‘Lost Friends’, the debut album from Sydney indie-rockers Middle Kids, is a future soundtrack to an indie movie about lost millennials. The band are able to perfectly capture a feeling of intense insecurity through a retro Instagram filter.
Bought It finds our hero at a party, fairy lights dangling across the courtyard. Everyone is having fun and drinking cocktails out of jam jars. “Oh dear, you saw me on a night when I was pissed,” frontwoman Hannah Joy sings in a haunting voice, as atmospheric pedal steel plays in the background. “And I tried to act alright, smooth talking, I'm not sure you bought it. So I'm crawling to the nearest taxi.” In the middle of the song, Joy’s vocals drop to a whisper as the camera lens turns the image hazy, before building to an emotional climax.
On Mistake, Joy sings: “You're standing out in the rain tonight. Like you've got something to say to God.” It’s an opportunity for the filmmakers to use pathetic fallacy and on the nose song choices as the skinny white male lead realises he has spent too much time alone with his vinyl records.
He tries to win back the skinny white female lead as he stands outside her apartment in the rain. Again, the middle eight is used to great effect as the guitar plays a childlike melody before descending into a wall of noise for the big finale.
The characters drive along the highway in an open top car. They turn on the radio and On My Knees plays as if it were incidental music. “What is the plan? I said, what is the plan? I am the second hand, I am a roadside distraction,” Joy sings. “And they're looking at me as if I got what they need, but I don't got it.” It’s weighty and cinematic, starting off with a forceful verse and only getting bigger for the chorus, like something Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler might have written back in their early Suede days.
Middle Kids are able to take a mixture of ‘80s and ‘90s alt-rock and combine it with a dose of Americana, without it sounding like an empty pastiche. Instead, the effect is a nostalgic sound that longs for a past seen through heart-shaped, rose-tinted glasses. As the music draws us along with tender moments and cathartic, dramatic closures, the protagonist seems to be looking over their shoulder with a sweet sadness. They’ve learned to finally be comfortable with life’s uncertainties. Roll end credits.
Middle Kids Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri November 16 2018 - BRIGHTON Sticky Mike's Frog Bar
Sat November 17 2018 - BRISTOL Louisiana
Sun November 18 2018 - GLASGOW Stereo
Tue November 20 2018 - MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
Wed November 21 2018 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Think Tank?
Thu November 22 2018 - LEEDS Brudenell Community Room
Sat November 24 2018 - NOTTINGHAM Bodega Social Club
Sun November 25 2018 - LEICESTER Cookie
Mon November 26 2018 - LONDON Village Underground
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
