Status: Single
City: Sydney
State: New South Wales
Country: AU
Signup Date: 3/20/2006
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Sunday, December 13, 2009
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Here’s where the strings come in – the gut strings, that is. If liner notes are ever a good guide to the enclosed contents (the presence of medieval lute is probably a no go; if a vocalist is listed as “throat”, a sturdy constitution may be required) Sydney’s The Maladies don’t misrepresent themselves on their debut With You By My Side Baby, The Deal Just Can’t Go Down. Two players respectively get a guernsey on the “gut string guitar”, something I’m entirely loathe to Google, lest it prove to be anything less than an instrument comprised of the hide of an armadillo and desiccated human flesh. Which, of course, is exactly what it sounds like.Not convinced yet? They’re ably supported on the record by a motley band of carousers blessed with the moniker “The Don Walker Appreciation Choir”. Three members also contribute “gang vocals”. They had me at hello, in case you were wondering.It’s a wonderful thing to be able to report that a record with these contributions is as good as its liners suggest. The Maladies come across like the heavy, bastard brother of Johnny Winter, Johnny Cash and Johnny Thunders. There’s also a hefty dose of the Bad Seeds (pre-hirsute bromance era, thank you very much) in this bilious mix too.Don’t be put off by the last reference point. If invocation of inspiration from Nick The Stripper in the last few years has been reduced to a synonym for “own/may have heard a Birthday Party record and dug the bass sound- nb, possibly high at the time”, the Maladies are closer to the Southern Gothic drugstore cowboy blues Cave somehow found in the years intervening Caulfield Grammar and Coventry.Yes, the Maladies play blistering cow-punk hoedowns with the Don Walker Appreciation Choir providing enough vocal encouragement to send a shudder through the likes of Malcolm Turnbull, but there’s a notable difference. Far from the apparently bloodless, godless atheism of The Birthday Party believers, the Maladies are blessed with Daniele Marando, a vocalist who is looking for gods everywhere, but just can’t find them. He’s searching for meaning in a world gone wrong, instead he finds a girl who “hates Johnny Cash, can’t spell where she lives … and shops at Supre”. Poor bastard.That lyric is a clue to the great secret weapon in the band: black humour. By turns comic and caustic, Marando charts a desolate, dissolute vision. It’s equal parts Australian-Dream-turned-rancid, country rock cliche and general embittered shittiness. It’s a perfectly agreeable mix, particularly if you’re lover of generally embittered shittiness like me.“The Maladies come across like the heavy, bastard brother of Johnny Winter, Johnny Cash and Johnny Thunders.”Marando snidely looks forward to “work(ing) all day” just for preparing “this wood and this wire” to sell it off (presumably at a Government-grant boosted inflated price) to “some sucker from The Shire”. He falls for women “like a boy falls down a well” and he ends up with a girl who’s like “LSD”, “a dirty Sandra Dee” and “cocaine for morning tea”. The downside? She ends up keeping him “all dressed up like a metrosexual”. He dismisses a friend who “reveals the real you at last” with the derisive curse that he “has ex-wives he likes more than you”. He ends the album calling in on his lawyer “with empty threats and paranoia”.In producer Jamie Hutchings (Bluebottle Kiss), The Maladies have found the perfect foil for the band. He apes some Mule Variations-era Tom Waits production in the percussive sensibilities closing ‘This Wood and This Wire’ and opening ‘Song From a Hot Country’, and tastefully mixes in a mandolin emulating Greek bouzoki music on bleary-eyed closer ‘You and Your New Tattoo’. ‘I Feel So Fine’ churns violently in a spin cycle of booze, blood and lust, all the while aided by Hutchings’ sure hand keeping all the elements (furious harmonica, overdriven guitars and brass) in check. His production is simple, unadorned but resolutely tasteful.Oh, and there’s a cover of Don Walker’s ‘Silos’ in the midst of all this. It’s accorded note-perfect reverential treatment; a