I Heart Hiroshima

I Heart Hiroshima / The Whats / Del Toro / The Little Lovers The Zoo Sat June 24
Now objectivity aside, I Heart Hiroshima are absolutely the best band in Brisbane right now. It must be something about their ability to perfectly soundtrack the daily life of every Brisbane kid between the ages of 17 and 24 (inclusive). When the three piece take the stage in typical nonchalance and drummer Susie asks band-mates Matt and Cameron “are you ready?”, the question could quite easily be directed at the population at large, the unspoken predicate being for the unstoppable bulldozer this band has become. Susie’s arms fly about the drums like some possessed android intent on commanding a fleet of stomping feet to the march to her beat, while twin guitars fire guitar shards that criss-cross the stage like Mortal Kombat special moves, and the whole experience feels like a back-seat Cadillac ride along coastal California on a hot summer’s day right on into a hot summer’s night. Crowd favourite Neutron Popsong goes off (ahem) with a bang, the passive aggressive nihilism of I Feel It gets even this dancefloor-shy reviewer to boogie, and the set ends with the slow-burning rumble of Stop That. PAUL RANKIN (Rave)
- Rave Magazine

I Heart Hiroshima / The Whats / Del Toro / The Little Lovers The Zoo Sat June 24
Now objectivity aside, I Heart Hiroshima are absolutely the best band in Brisbane right now. It must be something about their ability to perfectly soundtrack the daily life of every Brisbane kid between the ages of 17 and 24 (inclusive). When the three piece take the stage in typical nonchalance and drummer Susie asks band-mates Matt and Cameron “are you ready?”, the question could quite easily be directed at the population at large, the unspoken predicate being for the unstoppable bulldozer this band has become. Susie’s arms fly about the drums like some possessed android intent on commanding a fleet of stomping feet to the march to her beat, while twin guitars fire guitar shards that criss-cross the stage like Mortal Kombat special moves, and the whole experience feels like a back-seat Cadillac ride along coastal California on a hot summer’s day right on into a hot summer’s night. Crowd favourite Neutron Popsong goes off (ahem) with a bang, the passive aggressive nihilism of I Feel It gets even this dancefloor-shy reviewer to boogie, and the set ends with the slow-burning rumble of Stop That. PAUL RANKIN (Rave)

Wunderkinds of the Brisbane scene I Heart Hiroshima never fail to charm with their refreshing take on what is now a very tried and true formula of tightly-wound indie pop. There is something special about their ability to go to dark places, musically, while remaining warm and captivating. It just might be to do with their boy-girl melodies, and the interesting dynamic created when Matthew Somers’ jagged delivery vies with Susie Patten’s sweet vocals. Although peppered with crowd favourites like ‘London in Love’ and ‘Neutron Popsong’, their set is comprised of mostly new songs exploring fresh textures and dynamics, promising a lot for their new EP, due out next month. Nights like these show there is plenty to get excited about in Brisbane music. SALLY BARBER (Time Off)
- Time Off Magazine

I Heart Hiroshima - Cut in Colour EP
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Reported by: bread man - Sunday, Aug 20, 2006. 10:53

Cut in Colour is the second EP from Brisbane trio I Heart Hiroshima. Forming in mid-2005, I Heart Hiroshima have released two EPs, recorded enough material for a full-length record, lost a guitarist/vocalist, gained a guitarist/vocalist, supported Deerhoof and Broken Social Scene, toured nationally with The Grates, toured interstate with Spod and Sekiden, secured a record deal with Valve Records and become one of Brisbane's most talked about bands. Not bad for a band who have been together for just a year.

It should be pretty obvious by now that I Heart Hiroshima don't bother to screw around. Their simple stage setup consists of two guitars, two amps, three drums, two cymbals and no effects pedals. A Three Letter Word For Candy, their first EP was just 14 minutes long. Cut in Colour, the group's newest EP is four tracks and clocks in at just under 9 minutes. Fortunately, that 9 minutes is nothing less than 9 minutes of wonderfully catchy indie-pop. Hawes and Somers

use their two guitar approach to great advantage, generally using one guitar as rhythm and the other guitar for catchy lead riffs and melodies. Patten's drumming, though stripped down, is wonderfully tight and keeps the band together.

