George

George is a rock band that came to be in Brisbane in 1996. The band only became recognized when they signed with Festival Mushroom Records in mid 2001. The band consists of Katie Noonan on vocals and keyboards, her brother Tyrone Noonan on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Geoff Green on drums and percussion, Paulie Bromley on bass and Nick Stewart on acoustic and electric guitar.

Their latest album 'Unity', released in 2004, had been highly anticipated after the release of their double-platinum debut album, 'Polyserena' reached #1 in the Australian Charts on 17 March 2002. 'Unity', for George members conjures images of sunshine, persistence and of hope. Paulie Bromley states that, "Polyserena was us learning how to make a record, Unity was making that record." This is the album that George had been slowly and determinedly working towards for the past seven years and fans hope as much as I did that it would be a soulful and mindblowing album, rating of higher quality than that of 'Polyserena'.

Katie and Tyrone Noonan are incredible singers and each of these songs prove their ability. The band has been labelled intimate at concerts and with Katie and Tyrone's voices, I could understand why. George are an extremely talented band both lyrically and musically and this album was no disappointment.

Track Listing

1. Falling Inside
2. Still Real
3. One
4. Beauty Of All Things
5. Captive
6. Today
7. Fall
8. Fortunate Smile
9. Change
10. Jaded
11. Surrender
12. Growing With Love

In "One" the siblings sing together to create an amazing track further proving their talent as a band. The vocal roles switch between the two and although both beautiful singers, I prefer, not necessarily the songs, but when Katie sings. The songs each have elements that make them so different and unique. Lyrically, I believe that they group is very talented. The lyrics are fairly simple but still firm and believable. The music changes rapidly as i never ceased to be amazed at what the band came up with. "Once we reveal ourselves we're so quick, so quick to analyse I just want you to be free and enjoy this ride", Lyrics from 'Still Real'. All of the songs are written about love, life and positivity, all good things, and the band's faith is demonstrated through the amazing lyrics. Tyrone Noonan explains his "...more confident lyrics and statements being expressed through those lyrics. Overall it's a more positive approach in dealing with personal issues and socio-political issues, more positive light. As a band, this to me feels like a really mature album for us."

The band look to each other for strength and solidarity and, growing together, have succeeded incredibly and I was thankful for such a beautiful album. After listening to 'Unity' possible hundreds of times, even from the first few songs, I made my mind that I would recommend this album to anyone I find who, would have an appreciation for this sort of music. Its a shame that talented bands like this arn't more widely recognized because I think that they could become very famous and wellknown. Overall, a very deep and satisfying album.

By Jamie Nairn

UnderOATH

In the months leading up to 'Lost in the Sound of Separation' underOATH has been stirring excitment among fans. The band stated that the record was going to be me "epic and at the same time "way heavier" than their last album, 'Define the Great Line'. 'Lost in the Sound of Serapation' brings a tighter sense of songwriting and more experimentalism with their sound and srong structure, although the band seems ot lck the "heavier" nature promised.

This album succeeds greatly with its short, catchy songs. The first two tracks, “Breathing In a New Mentality” and “Anyone Can Dig a Hole But It Takes a Real Man to Call it Home” contain progressive metalcore sections. “Breathing…” features a part which reminds me of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, a band hailing from the same city as Underoath. The only song that truly fits what Underoath had described before the album came out is “The Only Survivor Was Miraculously Unharmed”, a song that shows a true sense of Underoath’s music, as it transforms from a heavy blast of older-Underoath inspired metalcore into a tension building segment that just simply ends. It is unfortunate that after the excellent first half of the album, the next few tracks are quite a disappointment.

The 3 songs that follow, “We Are the Involuntary”, “The Created Void”, “Coming Down is Calming Down” that are absolutely unmemorable, Along with “A Fault Line, A Fault of Mine” , the songs are forgetable to say the least. They sound the same and just contain standard Underoath songwriting. It’s on these tracks the lack of heavy sections is obvious, and while there are interesting moments throughout them, there is nothing that catches the listeners attention. Lost in the Sound of Separation does still succeed despite these weaker tracks. The “ballad” of “Too Bright To See Too Loud” is actually quite beautiful, with the chorus of members singing “Good God, can you still get us home”. It also contains one of the most impressive moments on the album, as after the chorus, Spencer breaks in with a scream of “How can we still get home?”, sounding more pained and unhappy than ever.

The album proves Underoath’s growing up not only as musicians but as people, as we’re getting a deeper look into them than we ever have. If the album was more consistent and had more memorable parts in it, it would be a fantastic album. However, when Underoath hits it they hit it well, and Lost in the Sound of Separation is still a very good record despite its faults.

By Jamie Nairn