There's something charming and endearing about the Brisbane Quartet, The Mangroves. As you can tell by the title of this, their second album, they don't take themselves too seriously without ever being a joke or comedy band.
They describe themselves as forming in 1982 (they weren't) and being cryogenically frozen under strict instructions only to be revived during Brisbane's renaissance. Their debut album, What's Better Than Brisbane?, was described by critics as "the least accessible album of the decade" (again the band's words).
For all the self depreciation, that charm and wit shine through. You get the 1982 reference because there is a lot here that is very Go-Betweens. The impression is that there is a real "let's do the show right here" attitude and the songs are mini pop gems that stand in their own right.
Bounced Out as a real Housemartins vibe as does a lot of the album. Les Kiss is Jingle Jangle heaven with a Neil Finn similarity in the vocal. Expat Exports is so C86. Ric's Backyard has overtones of late 50's Rock and Roll, but still comes across as The Proclaimers.
The song that gets the nearest to The Go-Betweens is Same Old Places, an approaching five minutes as phases when it sounds so Glasgow, even Teenage Fanclub instrumentally. There is no doubt that these songs are about Brisbane, but they can easily be adapted to any city.
A Special mention should be made for Gabbatoir, an instrumental about Brisbane Cricket Ground. It is a lovely piano piece that is only 2 minutes long, but reveals that there is far more to The Mangroves than you realise. Elsewhere it is surrounded by great Indie Guitar Pop. The upcoming Summer may make Songs To Make Your Dad Proud even more relevant.
A point I'd like to make is that I found it hard to find places to buy the album or find info on the band. This is typical of Distrokid (and CD Baby too). They tend to do half a job. They get some distribution points for albums, most of them free streams, but do little to point anyone in the direction. The Album Cover reveals a CD, yet there is nowhere you can find it. I have no part in Bandcamp, but it really is the place to go to for Indies to sell albums and merch and there is also a stream built in. I've yet to see anyone like Distrokid break or even help a band.
You can listen to and buy the download here. The individual tracks are available in full on YouTube here. The band's debut album and Bounced Out are available on Bandcamp here.
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