GO FEVER
Daydream Hawker (www.gofeverband.com)
That background swirl keyboard sound, that foreground snap of a snare drum, that feeling that you might just have to jump up and down when the chorus kicks in (and the chorus really does kick in with a Clem Burke-style bass drum boom and a three word escalation), that guitar part that just for a second feels like it might become Just What I Needed and then toughens up just enough to push you back a step, that voice which seems in control but …
Ah yes, I’m gonna like this.
Feel So Much, the second track of this five-song EP, seems built for people who like guitar pop done without recourse to enforced modernity or for that matter excessive reverence for a golden age long past. It’s got more zest than a lime tart and more clear hooks than a gym changeroom, and if you aren’t singing it by the three minute mark you aren’t really awake.
Coming after the punchy jangle-and-brushed-with-melancholy Olivia, it makes for a start where it’s impossible to not hear Blondie in particular, but also The Boys and early Neko Case. In fact the EP’s final track, Kotra, with some clear synth sounds and extra air around Acey Monaro’s voice, serves to emphasise the Case comparison, if she had had The Rumour backing her.
So, yeah, Monaro - and isn’t that a perfect surname for an Australian songwriter with a yen for ‘70s power (pop), even if her Texan neighbours these days wouldn’t know just how cool that makes her – has got it going on.
Got it going on enough to pitch up a slow-walking but still nudging ballad in Cling, that would have made a good desert-based filmclip on MTV back in the day. And then follow it with low rumbling, synthy bit of ‘80s moodiness in Say The Word, that would have bypassed MTV and gone straight to an indie drama soundtrack.
Looks like I’ll be going back to Go Fever’s self-titled 2017 album next. I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna like it.