The Valery Trails - Winter Palace

The return of Brisbane's The Valery Trails with their fifth album is most welcome. They still sound a little like mid period The Church and The Black Watch, but the addition of Tim Steward and Skye Staniford has also taken the band into new areas.

Winter Palace may finally turn the admiration in Australia to a much deserved wider worldwide audience, particularly the States. Despite, essentially being an Indie Rock band, their trips into Psych Pop are as wonderful as ever.

Take for instance Vultures Of Lima which is wonderful Psych Pop, but enhanced by the Flute of Staniford. Our Love is 60s UK Beat, but again transformed by the Brass of Terminus Horns. You quickly realise that this a band not afraid to take chances and switch directions.

Leonard Said is much darker, all 80s Synth, that shouldn't necessarily work for a band that is so Electric Guitar driven and Staniford aids this again with ethereal backing vocals. This Is Not My Home is more Indie Rock with some stunning Guitar, riff and solo. The song shines even more due to what surrounds it.

People Who Are Gone is great Power Pop and Journey's End is a fine struming closer. Yet, the band are still in touch with their past as proven by the moody, brooding opener, Another Time. But the real stand out is pure Guitar Pop.

Everything Is Temporary is a superb catchy affair, all riff and melody, a song that would grace any album. Winter Palace is the sound of a band at the top of their game, willing to take their sound further. C'mon everybody, join the admiration!

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl and as a download.

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The Valery Trails - The Sky Is Blue

 

Brisbane based Trio The Valery Trails have offered up a wonderful album. It also reminds me of how difficult and frustrating genre labelling is. There is no doubt that The Sky Is Blue is Indie but Indie what? Not Rocky enough for one genre and too unlike Indie Pop which is generally full of Dream Pop. 

So what do you label this Indie Guitar Pop as? I know labels are pointless, but they do drag new fans in. However, The Valery Trails are wonderfully inventive, but not stuck in any one place. The every day punter wouldn't think of them as typically Australian with one exception. Make No Mistake is very very Go-Betweens, impressively so.

Maybe has a real IRS Indie Guitar Jangle and After The Show has a splendid Orbison Twang. The Sky Blue is wonderfully caught between Glasgow 1986 and Paisley Pop. There But For The Grace has that twang again but this time it is more in Mitch Easter territory.

These Times starts with a Girl Band 60s Intro then becomes more San Francisco 1967 and Zancudo goes all gentle Psych Pop. Sometimes is more UK Late 1970s New Wave than anything and works beautifully, underlining how varied the album is.

See My Fall is a little hippy trippy, but a little Canterbury with an absolute killer chorus. But there is no doubt what the showstopper is. Jaisalmer contains everything you could want in an Indie Guitar song, plus there is a fine intervention of Brass.

There is a real chorus hook. It compares to so many different times with the Jangle of The Windbreakers, the Brit Pop of say Northern Uproar and yet remains indelibly UK mid 80s. The Sky Is Blue is a top notch listen, a real example of how Pop and the Guitar can take you into so many joyful areas.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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