4 months ago someone posted an instagram story of them rehearsing, but I've heard nothing. Felt like there was a drop-off in quality on the last two albums so some time to regroup might have been useful. Also imagine there's a lot of sitting and considering when you don't really break out like it felt they might after French Press.

It does feel faintly ominous to deliver 3 longplayers in barely 4 years and then nothing, release-wise, for 3.

Despite my "not sure I'm feeling this" jibber-jabber above (ugh, wish one could delete posts) the notion of more RBCF is appealing right now.

They have in fact performed in recent weeks, including some new tracks.

eg. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rolling-blackouts-coastal-fever/2025/thornbury-bowls-clubs-melbourne-australia-734f0e85.html

On November 2nd they returned to Instagram and posted - Hi friends, we’re back… been a minute, did we miss anything?

They announced one gig as a benefit for Palestine Australia Relief and Action (PARA)