One Hundred Years
Lindenow EP
Wheeler Dealer

The Melbourne music scene is a hotbed of talent. Every night of the week there are gigs at venues across the city; local radio station Triple R is the best station I've heard for playing a range of great music, including shows that focus on new bands. If you're in Australia making music, Melbourne is the place to be.

I caught a couple of tracks from this EP on the radio, and enjoyed the autumnal atmosphere and the sound of the guitars. Music like this is the kind I tend to follow, so I pricked up my ears immediately. I hesitate to call it 'post-rock', partly because I'm getting sick of the phrase, and partly because it ceases to mean much any more. One Hundred Years, despite their aesthetic being similar to a lot of bands who remain wholly instrumental, deploy male and female vocals on a couple of tracks here to nice effect.

The general tone of this release is one of quiet strength and tension. There's little to wow anyone who follows this kind of music, but the five songs sound good when played on a Sunday afternoon, white light streaming into a large room from a skylight. As a debut EP this is promising stuff.

Oh, and the artwork - moody photography with excellent and sparing use of colour - is fantastic.

Copyright © 2004 Tim Clarke

With daylight drawing in and the cold starting to bite, I couldn't imagine anything more apt than spinning the debut of Melbourne's One Hundred Years. While we're on the subject, I haven't heard a band sound quite so "Melbourne" for some time and although it's quite bleak there's plenty of invigorating beauty on offer across this five track EP.

"Early Morning" wastes no time in awakening the drama with endless rolling rhythm and violin meshing seamlessly. "Rejection OTAAG" opens in a similar manner before a series of crunching stop/start chords churn the song in another direction. The dark listen continues for "Letteropener", the vocals hinting at the sense of resignation at the song's core.

Each tune rolls out like a mini drama, given plenty of time to do so with the release clocking in at just under half an hour. The ominous rhythms of closing song "Range" gently caress and open into a graceful swing before the guitars burn away towards the end.

The package is all wrapped up in the beautiful photography of drummer Sonia Mangiapane. A worthy debut that in most cases manages to hold your attention over the full duration, providing a pointer as to what the '100 may have in store for future discs...now where's that bar heater?

Copyright © 2004 Brian Stradbrook