cherubic choir and Marando’s sweetest, keening falsetto. If the record sounds by turns equally brutal, confusing and brilliant, it assuredly is. ‘I Feel So Fine’ might just be the most disgusting, bile-filled diatribe committed to tape in 2009 (if it’s not, ‘Take Me Down’, which is three tracks later, probably takes the prize). Propelled by the kind of flat, low-end, rhythmic grit the last Bad Seeds album seemed to be striving for and pointedly missed, it culminates in almost a minute-and-a-half of Marando repeating, “I feel so fine”, over a backing wall of feedback. The overall effect is to suggest the exact opposite of his assertion.If there’s an issue with the album, it’s probably only pacing. The band never relent, bar the aforementioned ‘Silos’ cover and final track ‘You and Your New Tattoo’. Added to that is Marando’s limited range. His two speeds (desolation and febrile desperation) do wear a little thin on repeat listens. The opening 20-second falsetto of ‘I Feel So Fine’ and ‘Silos’ suggest there’s undoubtedly more flexibility he can offer.They’re minor quibbles, however. If gut strings are what the Maladies are using, heart strings are what they end up pulling on With You By My Side Baby. Marando opens the record with the declaration that he’s “gonna put my brothers on the lease, when I paint my masterpiece”. It just might be time to give them a call.
J.P Hammond. Mess + Noise.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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ALBUM REVIEWS
Sydney’s The Maladies have been playing together for a few years now, taking their time getting around to recording an album. That has worked in the listener’s favour as the clumsily titled With You Right By My Side… is 40 minutes of consistently brilliant songwriting, lively playing, and the exceptional voice of Daniele Marando.The thing that hits you straight away is the big warm sound and production courtesy of Jamie Hutchings. He has nailed the mood and controlled chaos of their live show and at the same time allowed the songs to flex and breathe. There is a tumbling feeling through many of The Maladies’ songs that conjures up images of danger, darkness, wracked souls and dances with the devil.Continuing the southern gothic streak that Nick Cave has trademarked, The Maladies tell stories of lost love and life’s trials and tribulations. Their swampy blues incorporates chain gang vocals on This Wood & This Wire, Take Me Down and I Feel So Fine. All three songs are so infectious I’ve woken the next day still humming and singing their echoing refrains.The immediate star of the show is singer Daniele Marando, who truly possesses one of the most life-affirming voices I’ve heard in a long time. His ability to switch from a delicate and sweet croon to an aching and tortured wail of a scream is spine tingling. When he sings “I feel so, feel so, feel so fine…” it is as if he testifying to save his soul. So many singers these days can harness similar elements, but Marando’s range and conviction are compelling.Marando’s singing is like a much more realised and gospel-ised Finn Andrew of The Veils. It also has the warm falsetto of Roy Orbison as well as a sweet, sweet country croon that he uses beautifully on a cover of Don Walker’s Silo.The rest of The Maladies are crucial components to their intoxicating sound. They know when to play with passion over technique and when to play with sensitivity restraint. Drummer Josh Harvey uses more than his standard kit to build clatter and harsh percussive sounds into the music while Daniel Babekuhl plays with a diversity that shows a strong knowledge of different guitar styles and emotions.With You By My Side… isn’t all doom and gloom. The final track You And Your New Tattoo… is a fun waltz-like shuffle sounding like a Greek gathering in the back room of a bar, possibly a tip of the hat to some of the members’ cultural heritage.The Maladies have produced the strongest possible renderings of their songs and captured what makes them such a great live band. Hard to believe as their debut, this confirms them as undeniable talents on the local scene with a sound that will also transfer well to international audiences. Listen and you will be singing along to the best Australian debut album of 2009.
