Scott and Charlene's Wedding - Para Vista Social Club

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 26 / 1 / 2013

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Review

Scott and Charlene's Wedding is the solo project of Craig Dermody, a native of Adelaide who is now based in New York. ‘Para Vista Social Club’, his debut album, was originally released in a limited edition of just 200, which has now sold out. The songs present themselves here as diary confessions about real life situations. There are songs about crappy public transport, and several of these have train themes. The original covers were hand painted with each sleeve being different. This new issue, however, has a picture on its sleeve of a mountain in a dickie bow... so Craig has a sense of humour too. ‘Born to Lose’ opens the album, and has a raw and lo-fi sound. While normally music of this kind gets faster, here it seems to get slower and it is much more intense as a result. It is pretty limited in its drive, but its primitiveness works well. ‘Footscray Station’ has a 80’s garage band sound. It sounds, however, like Craig wants to escape the garage to rock your socks off. ‘Epping Line’ is one of the train-themed numbers, and sounds like a live band playing even though it is just Craig on everything, his slow chords cutting like a knife. ‘Rejected’ is like a sleazy and gloriously beautiful version of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘You Trip Me Up’. ’Back in Town’ opens like a doom-laden version of Echo and The Bunnymen’s ‘Do It Clean’ , but is as jangly as the Raveonettes. The music is once more regressive, giving it a deeper sound. ‘Wiseman at the Station’ is a slow fuzz track and like a hypnotic Warlocks, its raw beauty sucking you in. ‘Rational’ has a rough-edged charm, while Craig’s vocal on it makes him sound like he has a sore throat. ‘Find a Way’ ends the album, way too soon for me. It is like an early REM number, with fuzzy bass and a driving drum pace. Its vocals get lost, but that’s fine, bringing to a conclusion a stunning piece of work, which is as essential as the early Libertines, and an album worth embracing.

Track Listing:-

1 Born to Lose
2 Footscray Station
3 Epping Line
4 Rejected
5 Every Detail
6 Back in Town
7 Wiseman At the Station
8 Foreign Lands
9 Rational
10 Find a Way

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/sacwmusic
https://scottandcharleneswedding.bandc

Label Links:-

http://www.criticalheights.com/
https://www.facebook.com/criticalheigh
https://twitter.com/criticalhigh
http://criticalnights.tumblr.com/