Blank Realm - Go Easy

Lizzie Irwin Brisbane’s Blank Realm is a predominantly family affair: but before you revert your thinking to a tambourine jangling, caravan travelling, 70s family band, you’ve got to know that these siblings don’t mess around. Their debut album Go Easy and the anticipation that preceded it just shows their influence within Brisbane’s burgeoning music scene and now with the bitter old critics at America’s Pitchfork dishing out a much coveted 7.3 rating, they’ve provoked attention on a worldwide scale. This newfound fame is fitting seeing as the band has always pumped out highly entertaining, world-class releases. Sometimes the music can be unnerving and particularly intimidating for first time listeners but there's a method to their inherent madness and Go Easy proves the fact. Long gone are the days of intimidating drone and extended hours of experimentation seen amongst their earlier works such as the popular ‘Deja What?’. Go Easy marks a new era for the tirelessly dedicated band without straying too far from the signature psychedelic sounds that enchanted early gig punters and purveyors of the local scene. It’s still experimental and at times psychedelic, the solos remain meaty and awe inspiring and the vocals continue to be unique and demanding. There’s still the somewhat bitter/youthful impulsiveness and musical bravery, which captured our attention originally, it’s just less likely to alienate mass audiences with drawn out instrumentals and heavy drone. Earlier in the year we were treated to ‘Falling Down The Stairs’ which single handedly proved the band were getting tighter, more serious all without losing their edge, a perfect introduction to the endlessly captivating world of Blank Realm for beginners. It took jangly guitars from The Clean, The Chills and other Flying Nun staples but still sounded typically Blank. This ‘Flying Nun factor’ as I will pathetically coin it, is most prevalent on tracks ‘Cleaning Up My Mess’ and ‘Acting Strange’. Despite this, the tracks are still sludgy,bass heavy and at time batshit crazy. There's still a Sid Vicious-like snarl permeating the sound, but it's less obnoxious and more inviting this time round. Go Easy follows the infectious recipe of ‘Falling Down The Stairs’ quite closely with some shorter and perhaps poppier tracks still capable of packing a punch harder than Chris Brown. That, and the psychedelic sound that has made the band a local favourite, is present but not overshadowing – Sarah Spencer’s synths howl over Dan Spencer’s pummeling drums and Luke Walsh continues to create fuzzy, chaotic punk riffs that could see them sharing a stage with Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr as effortlessly as any big name act. This new direction sees the band more stadium ready and more capable of a full-blown, face-melting party throw down as if they weren’t already known for being completely mesmerizing live. With standout production and a slew of tracks that effectively balance punk rock attitude with tender pop sentimentality (see: title track, ‘Go Easy’), it seems that these locals are more than capable of taking the world by storm as if it were just another day in the dementedly genius office that is Blank Realm headquarters.