Horsell Common
Satellite Wonderland
Staple/Boomtown


There are just some songs that you hear that you know you could listen to over and over again until your stereo refuses to play them, or until your housemates smash the CD.

Horsell Common are not a straight-up, riff-to-riff type of band - any opportunity that presents itself, they'll throw in some syncopation to make it interesting. But the choruses largely remain relatively simple and catchy.

I hate pigeonholing bands, so I won't, I'll just point you in the right direction. To their credit on the one hand, and to their detriment on the other for not allowing the listener to form a coherent picture of what they are, each song has a different feel. Track five, Satellites, for example, has a definite affinity with Mere Theory's sound, whereas track two, Blood And Wine, reminds me more of Gyroscope, but not in a derivative way.

I think there are a certain Australian bands that are feeding off each other's material as we speak and are really forming a truly 'Australian' sound, something we haven't really had for a few years. Sure, there's been bands that definitely sound Australian, because of their accent or some other reason (You Am I are a prime example), but now there's a real stylistic element starting to develop that is immediately recognisable and uniquely Aussie.

Horsell Common fit into this group of new, distinctively Australian-sounding bands and sit very highly on that list too, in my opinion. They're extremely original and do an unbelievable job considering they're only a three-piece with just one guitar to work with. The whole of this EP is of high quality and clearly well produced, while leaving a raw edge.

While I'm sure I'll listen to Horsell Common until I'm finally over them, I don't think that'll be any time soon.

Sam Vinall