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On her first full-length album release, Benalla's Lisa Maxwell wants us to know one thing. She ROCKS! And not in the watered-down, radio-loves-this sense either. Nope, Maxwell rocks out in the old-fashioned sense - walls of guitars playing host to a disturbingly powerful set of lungs. And while many would have first laid ears on Lisa with her 2005 Bad Day EP, truth is that Select Vacancy shows incredible growth owed obviously to hard work and extended experience in the live arena. Two tunes from Bad Day appear on the new album with the catchy Delusion again among the highlights as is the gruff anthem, Anna. All-round supremo Jamie Durrant again teams with Maxwell to create a superbly damaged musical soundscape and the duo really excels on tunes such as the quirky and thoughtful standout Not So Easy and the retro-rock inspired Waste Of A Life. Turn it up! - Border Mail, Australia
From Benalla in country Victoria comes a fiery female rocker called Lisa Maxwell. She had already impressed with her Bad Day EP from 2005 and this debut album shows the striking talent she possesses, in her well-crafted and often confronting songs. She has a three-piece band that has done much refining and re-recording to get to this stage. The record is produced by Jamie Durrant and the flow of the tracks signify Lisa's enthusiasm for guitar-based rock. There is really good energy and oomph from the opening title track and a variety of instruments is noted throughout - synth, slide guitar, and Wurlitzer piano amongst them. I look forward to seeing Lisa's live shows as a means of her gaining that much needed momentum. - MediaSearch.com.au
Discography
Select Vacancy (album, 2006)
Never Coming Back Here Again (single, 2005)
Bad Day (EP, 2005)
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Bio
A concoction of noise, aggression, rock, humour, “gruff anthems”, upbeat music, downbeat music, true stories and total fabrications: rock songwriter/musician Lisa Maxwell’s debut longplayer, Select Vacancy.
The album’s title track and opener is packed with energy and intense melancholy. Rampant guitars are fronted by Lisa's vitriolic snarl on the USA's eaTV chart-topping single Anna, while the ferocity of I Know has had listeners drawing favourable comparisons to the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age and Nirvana.
But this "superbly damaged musical soundscape" (Border Mail, 2006) is not limited to rock guitar: dulcimer, Wurlitzer piano and 'fly spray can' slide on Not So Easy, subsonic bass and a hint of synth on Out Of Sight, slide guitar on Same Story and 80's-inspired keyboards and electronic rhythmic sounds courtesy of a collaboration with producer Chris Gates on Waste Of A Life. Even pieces of Lisa's original demos, recorded herself on her laptop computer with a $10 microphone, made it into the final mix.
Select Vacancy follows the release of Lisa’s 2005 Bad Day EP, which produced the Rage (ABC-TV) and Rage On Demand viewer favourite Harmonic Rock, a chaotic instrumental with a video inspired by the Japanese horror film Ring. Tracks from the EP and new album have received national airplay in Australia, along with a favourable response and airplay in the UK, Japan, USA, and Canada.
Hear for yourself: we recommend playing this one loud. Enjoy it.
Feel a little more neurotic and isolated than usual...
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