For those of you not in Australia, Homebake is an Australasian-only music festival which features both some of the biggest bands the countries of Australia and New Zealand have to offer, but also some of the best (never associate one with the other, for often it's not really true). At the tiny Hopetoun stage early on in the day, I caught a bit of Boy and Bear, who were the winners of the Triple J Unearthed competition to play the festival. They were obviously very excited to be there, and they were pretty quick to win over the crowd with their clean-cut good looks, upbeat countrified rhythms and absolutely spot on harmonies that threatened to shatter the P.A. with their perfect pitch.
One track in particular that stood out was Mexican Mavis. It's obvious why the band chose this as their single - all the positive traits one can associate with the band on a purely musical basis is placed into a tightly-strung package that's accesible without lapsing too much into an overtly mainstream sound. The harmonies will recall Fleet Foxes, the quaint finger-picking acoustic guitar recalls Nick Drake, the musicianship wouldn't be out of place on a Noah and the Whale album...okay, so maybe they're yet to find a sound that's distinctively "theirs". But there's so much potential here, and it's difficult to ignore this level of sing-along joy to be had.
FINAL RATING (/10): 7
Did they deserve to play Homebake? Absolutely. But they've still got a bit of work to do beyond their amazing knack for harmonies.
If you like what you hear, head over to their Unearthed page and download the track for free. Feel free to add them on MySpace, as well - that is, if you're still a part of that social networking ghost town.
XX
David
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