“With roots in pop, r&b and atmospheric electronica (think Stereolab and Prefuse 73), Danimals are as fun as they are interesting.” Online Guru
Danimals send reverb-soaked, summery vocals, layered and looped over and over, with strong groove rhythms and playful accents of quirky R&B pop. Initially they hold your attention because of their charm, but the longer you listen, the more the nuanced, developed production shines through.
Mark Seymour is an Australian musician and singer best known for his work as the frontman and songwriter of rock band Hunters & Collectors. In 1997, whilst still officially part of Hunters & Collectors he released his debut solo album King Without a Clue, which earned him a nomination in the ARIA Awards for Best Male Artist (as well as Best Debut Single with Last Ditch Cabaret). In 1998, Hunters & Collectors officially split up.
Guineafowl is an unsigned six-piece band from Sydney, Australia. The music video for their single, Botanist, was featured in Rage's Top Fifty Clips of '09.
Chocolate Starfish were an Australian rock music group based in Melbourne, Australia, releasing a number of hits in the early 1990s, before disbanding in 1998. The original line up featured Craig Harnath ( Kids in the Kitchen) , Brett Kingman ( James Rayne), John Justin (Himself) and Bruce Pawsey (Kate Ceberano) and was born from the desparate cover band scene of the early 1990s. Scottish frontman Adam Hootsman emigrated to Melbourne from the scottish village of Shepparton, in the outter hebrides. He remained as the only original member until the bands demise.
Jon Stevens (1962- ) is a New Zealand-born singer, now an Australian citizen. Stevens moved to Australia after success as a pop star in New Zealand in the 1970's (his best-known songs from this era are Jezebel and a cover of Montego Bay). He is most recognised for his work as the lead singer of Sydney band Noiseworks, who had major hits in the 1980's with "Take Me Back" and "Touch". Once Noiseworks disbanded, Stevens was part of two Australian productions of Jesus Christ Superstar - playing Judas on both occasions, to high acclaim.
Fergus Brown is a musician from Sydney, Australia. www.myspace.com/fergusbrown
Mark Maher (aka Kram) is the drummer/singer of Australian band Spiderbait. He also appeared at the 2004 benefit concert for the South-East Asian tsunami, Wave Aid, as a member of supergroup The Wrights who performed Stevie Wright's 3 part classic, "Evie". When it came time to cut a solo album, Spiderbait’s co-vocalist and percussive lynchpin Kram had a deceptively simple philosophy. “I wanted it to be like a radio station where all the songs sound like different bands but its all played by one person,” he explains.
The Brisbane-born Shane Nicholson is an accomplished singer-songwriter with two critically acclaimed, yet commercially unsuccesful albums under his name - 'It's A Movie' and 'Faith & Science' - and a best-selling duet album with wife Kasey Chambers under the name Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson 'Rattlin Bones'. He also released 2 EPs and an album with his band Pretty Violet Stain, who broke up in 2001.
From Melbourne, Australia, Beaches are Antonia Sellbach (Love of Diagrams) on guitar and vocals, Alison Bolger (Panel of Judges) on guitar and vocals, Ali McCann on guitar and vocals, Gill Tucker (Spider Vomit) on bass and vocals and Karla Way on drums and vocals. Their debut, self-titled album, released in November 2008, 'reflects the shared musical loves of Beaches, from 1960s hit parades to 1970s psychedelia, shoegaze to prog, southern boogie to krautrock.'
Soaring, beat-afflicted Post-Gaze New Wave, inducing moments of hair-raising and hip-thrusting? Yes please.
Some have described PAPA vs PRETTY as certain to “rock your face”. Others have urged you “catch them before they explode into a fireball of fame that is too bright for your puny mortal eyes to look at”.
Drum Media put it a little more simply when they said “…may god, strike me down if it isn’t the greatest thing I’ve heard all year…the arrival of what should soon be a formidable talent.”