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Live Review: Tear Council ‘My Car’

1 June 2015 | 2:29 pm | Katie Rowley

After their well-received debut single ‘Anywhere’ dropped a few months ago, Sydney duo TEAR COUNCIL are following up with ‘My Car’, an 80’s inspired ode to our favourite form of transport.

After their well-received debut single ‘Anywhere’ dropped a few months ago, Sydney duo TEAR COUNCIL are following up with ‘My Car’, an 80’s inspired ode to our favourite form of transport.

Michael Di Francesco (aka Touch Sensitive) provides the main music making, whilst Matt Van Schie (Van She / Du Tonc) offers a distinctive vocal performance, his male voice displaying soft and effeminate qualities – the song’s whole sound is androgynous and refuses to be pigeonholed into low-fi music for ‘guys’ or club bangers for ‘girls’, instead managing to traverse a line somewhere between the both.

With enigmatic lyrics like, "is it any wonder you, ran away to find the moon", Tear Council are have an ambitious vision. The writing is honest and accessible, cutting to the core truths of a failed relationship: ‘you had a lot to live and prove, but your heart was new to love’.

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The sound is a wash of 80s faded synths, much like the chillwave outfits of Washed Out or Toro Y Moi. The chorus focuses on the repeated refrain "don’t you leave my car" – the car, the symbol for youth, speed, modernity and sex. It’s the go-to trope for teen angst love songs or American nostalgia classics, and here it’s deployed to similar effect in a retro meets nu-wave nostalgic disco track that conjures images of a Nightcrawler or Drive nighttime cityscape.

The track is released just in time for the band’s first ever live performance as part of the Personal Best Records showcase at Vivid Live this Thursday June 4. Named as Time Out Sydney’s top music pick for the festival, the neon-illuminated city will provide an ideal backdrop for the band’s sound.

Words by Katie Rowley

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