At DC9 tonight (Tues, May 10):
The Lucksmiths $10
w/The Ladybug Transistor, Pipas & Lil Hospital
Ladybug Transistor Reviews
Uncut, February 2004
The Ladybug Transistor
The Ladybug Transistor
(Track & Field)
**** (out of five)
Five Albums in, The TLT hit paydirt. Swapping their traditional Brooklyn studio for Craig (Calexico) Schumacher's one, Gary Olson's low-slung croon??a latter-day Edwyn Collins rolls across their most adventurous pop-baroque melodies yet. With Lambchop contributors Paul Niehaus (steel) and Dennis Cronin plumping the pillowy layers of strings, Staxy horns and chugging organs, it's like Belle and Sebastian slopping sorbet with early Jonathan Richman. Cherry on top is Sasha Bell's delicious turn on "The Places You'll Call Home."
-Rob Hughes
NME Review, January 2004
Fifth album of sumptuous orchestral pop
For those fragile days when The Magnetic Fields seem too harsh, The Ladybug Transistor await, An intelligent, sensitive and no doubt impeccably dressed five-piece, TLT are the last word in well-crafted pleasantness. Songs saunter contentedly along, equal parts butterscotch and benevolence, living in a gentle, pastoral 60's that never really existed. `3 = Wild' could be Lambchop preparing for a camping trip while `A Burial at Sea' and `Choking on Air' casually sketch the missing link between Burt Bacharach and Stephin Merrit. You do yearn for a hint of red meat but TLT are a quiet delight.
-Ian Watson
Mojo, January 2004
Enduring Brooklyn collective fills its songwriting lungs with Arizona air.
Anyone disappointed by Belle and Sebastian's lumpy new album should lift their heads from their Isobel Campbell pillowcases, dry their eyes and investigate The Ladybug Transistor's fifth album. Anchored by the conversational, David Berman-like voice of frontman Gary Olson, these richly arranged songs are delicate without being twee, enthralled by future-facing polo-necked '60's pop yet too alert to the wonders of modern life to be sucked into the over-reverent airlock inhabited by The High Llamas. Recorded in Tucson with Giant Sand associate Craig Schumacher and guest musicians from Lambchop, the Jim O'Rourke twang of A Burial at Sea or the trumpet-shiny sophistication of NY-San Anton highlight the quintet's lyrical grace, a band who understand the difference between elegantly world-weary and just plain tired.
-Victoria Segal
Rolling Stone Magazine
(October 27, 2003)
With a librarian's determination, the Ladybug Transistor collects scraps of pop's past and present only to rearrange them neatly on their wonderful new self-titled set. Sixties-style guitars and orchestration meet indie rock's disinterested vocals and uncomplicated rhythms. Add a gloss of horns, keyboards and strings and there emerges a sound so altogether obvious and effortless, it becomes new and irresistible. Like the Magnetic Fields, this quintet plays with an easygoing slickness as Gary Olson's choirboy, monotonic croon splits the vocals with Sasha Bell's lazy but candied alto. They trade unnerving, puzzling portraits of life's pedestrian moments. "On the morning train I watch your face grow warm/but at this altitude we are melting here, and there's little I can do," sings Bell on the motherly "The Places You Call Home." On this their fourth effort, the Brooklyn band is as head-bopping as it is head-scratching -- a charming, cryptic and contemporary collection of familiarity. (BENJAMIN FRIEDLAND)
Lucksmiths Reviews
Album Review By Lucinda - OzMusic Project
??Naturaliste? is The Lucksmiths?? fifth studio album and its release coincides with the Melbourne band??s 10 year anniversary. It is fitting then that the album returns them to a more stripped back sound, compared to the more lush sounds of their last studio album ??Why That Doesn't Surprise Me.? All three Lucksmiths contribute songs to this album, with bassist Mark Monnone and guitarist Marty Donald contributing the bulk of the tracks. Drummer and lead vocalist, Tali White is effortless in lending his voice to whatever story there is to be told; whether it be singing about road trips, being in love, first fights or cliff top cemeteries. It does not get any better than this in pop music.
The opening song ??Camera Shy?? is identifiably The Lucksmiths - the jangle of the guitar, the tight rhythm section, and the deftly crafted lyrics: ??In the foreground are my friends/ grinning madly at the lens/ they look heliolithic.? The next song, ??The Sandringham Line?? meanders through the Melbourne suburbs with the hypnotic train-like rhythm of White??s drumming and Monnone??s bass. Eva Sommerfeld (from Melbourne band, ??The Foots?) shares the vocals with White on this track.
My only complaint is that the recording just does not capture what The Lucksmiths are like live. Having heard the songs a couple of times in a live setting, ??Naturaliste? in comparison is a tad subdued. The remedy? Go and see them play before they head off for yet another overseas tour mid-year.
Review By Kelsey Munro - Sydney Morning Herald
The Candle stable has consistently offered up a distinctive, proudly Australian brand of gentle wordy guitar pop. Melbourne's Lucksmiths have been leading the charge for a decade now, with overseas success boosting their audience here. Their fifth album has a laid-back, melancholy mood with a fresh emphasis on acoustic guitars and simple melodic arrangements to set off their nuanced wordplay. they run the risk of being too cute, but they avoid it nimbly. The dreamy 'Sandringham Line' and 'Midweek Midmorning' are immediate standouts. 'Stayaway Stars' takes a pleasantly surprising twist, opening out into something special.