Though they are solid musicians, what really makes I Heart Hiroshima's style so great are their quirky vocals and lyrics. Somers yelps in a way that is reminiscent of Frank Black's work on the Pixies' masterpiece Surfer Rosa. Patten, on the other hand, contributes vocals that are half sweet, half painful. EP highlight "Candy Cut" begins with a strange but catchy guitar riff and showcases duelling vocals between Somers and Patten while "Code Blue" has Somers and Patten singing "I've got code blue" back and forth to each other. Possibly the only dissapointment of Cut in Colour is Hawes' vocals seem to be generally absent. A shame, considering how great they are in a live setting. Cut in Colour is short but sweet and shows some great potential for such a young band. Highly reccomended - www.fasterlouder.com.au

Alfred's Block Party @ The Arena, 16/12/2006
Reported by: incendium - Wednesday, Dec 20, 2006. 17:27

I rocked up at Alfred’s Block Party at the all-too-daylight hour of 3 pm in the afternoon to discover Alfred’s was no longer a block party but had been relocated to the Arena. The official line was the party had to be moved indoors because of safety concerns because of the rain. The word on the street was that the Brisbane City Council pulled the plug at the last minute over noise restrictions and permits. And while there was no shaking of the pavement, there was a lot of shaking of the walls of the Arena.

A small crowd gathered front and centre for local kids I Heart Hiroshima. IHH’s set was electric, well and truly showing why they have been selected to travel to South by South West in Austin next year, flying the flag for Brisbane music. And if today’s set is anything to go by, they’re going to knock ‘em dead. Playing tracks from their two EPs plus a few new songs, IHH blazed through 10 songs in their 30 minute set. IHH have perfected their melding of boy/girl call and response vocals, infectious stop/start riffs and angular rhythms all the while having fun – especially drummer Suzie who bashes away on her kit with all her might through the whole set. - www.fasterlouder.com.au

Tapes 'n' Tapes, I Heart Hiroshima, Prettyguns @ The Zoo, 10/12/2006

Reported by: Larrison9 - Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006. 08:18

Despite Tapes 'n' Tapes having a buzz around them for the last few months which should have assured them a sold out crowd of scenesters, or at the very least a large number of scenesters hanging back at the bar waiting for Tapes 'n' Tapes to begin, the Zoo is quite empty at the start of the night when Prettyguns take the stage. Their music is a mixture of metal vocals at times as well as some funk inspired bass lines, and while they weren’t playing to a huge audience they still managed to make an impression on the crowd.

Local favourites I Heart Hiroshima take the stage and blaze through songs from their EPs - A 3 Letter Word For Candy and Cut in Colour with Susie, Cameron and Matthew all delivering their usual amazingly high energy performance. Susie fiercely pounded her drum kit at an amazing speed throughout the show while harmonising or taking lead vocals, and Cameron and Matthew both provide vocals and catchy guitar riffs to create I Heart Hirsohima’s distinctive live show. As well as brilliant music a highlight of an I Heart Hiroshima gig is always Susie’s in between song banter. Tonight she tells the crowd she feels like a puff pastry (‘just slightly golden brown’) and also gives a shout out to a documentary on teenagers with Tourette’s syndrome she recently watched and found very entertaining.

The musical highlights of the set included the radio favourite Code Blue, as well as Neutron Popsong and one of their older tracks I Feel It. I Heart Hiroshima give their all in every live performance and tonight is no exception, even the lacklustre response of the crowd to Susie’s demands for some crowd participation throughout the evening don’t deter them. It’s always a little depressing when people are just too cool to handclap and give a little something back to a band, but it was brilliant to see that I Heart Hiroshima didn’t let the audience influence their energy or performance, and played a great show.

After tonight’s performance it’s clear that Tapes 'n'

Tapes are a band where their albums and EPs do not come close to doing their music justice. From the moment Tapes 'n' Tapes step on stage their energy is unrelenting; even though there are only four members of the band - Josh Grier on vocals/guitar, Jeremy Hanson on drums, Matt Kretzman on keyboards and Erik Appelwick on bass- they create a huge wall of sound that overwhelms the venue. While playing songs like Beach Girls from their EP and 10 Gallon Ascot from their debut record The Loon, the band work together to build each song up to a fever pitch with Matt bouncing around the stage playing tambourine, Josh and Erik bringing the powerful riffs and vocals, which is all further intensified by Jeremy’s forceful drumming.

After the dreamy soulful ballad Manitoba the band picks up the pace once again with the single Cowbell which gets a huge reaction from the crowd and turns the Zoo into a giant dance floor, after which Josh declares its time for a beer break and tells of how the best thing ever happened to him today- today was the day he finally held a koala and patted a kangaroo. As well as appreciating our wildlife Josh is also extremely complimentary towards Brisbane’s tropical weather after nearly passing out the day before while playing in scorching temperatures at the Meredith Music Festival. The beer break must have done its job because the band once again works the crowd up into a frenzy with 50s Parking and Buckle. There’s a momentary pause in the proceedings as Josh points out a huge cockroach that has run across the stage and Matt declares that the cockroach has not only drunk his beer, but also stolen his girlfriend.

The final songs of the night seem to come much too quickly, Insistor in particular gets the crowd singing along, dancing and even doing some foot stomping before it’s all over and the band leave the stage without an encore. It’s a rare gig where an encore is unnecessary but in this instance it definitely wasn’t required, Tapes 'n' Tapes more than proved that they deserve all their hype. - www.fasterlouder.com.au