- 5 Stars. Faster Louder/Doubtful Sounds.After wrapping your laughing gear around this mouthful of a title, With You… is a cracker of a record to wrap your ears around. A melted slagpile of blues, gospel and rock’n’roll, these guys know how to build their textures. Lead singer/main songwriter Daniele Marando (extra ‘e’ aside, is a guy) has a slight, feminine, husky lilt to his voice and it’s slightly confusing at first, but a verse and a chorus into opener ‘This Wood & This Wire’ is all this reviewer needed to sit up and pay attention. Swinging between Liddiard twang and Ribot spook guitar lines, lumped with a subtle horn section and gang vocals, this is the best of an entire galaxy of worlds. The Bo Diddley rhythm and freight train scream of ‘The Lifeguard Ain’t Nowhere’, coupled with tasteful handclaps, contains these sage words of wisdom: “She hates Johnny Cash, well alarm bells start to ring”. ‘I Feel So Fine’ continues the deception, opening like a soul lament but mutating into a terrifying werewolf. Don Walker cover ‘Silos’ is the first proper breather on the album, allowing Marando a chance to properly show off his spectacular vocal vibrato, and helped by the nine person strong gospel back-up of the Don Walker Appreciation Choir, it marks an excellent halfway point. The chain gang chorus and muted trumpet of ‘Take Me Down’ sounds like they just stepped out of a time machine, percussive dreamscape ‘Song From A Hot Country’ taps modern Tom Waits for influence without sounding like a knock off (not enough people take cues from this Waitsian period anyway). There isn’t enough of this kind of great, creative and talented music getting about, especially from relatively new bands. This should be your summer soundtrack, while you sweat it out under the ceiling fan this year."
4 ½ Stars. - Tal Wallace - Time Off
Tom Waits, Johnny Cash & Nick Cave are the obvious touchstones but this album far transcends its influences. The Maladies have released the finest Australian album of 2009.
The Maladies have been playing around the Sydney live scene for quite some time, so it is no suprise that their debut album is being received rather feverishly by all concerned. However it is not simply a case of success through perseverance, as The Maladies have crafted one of the finest album releases of the year. Album opener This Wood & This Wire kicks off with restrained tension before exploding in a fury of call and response vocals, and guitar noise, whilst vocalist Marando howls over the top like a man possessed. The songwriting never falters throughout the record, and a tasteful rendition of Don Walker's Silos allows Marando to fully flex the tender side of his vocals, while giving a respite from the unrelenting sonic attack that characterises the rest of the album.
Nick Cave comparisons have been bandied around in regards to this band, and i loathe to add to them, however nobody aside from Cave has quite captured the nuances of this genre as well as The Maladies, who plod through dark imagery with washes of jagged guitars, interesting percussion, tasteful lyrics and hypnotic bass lines. Josh Harvey & Michael Sullings push and pull like every great rhythm section should, and add a welcome swagger to Marando's songs.
Daniel Babekuhl is a guitarist without peer in this country, forgoing the wankery that many guitarists of his elk would consider their cornerstone, to serve each song with his inventive style, which never overstays its welcome.
