Live Review: TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT: Alt-J (∆)
Alt-J (∆) head out on their first Australian tour, there are only a few dates but we're sure they will make the trip worthwhile.
England's Alt-J have been broadly labelled 'art-rock'. Having never used that as a standalone genre to describe any artist's sound, I can't say I fully understand what it means. What I imagine it means is guitar music with 'artistic' (see: ambiguous and creative) leanings. If that is the definition then it is fair to say it can be applied to Alt-J's unique brand of alt-folk-indie-electro-dub-trip-pop. Yes, I just made up a new genre for this Leeds four-piece. They deserve it. They are excellent.
However appropriate and easy 'art-rock' might be, it doesn't go even halfway to describing Alt-J's incredibly buzz-worthy sound. Terms like dub-step simply must cop a mention, as fat, grimey dub sounds feature spectacularly on tracks like 'Fitzpleasure'.
That all-encompassing and overused term 'indie' is also relevant, by virtue of the fact they are organic, boundary-pushing and their sound is malleable and impossible to pin to one genre alone.
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An Awesome Wave is the debut album from this bizarre and beautiful hybrid outfit, and is unsurprisingly picking up rave reviews from publications such as The Guardian and NME. Short of a full album review, we can't do justice to specific songs except to say there is very little disappointing here.
This reviewer's personal highlights are 'Dissolve Me', 'Something Good' and 'Breezeblocks'. But this feels much like playing favourite children, and all songs are special in their own right.
The Frontier Touring Company have just announced alt-J's (â√∫) debut Australian tour next month, and you can join us in jumping on this train before it's overcrowded by picking up pre-sale tickets here.
Pre-sale tickets are only available for Frontier members, the Joe Public can jump on tickets for one of their two shows at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney and Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne.
The symbol that is their name indicates change in mathematical equations. Let's hope that Alt-J's arrival on the scene is indicative of a fresh and exciting new direction in indie music.
ALT-J'S (Â√∫) AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Thu 18 Oct Sydney | Oxford Art Factory
Moshtix.com.au | Ph: 1300 438 849
Sat 20 Oct Melbourne | Ding Dong Lounge
Dingdong.Oxtix.com.au | Ph: 1300 762 545
Words by Rebecca McCann
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