Scott & Charlene's Wedding

Craig Dermody is a torn man. Deeply rooted in southern Australian culture, his suburban upbringing soaks through Scott & Charlene's Wedding's ragged debut album. Para Vista Social Club's sound is indebted to the drizzling guitar of the Velvets and the small town frustration of the Stooges, so much so that Dermody's since moved to the US, but it's his southern slacker voice that makes him stand out.

The stupidity of that pop culture band name pins down one side of Dermody's history. He cut his teeth in Melbourne's underground, in scuzzy bands like Spider Vomit and Lindsey Low Hand, the flipside to the sunny image of the city in Neighbours' fictional Erinsborough. Opening further windows into his personal history, the album title puns on Para Vista, the Adelaide suburb of his youth.

Scott & Charlene's Wedding pull off the trick of playing every song like it's the first time. Despite the hissing, home recorded sound and variable vocals, it's perhaps a less spontaneous record than it appears, Dermody having roped in a trio of established Melbourne performers (from Lost Animal, Love Of Diagrams and Panel Of Judges) to back him. It's the sound of garage musicians playing loosely, not amateurishly.

The details of dashed hopes and wasted days accumulate line by line. The protagonist drives trucks for a furniture removal store but can't afford to run his own, so shuttles back and forth on public transport, killing time in bars. Every night ends on a lonely train ride, bad news from home intruding through his mobile as he zones out in the carriage. His journeys are Melbourne specific (‘Footscray Station', ‘Epping Line'), but the despondence is universal.

Love has deserted him a long time ago, Dermody descending to comic levels of abject abandonment. “I don't even want to eat sausages anymore” claims ‘Rejected', an acid rewrite of the Modern Lovers' ‘She Cracked'. He understands his predicament, but lacks the energy to pull himself out of it. “If I could, I would pack my bags today” admits ‘Find A Way', without any idea how.

Back in our world, Dermody's made the leap, upping sticks for New York. He's left a rich tale of dead end Melbourne life behind. - The Quietus

Craig Dermody is a Melbourne transplant living in New York City, and he makes music as Scott & Charlene's Wedding. This track directly addresses his time living in the States. When he sings about distance, for example, he's specifically referencing the distance across the Williamsburg bridge. With city life comes the feeling that everything is taking way longer than it otherwise should. And the execution for his frustration is point perfect-- his sleepily conversational vocals fold into his sunny, jangling guitars seamlessly. And Dermody is far from theatrical, preferring to sing about the more mundane details of his life than wax poetic: "I'm old fashioned just like my dad,/ I get awkward on video chat." - Pitchfork

Craig Dermody is an Australian native currently living in New York, he makes music under the name Scott & Charlene's Wedding, and his album Para Vista Social Club is out now via Critical Heights. It was recorded with the help of Australian janglers Twerps and New Jersey dudes Family Portrait. "Epping Line" finds Dermody's voice sounding remarkably similar to Stephen Malkmus', and with strained vocal cords, he sings about a "sad, sad day" (on the Epping line in Melbourne). With jangling guitars and simple guitar solos, he illustrates a series of small, vulnerable moments: "I can feel something vibrate on my thigh,/ And I think that I'm just about gonna break down and cry." - Pitchfork