4.5 Stars (Album Of The Week) - The Brag
There’s something a bit old testament about this new album. There is certainly some testifying going on. This one was sent to me by the band’s management and it happened to arrive just as I had a moment to spare, so I pulled it out of the jiffy bag and bunged it the CD player and lo, there was music. Disturbing, satisfying music. I sat and listened to the thing the whole way through, and I’ve heard it a few times since. Although I tend to wait before committing thoughts to screen on new albums, I figured I could risk a few thoughts on this. Loved it. The opening track, ‘This Wood and this wire’, is a twisted blues number with the sort of clammy, distorted, distended guitar and horns sound that is pleasantly stomach churning (not a million miles from the Drones, dare I say it). The thing that really stands out, though, is the vocal arrangement, here and elsewhere on the album. Lead singer (and songwriter) Daniele Marando, has a great, tenor-ish sort of voice that he isn’t afraid to kick around the studio with all the abandon of a prison guard with a serial killer at his mercy, and the whole sound of it makes a nice change from the growling sort of booze-soaked vocals songs like this usually attract.There’s also a choir, as they call it, providing backing vocals, about ten people singing together, and it adds an interesting extra dimension (though what they do live, I don’t know). I must admit, though, that at first I was about to launch into one of my diatribes against the usual sort of football-chant back-up vocals you usually get in Australian rock bands, but I changed my mind on that and decided that it worked. I especially had to eat my words a few tracks on. The choir is dubbed the Don Walker Appreciation Choir, and they come into their own on track 5, an actual song by Chisel’s resident songwriting genius, Don Walker. ‘Silos’ is beautiful piece, and the band elevate it. Marando’s lead vocal is supported by gen-u-ine harmony vocals that fit perfectly. This one is more Hank Williams than Chicago blues and it is a real highlight.I also really liked ‘Take me down’, which is steeped in gospel and blues, and again, the choir works really well here. I could imagine Plant and Krauss doing a version of this on their follow-up to Raising Sand. Would love to hear it, actually. Other than that there are a whole range of influences, the most obvious to my ears being Tom Waits (his post-Swordfish Trombone era) and Nick Cave. Lots of industrial-strength percussion, and deranged, cut-throat vocals in other words. An added bonus is that some of the lyrics are really clever: the extended riff on love-as-addiction on ‘Song from a hot country’ is particularly good, I reckon. So look, I’ve only heard it through a few times, but I’m guessing my opinion isn’t going to change too much, which means I’m happy to suggest you might want to give it listen (click the MySpace link above). I can’t imagine them ever busting through into the ‘big time’, but there is a reassuring ambition about what they have done here. They sound like they can be bothered and that they are having a lot of fun. Like I said, loved it. Tim Dunlop - Crikey.com
The Maladies last crossed my sightline at a Sydney gig when they filled in for an interstate headliner at short notice. Someone had apparently stalled a plane on a remote Colombian airfield en route from an ill-fated coke run.
Last-minute fill-ins they might have been but The Maladies were more impressive than a bunch of Miss Universe contestants in an all-over spray tanning clinic with the blinds left open, with an edgy mix of twang and swampish stomp that cut through the boozy haze like cognac in a shot glass. That was a couple of years ago and The Mals (is that being overly familiar?) have since developed some complex neuroses, on the strength of listening to their debut album.
This is a wonderful collection of weird and hypnotic jams, skeletal in places to the point that you can hear the sweat slapping the studio floor in-between handclaps, and fleshed out with horns and massed choruses in others. Dynamics Be Thy Middle Name. For that, I blame producer Jamie Hutchings whose last (double) album with his own Bluebottle Kiss exposed a sonic visionary who doesn’t take nope for an answer. Plus there’s the singular songwriting of vocalist-guitarist (Mr) Daniele Marando, whose quirky voice and warped lyrics are a constant source of bemusement.
You want a rocker? “The Lifeguard Ain’t Nowhere” sounds like it’s going down with the ship, with steely Daniel Babekuhl guitar blaring a call for all hands to get on deck. The Maladies have guest horn players and they’re not afraid to use them. Call them “punk gospel” if you like labels. That cracking in the background is the sound of genres being busted, big time.
Percussive propellant and a shambling rhythm pushes the surreal “Song From a Hot Country” out into the harsh sunlight - and the view ain’t pretty. As I’m originally "a sucker from the Shire", I have to take a perverse delight in whatever these Maladies are selling in “This Wood & This Wire”.
Midpoint, there’s a Don Walker solo song (“Silos”) that’s low key in a lonesome cowpoke on the prairie sorta way but you may find that an oasis of welcome relief. “O Glory” is a surreal trip and the mandolin-flecked “You & Your New Tattoo” serenades like cheap entertainment in the corner of a sangria-stained Majorca cafe.
The Maladies don’t as much play as implore and preach. At their best, their songs soar and swoop like seagulls circling a spilt bag of hot chips on a shit-stained beachside park bench.
