Miniature Submarines “S/T” 7″
Imported from Rice is Nice in Australia. Limited quantities. MINIATURE SUBMARINES is a vehicle for the solo recordings of Mark Nelson, otherwise known for his work in Melbourne band The Stabs. Stylistically the Submarines music couldn’t be further removed from The Stabs sound – this is unashamedly and exercise in pop. The songs are layered in melodic guitar parts of repetition and feedback but presented with a care closer to a cotton wool caress than the steel wool scrape which Mark has been flaunting of recent years. Mark is joined by Monika Fikerle (Love of Diagrams, Baseball) who has been good enough to nail the hell out of the drum parts on the first couple of tracks. For fans of Aussie and Kiwi pop-punk, the Clean, the Moles, etc.
From Termbo:
Miniature Submarines “The Little Room Under the Stairs” 7″
Even more proof that Australia has shit on lock, from punk zines to garage-rock to dumb-punk to this wonderful little indie rock slab, a side project of Mark from the Stabs with his better half Monika on drums. Two songs of surprisingly catchy and atmospheric dark guitar-pop, “Little Room…” sounds like one of the short and hooky songs from an early-Nineties Sonic Youth record with nonchalant vocals, a prickly lead guitar supported by another string bending rhythm player and a slow tempo that still moves elusively and effectively in a shadowy way. “I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby” repeats the formula, with a more prominent bassline acting in support this time around and some deeper exploration on the lead guitar parts. Crafty drumming really keeps the somewhat subdued attitude and tempo of the vox/guitar moving and active, making for a wonderful pair of songs here. Highly recommended if you can score a copy. I wish there was a pipleline to somehow make these imports available stateside in a cost efficient way, as mailorder from Australia is murder on the record buyer these days. Damn shame, because this stuff is worth hearing.(RK)
(Rice is Nice // http://www.riceisnice.net)