- One measure of a local band’s success is their audience’s ability to sing along to a set comprised of mostly unreleased tracks. Indeed, it’s easy to forget that until this year, Brissy share-house rock darlings Sweater Curse have only been gigging off the back of a handful of singles. Their debut EP, See You, is one of the most anticipated releases this year from an emerging act, locally and interstate and it’s clear that the time taken by the three-piece to hone their sound -somewhere between New York’s early-oughts indie-rock and insouciant Melbourne dolecore- has paid off.
See You opens on the familiar, as Chris Langenberg’s fuzzy guitar line is met by the ever-satisfying crash of of Rei Bingham on drums in Can’t See You Anymore. “I can’t sleep / I’m scared of what I’ll dream,” ring out the even vocals of Monica Sottile. So begins this six-track preoccupation with how the trio see themselves, consciously and subconsciously, as well as how they clash with others’ perceptions.
For five minutes, Take Some Time builds up to a plea for transparency in a relationship, over rolling waves of distorted guitar. The real treat here is Monica and Chris’ combined vocals on the chorus, which add a golden vibrance to the lines “Take some time to think it out / Satisfy, or live without”. It’s interesting that most of the tracks on See You sit just before the resolution of conflict - they hang comfortably in the flux of young adulthood. The lyric “How can we stay how we are? / How we’ve been?” from Hear You caught in my mind throughout the entire EP, like an anchor.
Mon’s Song counters the notion that bands comprised of uni mates cover the same tired subject matter - breaking up and making up, going out and getting drunk - in perpetuity. Monica vividly details the very kind of dream that keeps her awake in Can’t See You Anymore: one where she cuts open Rei’s head to work out what’s inside it. She holds it up to the light, unafraid and uses the abstract visual as a springboard to delve into her own psyche and questioning of a relationship. The ringing delivery of the lines, “All that I wanted was to say / When I speak my mind, I’m not afraid”, evokes the fierce self-assurance of Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan.
The standout track of See You is it’s last, Ponyo. Divided into two parts, Monica grapples with the suffocating dread of a necessary separation. A steady drumbeat kicks in over her even, downcast voice, then an unrelenting guitar. “Don’t be afraid to go / I will be close behind” - she sounds certain, in the eye of an instrumental tempest which dissipates into fuzz over the last thirty seconds of the record. The dust settles, leaving what feels like a new chapter for the band in its wake. I’m looking forward to seeing what rises next.
- Aleisha McLaren.