Spent The Afternoon

Australia used to be known only for crazy hard rock & roll, even their punk was the most ferocious of all the participating nations. In the 2010s things are changing and the country is totally a psych-pop and indie pop hot spot. Bedroom Suck is one of the labels charged with extracting the nuggets and one of the shiniest they've found so far is the Melbourne quartet Full Ugly. The band's debut album Spent the Afternoon sounds like it was recorded in one afternoon, a breezy, nonchalant kind of afternoon with icy beverages on hand and lots of time to kill. Their shambling indie pop is a perfect fit with their label, and their producer Jack Farley sounds like all he had to do was set up some mikes and get out of the way. The fellas in the group were then free to amble their way through ten songs about everyday life sung in a winning warble by Nathan Burgess, then filled in with tippy-tap drums, rumbling bass, and happily jangling guitars. It's a formula that's been around since the the dawn of time, or at least since C-86, and Full Ugly are really good at it thanks to the tender hooks in the choruses, Burgess' lyrical viewpoint, and the overall huggability of the band. "Hanging Around" is the quintessential track that spells out the band's ideals perfectly (and has some super-catchy guitar work); "No Plans" is another distillation of what they're all about. If that sounds like your average weekend and you like your pop off-beat and delivered in a scruffy package by a band that's probably too lazy to actually deliver anything in real life, then Spent the Afternoon is right up your alley. ~ Tim Sendra|