The Preatures

Sometimes I find a new band, do a quick internet search, and feel like I'm a million miles behind the rest of the world. Take The Preatures for example, a five-piece rock band from Sydney - it turns out they were The Guardian's 'New Band of the Day' back in August, and they've already lined up a couple of London shows that I'm crying inside a little for not being able to go to. With an EP released in the past week, a music prize under their belt to boost their finances, and their first international shows upcoming, I'm hopeful that the Northern hemisphere will get more exposure to The Preatures soon.

The Guardian described The Preatures as 'post-Haim', and the sunny, slightly 'surfy', slightly 70s-esque rock they produced is certainly the sort of sound we've all come to associate with bands from the West Coast of America - but given Australia's similar surfing pedigree that isn't hugely surprising. Isabella Manfredi's vocals have that slightly eerie quality that I find incredibly appealing and that's pretty common these days, with just enough of an air of Stevie Nicks rather than Kate Bush to have rock-swag.

They list their influences as The Patti Smith Group and The Pretenders, and that late-Seventies punk influence is certainly there, but softened somewhat with occasional touches of 'pop' strains and country vocal turns. They send songs out into the ether that cannot fail to make you want to dance around your room, and then drag all your friends around for a dance-party, tempered with a smattering of 'slow' songs perfect for sitting and looking out of the window on train journeys listening too.

There's a chance I was supposed to be studying this afternoon instead of falling down a music hole, but then when the results are this good, it's 100% worth the mad cram on Wednesday night. I'm going to go listen to 'Is This How You Feel?' a few dozen more times...


I discovered The Preatures via Wonderland Magazine