It’s a perfect moment: you’re cruising on your way out of town, the window is rolled down, you’ve got the wind lashing at your hair, sun dappling your face, so you turn up the radio and your ears start buzzing, the foot on the break gets tapping. That’s because you’re be listening to Sydney’s Big White blaring from the dashboard. You won’t be able to wipe the smile off your mug!
Missing a solid dose of Australiana in your life? Big White have the answer with their brand of New Wave driven guitar pop.
Describing themselves as ‘new-wave-guitar-pop’, the five piece who are also flatmates in Sydney’s indie-happy Inner West, are a crazy fun band with distinct vocals and catchy chords balanced around guitar-centric Australiana, where the accent is thick and the melodies are easy to love.
The amity Big White share and that easy going quality is the first thing I noticed and likely one of the reasons, apart from the songs, that crowds on the band’s recent road trip in the USA were so smitten. That quality is found in the warm tone of the music. Learning from the band themselves that the five write the songs together, it seems obvious in how comfortably they play with each other, which results in tight tunes and an atmosphere that is contagious.
Unity like that can’t be faked, and it inflects the sound and the feeling we get from this band in a multitude of ways. Upon hearing Big White a warm, summery vibe takes hold. It’s the perfect soundtrack for catching up with old friends at the great Aussie backyard BBQ, hanging out in a park with friends drinking Young Henry’s or that road trip their music seems bent towards; simple freedom, Aussie scenery, relaxed vibes, and a familiarity.
They have an album due out later this year, and if their two singles are anything to go by, it’s going to be a cracker. There is an unmistakable dog-eared love for New Wave in their new single You Know I Love You, which follows on from their killer first single I Can’t Tell.
You Know I Love You is a happy, undeniably sweet love song that recalls Robert Smith’s lighter jaunts vocally and melodically i.e. Love Cats or Friday I’m In Love. The call and response in the chorus is sure to get stuck in your head and add a dose of sunshine throughout these colder months.
With performances at SXSW and Burgerama festivals and a growing fan base, having these kids back in town is something to be excited about. One gets the impression that Big White is about to explode and earn a place on everyone’s 2015 Best-of lists. This is only the beginning for these guys, and you’ll want to follow their ride and catch their gigs before the American market starts begging for their return.