The Bands

COG

Robbie Adelberg
Photo: Kane Skennar

Cog are a three piece from Bondi in Sydney that are touring Australia right now and will headline REV as part of their Sharing Space tour.

No one can ever accuse Cog of doing things the easy way. Never catering to formula or template, eschewing the safe or conventional in their songwriting, the powerhouse trio have at heart always been a truly progressive band, one driven by sheer will, a tenacious belief in themselves, and an uncompromising musicality. But from day one, it’s been one long hard slog for this band.

Born from an epic, and at times, frustrating, recording experience that involved almost 12 months of solitude from the lives they knew here in Australia, in a small Californian town called Weed, Sharing Space is fast proving to be a worthwhile labour of love for Cog, debuting at # 2 on the national ARIA Chart, the highest chart position for the band, holding in the top 30 for seven weeks, and currently remains in the top 50. Sharing Space is close to Gold sales in Australia and recently received a J Award Nomination, for the Triple J Australian Album Of The Year.

Since the release of Sharing Space in April, Cog have sold out two national tours, gained feature records on a number of major community radio networks, including Triple J, received commercial airplay across the country, drawn rave reviews in press and made a number of television appearances. Sharing Space has also received ‘album of the week’ recognition in a number of outlets.

Sharing Space has cemented the band as a ground breaking act for their genre, defying the boundaries that at times exclude such rock acts from mainstream attention.

“With bulk musical nous, this Bondi three-piece are very capable of developing intense soundscapes that bridge a bizarre gap between pop and prog, metal’s tenacity and rock’s freedom.Sharing Space mixes slinky passages with full-blown emotional power and displays a dense and uncompromising sound that’s both shit heavy and sonically smart. ****” Rolling Stone Magazine

“Like Muse, Bondi’s Cog are unafraid of the word “Progressive”. And like prog-metal titans Tool, they patiently build up and break down songs, creating a potent cocktail of intensity and melody.” Qantas Inflight Magazine

Official website | COG on mySpace

Sugar Army

Robbie Adelberg

Since their formation in late 2005, Sugar Army’s swift advance beyond limitation and expectation can only be explained by their electrifying live set and near-psychotic musical threads sprung from the depths of their dark minds. Born, bred and misshapen in the dreamy slumber of Perth, Western Australia, Sugar Army is the nightmare that makes the drear of suburban living bearable. Next month they will perform at the FMX spectacular- The Revolution Tour – alongside Perth's top local acts.

Their debut EP Where Do You Hide Your Toys was unleashed on the nation on 23 February 2008 through new WA developmental label Good Cop Bad Cop, via Inertia Distribution. This is a band that will shatter your preconceptions as well as your nerves.

With the lengthily named title track ‘…And Now You’re Old Enough, I Think That You Should Know’ having enjoyed a generous flogging on triple j and community radio across the country, the Sugar Army garrison only gathers strength.

Already decorated with a Triple J Next Crop Artist accolade, four 2008 WAMi Award nominations (including Most Popular Act and Most Popular Single / EP) and a slot on the 2007 Big Day Out, they’ve also played shows with the likes of Interpol, Wolf and Cub, Children Collide, Something for Kate, Expatriate, Gerling and Eskimo Joe.

They've supported fellow Perth rockers Little Birdy on their national tour in March 2008, Gyroscope on their national album tour in May 2008, and have just been
invited to open for Gyroscope again on their massive 34 date, 6 week national tour in August / September 2008, with Shihad as main support.

Following next month's mammoth Revolution tour, Sugar Army will go into hibernation to continue writing for their forthcoming debut album, due mid 2009.

Official website | Sugar Army on mySpace

Day of the Dead

Robbie Adelberg

Phil Campbell from Motorhead says Day of the Dead produce the funkiest guitar sound he's heard in years. The band's 2008 release ''Kill or be Killed” is their strongest work to date and WAMI “Guitar player of the year” winner Ben Frichot is behind Day of the Dead's creative success. Next month the band will be one of the headline acts in The Revolution Tour hitting WA regional centres.

The three piece instrumental band was formed in 2005, taking the haunting tremolo sounds of vintage spy movies, and the twisted feel of spaghetti western soundtracks.

Day of the Dead began performing in late 2005 and were soon invited to play at a number of shows with artists including; The Living End, Greenday, Shihad, Motorhead, Karnivool, Gomez and The Kill Devil Hills.

The creator of the band Ben Frichot has been creating guitar music for over twenty years and has produced a sound straight out of a Tarantino film.

In 2006 Day of the Dead released their debut album, “Killer Sounds from the Midnight Highway”. The album was produced by Dom Mariani of The Stems and Xpress described it as “an evolutionary step forward in a genre that almost everyone on the planet loves, in spite of most of them not owning much of it.”

Day of the Dead will release their killers on a mission sound- characteristic of their latest album Kill or be Killed, at next month's Revolution Tour. The album was engineered by Adam Spark from the Birds of Tokyo and features guest violinist Alex Archer from The Kill Devil Hills. Audiences of the tour will be blown away by the unmistakable smoking live energy of Day of the Dead.

Official website | Day of the Dead on mySpace

Operation Beehive

Robbie Adelberg

Perth’s Operation: Beehive is a band with a varied sound – pop sensibilities and structures delivered by quality musicianship and accompanied by the harmonies of multiple voices.
The four members - Clay Smith (vocals/guitar), Thomas Cecins (guitar/vocals), Elliott Smith (drums) and James Harris (bass/vocals) - draw from a wide range of inspirations. It may come from hard edge rock or pop or jazz. It may be music that can fill every space within a room or from an uncluttered song where only honesty shines through.

Their self-titled debut EP reflects both where the band has been musically as well as being a platform for future, diverse recordings and high-energy gigs.

Operation Beehive on mySpace