Based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne 4 piece pop punk band ‘Intimate Apparel’ have nailed the early 2000’s pop punk sound by channelling the spirits of Sum 41/Guttermouth/Unwritten Law and adding a healthy dose of Aussie accents and attitude.
What works: the mix and production is spot on for the sound they’re going for. It’s all clear and present, the guitars sound suitably big, panned nice and wide. The vocals are right up front and accompanied by some nice harmonies and backings. The songs don’t go for too long, they have a few fun bits and it’s easy to see they arn’t taking themselves too seriously.
Dopey Villain’ has a great weezer-geek-rock vibe to it and a big halftime breakdown at the end. The band released a video for the song on YouTube so go look that up for a bit of fun. It’s an easy standout amongst this batch of songs and id like to hear more like it.
Fairer Moans’ has a quirky and playful sound to it thanks largely to the guitar parts and up tempo pace. There’s a catchy chorus and some neat gang vox at the end to add to the charm.
Sling King’ makes use of some double time and palm muted guitars …very pop punk. The vocal duties are shared on this one and the addition of extra voices helps to break things up from the hoarse/shouted delivery that leads the band.
Criticisms: the same generic sounds all the way through leave me wanting to hear some diversity. The sound is appropriate but not inventive. The band is emulating their influences..but yeh yeh we’ve all done that. Id prefer to hear more Vines/Weezer than Blink/Frenzal though to be honest.
I think these guys could be contenders if they stay on the path, work out the kinks and play with the sound a bit while avoiding the sad-boy phase as much as possible. Well done lads : )
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