Glass Towers: Collarbone Jungle
Liana reviews a bunch of lads that have come a long way since their school days:
Glass Towers is a band I have quite the soft, squishy, sentimental spot for. Why? Well funnily enough, I went to high school with these fellas. A small-town crapfest of a high school just outside of Byron Bay on the North Coast of New South Wales in Australia which truthfully, didn’t really hold any of the arts in high esteem (it was more obsessed with the intellectual brilliance of waterpolo and rugby union). Therefore to some, it’s relatively surprising that any half-decent band would ever come out of the shithole. Glass Towers are pretty much the best band to emerge from the town well… ever.
The youngling Ben Hannam formed the band in 2008 (I think he was 15 or 16 at the time) with his good pals Cameron Holdstock, Sam Speck and Daniel Muszynski. All the folk from our area with any sort of love or respect for music in general tend to be rather fond of these young chaps, and support their career rather avidly. They released a fairly dandy EP What We Were, When We Were in 2011 (which I faithfully downloaded) and have toured with some pretty cool cats such as Cloud Control, Tame Impala, Dappled Cities and Metronomy. I myself have been to a couple of these gigs and I did get super dooper excited for them when they were given a spot on the Splendour in the Grass line up (however, due to my silly drunken antics, I missed their set… booo, I blame you Vodka!).
So it’s safe to say their talent is appreciated in more ways than the local teenage indie scene of the Northern Rivers! Now the band is based out of Sydneytown, and after the success of the hit Jumanji, they’ve released their 2nd EP, Collarbone Jungle. To sum it up, this EP is youthful fun and it will be on rotation for me this summer. Opening track Jumanji is chip-chipper-chirpy, with delightfully tropical guitar sounds intertwined with catchy lyrics and a percussive beat. It is the quintessential summer sesh song and gets the Liana nod of approval.
The second track We Will Miss It All is more of a gloomy, emotional number as it delves into the topic of young love. It’s probably my favourite track on the EP as it has quite a dreamy Foals-esque twang to it. Tonight also explores this subject in a heavier way, as described by Hannam that is “about the dangers of lust”. This bass-fueled track really reminds me of a Two Door Cinema Club hit with its layered guitar sounds and upbeat tempo that is definitely danceworthy, if not, it is a perfect blast-the-shit-out-of-my-speakers-to-annoy-my-parents song.
Billie is another catchy love song with somewhat cliched lyrics, “We are on the run, we travel in the sun”, but it is bursting with a positive energy that brings a small smile to my dial. The EP then draws to a close with its softest track, Collarbone Jungle, which offers a more melancholic variation of its precursors and leaves me feeling somewhat calm and peaceful. A slightly depressing yet lovely finishing touch.
All in all, though biased, I give Glass Towers a cheeky wink and a solid thumbs up. Collarbone Jungle is good fun, and I can’t wait to see what these boys achieve in the near future.
Reppin it for Alstonville boys!
Review by Liana Gow-Killingbeck
