Skipping Girl Vinegar

REVIEWS

“Album of the year? It’s going to be hard to top. Deep & dark; it will haunt you.” MAG

“An intricate work of art... deadly serious compositions, the lyrics dark, winding corridors of meaning.” Herald Sun

“An indie force of nature”, ‘Album of the Year Finalist’- The Age

“Album of the Year. SGV deliver an edgy pop masterpiece - 4.5 Stars”- Jeff Jenkins, Inpress

“Blending Springsteen-esque hope with Luke Steele otherworldliness, tracks roar with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club infused energy with Lang's lyrical strengths on show - 4 Stars”- Rolling Stone

”Skipping Girl Vinegar are right on the money with their sophomore album. Subtle and adventurous... This is clever and original which is what good songwriting should be” - Sunday Mail


”Dreamy Soundscapes… Haunting Melodies… full of heartache and hope” - Rave

“You find highlight after highlight, deep under the layers of the melody - 4.5 Stars” - Time Off Magazine


“Like a diver you can swim deep into this satisfying release. Part joyful, part rock’n’roll, grown from the experience of life balanced by the healing powers of music... It hinges on Lang’s vocal landscapes and thought out lyric...What cries out is a voice, an understanding and an ability to draw from life a new, uniquely genuine experience.” Canberra Times - PRESS

“Album of the year? It’s going to be hard to top. Deep & dark and it will haunt you.” - JB MAG
“An intricate work of art... deadly serious compositions, the lyrics dark, winding corridors of meaning.”-? Herald Sun
“An indie force of nature”, ‘Album of the Year Finalist’- The Age
“Album of the Year. SGV deliver an edgy pop masterpiece- 4.5 Stars”- Jeff Jenkins, Inpress
“Blending Springsteen-esque hope with Luke Steele otherworldliness tracks roar with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club infused energy with Lang's lyrical strengths on show - 4 Stars”- Rolling Stone (August, 2011)
?”Skipping Girl Vinegar are right on the money with their sophomore album. Subtle and adventurous... This is clever and original which is what good songwriting should be” - Sunday Mail ??
”Dreamy Soundscapes… Haunting Melodies… full of heartache and hope”- Rave
“A wonderful exhibition of the group's ability to paint masterpieces with each stroke”- ?The Dwarf?
“You find highlight after highlight, deep under the layers of the melody- 4.5 Stars”- Time Off Magazine
- PRESS

In an age of downloads and ringtones, Skipping Girl Vinegar stand out from the pack. - Rip It Up Magazine (Adelaide)

SGV have a classic pop sense that doesn't get bogged in its own vision of itself sweet without being sickly - Rave Magazine (Brisbane)

“Sift The Noise is a sweet bit of sunshine pop (complete with brass arrangements) that would do very nicely over the closing credits of a local dramedy; sort that out will you, channel 7 marketing dept”. - Inpress Magazine (Melbourne)

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON

ARTISTS CAN BE MOVED BY JUST ABOUT ANYTHING – BUT SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR SONGWRITER MARK LANG ADMITS TO CRAIG SPANN THAT DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM AN UNFINISHED JETTY ON A RURAL PROPERTY IS A TOUCH ODD.

