Artists

Perhaps one of the most exciting experiences within any local music scene watching artists go from opening act to headliner, to releasing one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Ok, I realise that may have sounded like a cliché, but I doubt anyone who checked out Papa Vs Pretty nearly two years ago, when they first began doing their rounds on the Australian live music circuit, could’ve foreseen just how much they could mature in such a short amount of time. In a totally not-weird-at-all-way, it’s meant that we’ve been able to watch the boys grow up, to go from high school graduates opening a Wednesday night at the Oxford Art Factory to releasing their first fully-fledged album, United In Isolation, on international music giant EMI Records.

If you’ve managed to get a hold of the single ‘One Of The Animals’ you should have a good idea of what to expect from United In Isolation; a mixture of dirty, grungy guitar riffs with soaring vocal harmonies provided by the group's wealth of singing talent. In ‘One Of The Animals’ we see the two halves of the album exemplified, the chorus showing off the grimier pub-rock sound the group seem to be experimenting more and more with, while the verses offer a much more stripped back approach to songwriting. 

For so many reasons it’s hard to put a finger on what is so appealing about this album. Even just describing the sound would take far longer then this review would permit, but one thing you can say is that whether they realise it or not Papa Vs Pretty are fast becoming a part of the Australian Rock music cannon. AC/DC meets Nick Cave anyone? That might not make much sense now but if you pick up the album you’ll see what I mean.

Declan Dickinson


United in Isolation is out Friday May 27. 

Check out the clip for 'One Of The Animals' right here: