4/5 stars
Ballarat’s Mark With The Sea excel at the type of Australiana that Paul Kelly, Crowded House and The Gin Club churn out in their sleep. Songs are filled with plenty of space for deliberation, all rooted in a specific time and place that could only be the best friggin’ country in the world.
Opener ‘Bows & Arrows’ is an immediate classic with a tight, moody grip, and menacing guitars suggesting a threat just beneath the surface. Type ‘Bows & Arrows’ into YouTube if you’re tickled by the idea of a grown man dancing senselessly in his jocks, and I’ll wait here.
Adding members and filling the sound out more since 2013 release 13 Years suits Mark With The Sea well, as the group is at its best when using the whole band and deviating towards the sinister – the aforementioned ‘Bows & Arrows’, ‘Kind Of Girl’ and ‘Who Will Watch Over You’ will attest to that. At the other end of the spectrum, ‘I’ll Be The Artist, I’ll Paint You’ and ‘Go To Sleep’ have a calming and sweet veneer. They could be lullabies, if your kids aren’t old enough to clock the existential dread contained within.
Great care has been put into this album, and like all your favourite stuff, it sounds way better in headphones.
Mark With The Sea’salbumWhen The Blood Runs Dryis available on Heart Of The Rat Records.
