Coming out of Melbourne, Australia, the memorably-named Scott and Charlene's Wedding are a band that manages to blend the very best aspects of Seventies NYC rock and a clutch of Nineties post-grunge indie touches. That sounds like a load of rock writer nonsense but this band defies any easy description.
From the Jim Carroll-esque "Maureen" and onto the Lou-inflected "Don't Bother Me", this new album gets off to a bang. Mid Thirties Singles Scene, out yesterday on Fire Records, is a lumbering slab of post-rock, all attitude and swagger put into a blender with a few rough chords. At their best, like on the Saints-like "Delivered", Scott and Charlene's Wedding work up an impressive racket that hits at moments that very nearly achieve a certain transcendence. Frontman Craig Dermody has a distinctive style and sometimes it works quite well at making this music something wholly unique ("Scrambled Eggs").
Mid Thirties Singles Scene is, on some level, an acquired taste. That said, fans of Television, Lou Reed, The Fall, and The Triffids should find much to love here. Scott and Charlene's Wedding make music that sounds so easy and simple -- like those Modern Lovers classics -- and yet the feeling evoked in a listener is something so complex.
Out now on Fire Records, Mid Thirties Singles Scene is the latest set of superb post-punk from Scott and Charlene's Wedding.