Splendour in the Grass have been the talk of the town since announcing in February this year’s festival dates. Reactions to the music festival’s program have been negative and positive and their decision to scrap drink tickets have people cheering.
However, the most banter, unsurprisingly, has surrounded the lineup. This year’s Splendour boasts a massive 103-artist line up including some impressive headliners from around the globe. While the music fest is bringing in some of the biggest names in music at the moment, how many less popular acts do you know?
While this year’s Splendour in the Grass flaunts some impressive headliners, we take a look at five majestic acts towards the bottom of the line up.
The Murlocs
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“More than just a cliché doppelganger of the psych-blues inspirations from whence their sound originates, Young Blindness is an orgy of 60’s and 70’s drug-drenched sounds mixed with newer indie-rock sensibilities. Drawing heavily from such genres is a tricky thing; lean too far towards blues and you’ll sound like an unoriginal cover band, go too far towards psychedelic rock and you’ll likely fade into the mass of indistinguishable psych/garage bands who have more guitar pedals than song-writing ability.
But The Murlocs hit that sweet spot in the middle, weaving together all their blues drenched instruments in such a way that they avoid becoming a mess of fuzz, instead creating a texture of warm, drifting melodies and catchy guitar hooks. Their expertly crafted songs are indicative of front-man Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s experience in songwriting – and there are definite comparisons with his other venture, the much-loved King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – but The Murlocs provide him with an avenue for more carefully constructed and direct songs.”
Read the full article here.
Set Mo
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“Have you ever seen a moustache so dense; so closely compacted and impenetrable, that you’ve had an uncontrollable urge to compliment that moustache’s owner? No? Some random dude at Indian Home Diner did, describing Stu Turner’s lip tickler as one hell of a “Set Mo”. It was from that sloppy night forward that DJ friends Stu Turner and Nick Drabble became known as Set Mo.
Stripping back the convoluted noise of commercial house and taking it back to basics, the Sydney duo have become synonymous with brooding basslines, percussive nuances, and tight four-to-the-floor backbeats. Their compositions tiptoe the fine line between simplicity and catchiness; heavily focussing on the backbone of classic house – the groove and the bassline.”
Read the full article here.
Winston Surfshirt
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“I saw Winston Surfshirt for the first time in a converted underground public toilet beneath a park somewhere in East London in 2013. Back then it was just a solo act, with Winston himself crouched over a bunch of loop pedals in a pretty mind-blowing display of musicianship, looping beats made from his guitar and his mouth, blending elements of hip hop, funk and psychedelia into an intoxicating aural potion.
The band as we now know it consists of frontman Winston, who writes the tunes, Mi K & Bik Julio who play bass, and two producers Bustlip, and Dool and The Bone. Their live show is a sweaty melange of spiky vocals, slinky, funk addled bass and beats, and smooth horns. They have steadily built a massive fan base around their tireless attitude to playing live: give us dark corner and some people, and we will play.”
Read the full article here and while you’re there check out Winston Surfshirt’s list of top 10 Aussie hip-hop artists.
Good Boy
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“The Brisbane trio of Tom Lindeman, Rian King and Stu McKenzie have curated a sound, that although harbours strong indie-pop influences, is much more layered than your standard, run of the mill indie-pop. Thrown into the mix are surf influences and classic rock n roll undertones that intertwine slow, laid-back vibes with more upbeat and bouncy sounds. Indie-pop can sometimes come off sounding a bit flat and lifeless, but the interpretation Good Boy have clued onto offers up a textured and unique sound, which in the long run will keep them a step ahead of the rest.”
Read the full article here and read our interview with the boys here.
Mallrat
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“Citing the early Black Eyed Peas as a major influence in her rap roots, Mallrat has since added names ranging from Skrillex and Crystal Fighters, to MØ and Frank Ocean, as her overall influences. Combine that with her top-notch catalogue of tropical house, R&B, deep house and Wave Racer-esque future bass (just to scratch the surface), and we’ve got a girl who doesn’t appear to be bound to any single genre.
She has a singing voice decently beyond her years, vocally sounding well into her 20’s, yet realistically just cracks her late teens, which makes a lot more sense of cheeky Facebook updates such as “I look like I do a lot of drugs, but actually I just have scruffy hair, bad skin and a grubby dress sense”.”
Read the full article here.