“With You Right By My Side...” straddles the gap between hip indie coolness and unshaven and shoelace-less old warbs clutching flagons of wine in an inner-city park. If you intend buying , buddy, believe me when I say you can spare that dime.
4.75 Stars - i94 bar
LIVE REVIEWS
The Maladies have earned their stripes on the Sydney and Australian touring circuit for a few years now and it has culminated in the release of their clumsily titled debut With You Right By My Side, Baby The Deal Just Can’t Go Down. Rapturous screams and applause greeted the be-suited band as they took the stage and pretty much played everything from the new record. Augmented by a horn section and backing singers, the OAF stage was a tad crowded. At times, 10 people all contributed to the gospel-infused blues-rock that The Maladies do so well. All are masters of their instruments – with Daniel Babekuhl’s hands a blur of frenetic fretwork, Michael Sullings’ rock solid bass playing and Josh Harvey’s tight and taut drumming. The star of the show though was singer/guitarist Daniele Marando, who possesses a truly spine-tingling voice. He can shift from a sweet soul croon on the beautiful Silo to a fire and brimstone howl in a nanosecond. On songs like Take Me Down the effect is electrifying. Marando’s eyes rolled back and he testified with his whole body; twitching and lurching as if he was purging demons in a voodoo ritual. Chanted like a prison chain gang, the backing vocals are a strong feature of The Maladies. They provide many opportunities for the crowd to howl along to lines like “Gonna work all day and I ain’t gonna tire” on This Wood & This Wire. It was impressive to see a band with one album under their belt play a full set with no hint of filler. The songs were swept along by the fantastic playing and the exultant emotion in the songs, courtesy of Marando’s exceptional voice. The Maladies showed they are yet another chapter in the history of a particular brand of Australian music that has spawned Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, The Saints, Beasts of Bourbon and The Scientists.
- Faster Louder
Hauling their chain all the way up from Sydney, The Maladies start with frontman Dan Marando in a capella mode, before the rest of the band join in with fiery abandon. The rumble of ‘The Lifeguard Ain’t Nowhere’ gets feet stomping while guitarist Daniel Babekhul’s fingers fly on the lead breaks. ‘This Wood And This Wire’ slips between soulful and terrifying, and ‘I Feel So Fine’ lets Marando whoop and holler and contort his body and voice while drummer Joshua Harvey beats his kit into sawdust. Creative instrument work sets ‘O Glory’ alight with its sinister bass line and gang vocals, while ‘Take Me Down’ sounds like the last words of a condemned criminal. Despite the thin crowd, all present are well impressed; here’s hoping The Maladies return soon, because they are deserving of far more attention, and are far too good to remain a secret.
- Time Off
The Maladies wrap up the evening with a very cool set of toe tapping satanic blues. The unasuming fromt man on acoustic swings violently between sweet angelic tones and blood curdling howls as the band bursts into chaos. The lyrics are inturn uplifting, mournful and harrowing but always with a dark edge. Imagine Nick Cave and Tex Perkins ding a duet of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" And You'd nearly be there.
- The Brag.
Next up The Maladies produce a fine performance, showcasing their weird and wonderful amalgamation of sounds. The Sydney quartet had an odd, unique style incorporating easy-going rock drowned in a kind of dark, twisted blues. Deliberate discords muddled and diversified otherwise simplistic arrangements, with masterful distorted guitar work by Daniel Babekuhl. Upon this backdrop, singer Dan Marando wailed and hollered through the set, adding to the strangely accessible cacophony. ‘This Wood & This Wire’ epitomised the band’s sound (or should that be noise?), a trippy, crashing folk-metal hybrid for the 21st century, while ‘I Feel So Fine’ sounded like some sort of acid-fuelled White Stripes ensemble from the 70s, Marando’s flitting falsetto growing into a raucous psychedelic yodel.
- The Lumiere
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