- Just shy of a year since MOD CON were holed up in Gareth Liddiard’s Goulburn Valley recording studio, the Melbourne three piece present Modern Convenience; ten tracks of dynamic, heavy handed guitar fuzz, bass lines that just won’t quit and lyrics that shimmy and shake on the precipice of existential dread and observational irony.
All prolific and successful musicians in their own right, (you’ve probably heard of their other projects: Tropical Fuck Storm, Harmony, Golden Syrup and Various Asses) the Melbourne three piece formerly known as Palm Springs, shed their alt-country skin and re-emerge MOD CON.
Their debut was prefaced by singles Do It Right Margo and Neighbourhood, both typifying the direction in which the record charges, the latter propelled by a rhythm section that could incite a riot.
The jarring, whispering synth and a chanting bass line characterise one of the record’s stand out tracks ‘Bad Time At The Hilton but it’s the foray into a haunting strings outro that will either alienate or convert a listener. Liddiard’s influence is smattered throughout the record, most notably on Kidney Auction Blues, which weaves a repetitive guitar hook and syncopated drums together to expertly cradle Erica Dunn’s gravel-tinged vocals.
While the stand alone elements of the record are enough to make me swoon - see: the commanding bass lines, fuzzy guitars and swettttetly discordant vocals, Modern Convenience as a whole feels unsettled, like a less controversial Camp Cope, or a slightly undercooked version of The Drones. While not every cut on this record has the staying power to outlast the millennial attention span in the internet age, there is a handful of tracks so disarmingly hooky you’ll find them doing laps in your head for days to come. Let’s just file this one under mostly killer, some filler.
- Fiona Priddey.