The Brag

It takes about 30 seconds to quietly recognise that this may well be one of those Important Records; the type you will listen to repeatedly and disassemble, schizophrenically swinging from favourite song to favourite song like a fickle debutante.
Melbourne’s The Smith Street Band, fronted by punk poet Will Wagner, have built a passionate following over the past 18 months, armed with an unhinged live show and an accomplished debut record, which manages to be desperate, poetic and jagged, while also being inviting, warm and melodic.

Posted: September 4th, 2012 under Album Reviews, Brag 476, Music.
Tags: Nathan Jolly, Poison City Records, Sunshine & Technology, The Smith Street Band

I  believe in everything/that don’t mean I’m not wrong,” proclaims lead singer Wil Wagner on ‘Sunshine & Technology’, the stirring opener on the album of the same name. “Cos if I was right, surely I’d be something/that I’m not,” he continues, with the kind of passion few are brave enough to display permanently on record. Live shows, fleeting by their very nature, offer performers an opportunity to speak their minds without much repercussion. But as Wagner has quickly discovered, when one sings with an open and honest enthusiasm, people take note.

Posted: August 21st, 2012 under Music, Music - Interview, New.
Tags: Poison City, Sunshine & Technology, The Annandale, The Restorations, The Smith Street Band, Wil Wagner