Today SGV are one of this country’s most talked-about bands. Yet getting to that point has been slow evolution for the Melbourne four-piece. And it was progression that really kicked off a few years back when Lang took refuge on a farm south of the city to write songs for his then-embryonic new band. Lang explains that as he worked away, he watched a jetty slowly being built out into a dam on the property.
“When they’d put all the pylons for this jetty in I asked the guy on the farm whether he was going to finish it now,” Lang says. “But he was like ‘No, we’ll finish it next season… we work in seasons on the farm’. And that sort of struck me as strange because I am from the city, I’m so used to rushing into things. But then I started to think that maybe this idea of seasons is something we could apply to the creative process. Why do we as a band need to rush?”
Rush is about the last word you would use to describe the process behind making SGV’s sublime debut album Sift The Noise – it took the best part of four years. The plan was simple and all about taking their time.
“We broke it down into seasons and before we could move on to the next stage, we had complete the songwriting season first,” he explains. “So we gave ourselves permission to focus just on writing so we could keep on digging deeper and deeper and write better songs… until we were happy. I just found the whole experience absolutely liberating.”
Lang says it’s the close personal and creative relationships within the band that helped maintain the focus throughout that open-ended process. Bassist Sare is his sister, Amanthi Lynch (keys) is her best friend, while Lang and drummer Chris Helm have been longtime mates.
“It’s pretty amazing to have that kind of connection with people,” he says. “In all bands you have moments of conflict, but because we have known each other for a long time, we are able to work though our feelings, and process ideas. The spack-attacks that do happen don’t destroy the band.”
It also helped ensure the band maintained its commitment to the cause throughout the songwriting, pre-production, recording, mixing and now touring “seasons”.
“Your friends and your families, they see your outward work as being productive, like releasing CDs or doing shows,” he says. “And at times, it was very tempting to kind of just go out and start doing gigs. But we thought no, we’re going to do this thing, stick with this idea of seasons.”
While there are some great songs on the record, it’s the overall sense of connection between the tracks that makes Sift The Noise an album in the true sense of the word. The production is wonderfully considered, but never over the top enough the take your attention from the songs. It’s an eye for meticulous detail that extends to the elegant artwork and packaging, complete with library card.
“I think we just didn’t settle for the first thing,” Lang says in describing how the band set about recording the album. “We were trying to go for this sound that we knew we wanted, straddling the line between lo-fi and hi-fi. It’s probably just all minute stuff that I only notice about it.”
It’s a testament to band’s ability to maintain their vision given the numerous hands the record went through before its release. Brisbane producer Caleb James handled some of the engineering duties while acclaimed songwriter Greg Arnold also chipped in, earning production credits on the album. Much of it though was recorded by the band themselves who dragged their gear through numerous bedrooms, kitchens and lounge rooms chasing the sound and feel they were after.
“We would be recording and going for a certain piano sound and we couldn’t find it,” Lang says. “So we would go around to people’s houses until we found the sound we wanted.”
When it came to mixing, the band managed to snag the talents of Adrian Bushby (Ben Kweller, Gomez, Foo Fighters) and Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, Bob Evans). While Bushby mixed 2007’s single ‘One Chance’ in London, Jones completed the final mix of the album in Nashville, USA earlier this year.
“The idea of having a library card in the artwork is basically this idea that they are our songs, but all these people, whether they be publicists or engineers, they have all been a part of this, they’ve all really invested in making this album,” Lang says. “And all the people that worked on it really gave a shit about it. They put their heart and soul into it and we are just really lucky in that way.”
By the time the band started to think about hitting the stage early last year, rough mixes of the album were sent out and the buzz kicked almost immediately. Among their first shows were supports for the likes of Bob Evans, Something for Kate and The Lemonhea - Time Off (Brisbane)

"Skipping Girl Vinegar could be your new favourite band. The 10 tracks on their debut album make an emotional connection. 'Organic' is an over-used word in the music business, but Sift The Noise feels earthy, warm, genuine and, yes, organic. Co-producer from Things of Stone & Wood, it sounds like the band is playing in your lounge room, and that's a beautiful thing. The title track, in particular, should be a summer smash - it's a joyous piece of pop. At a time when pop is becoming more disposable, Skipping Girl Vinegar are the real deal."

Jeff Jenkins, Oct 2008 - JB HiFi Mag

One Chance’ is a loose, Hammond-led blues tune with a tempo that will cause hiplash… The - Herald Sun

From irresistibly rousing opener Wandered via future JJJ-fave Sift The Noise to the glorious Sinking the band don't miss a beat. Mark these words - 2008 will be their year. (Inpress Magazine)
- Inpress Magazine

Ridiculously infectious..
- Time Off

Skipping Girl Vinegar a quartet on their way to nationwide recognition. They manage to do something original and innovative with an old-world sound" The songs have timeless quality dealing with personal themes. - Beat Magazine

From irresistibly rousing opener Wandered via future JJJ-fave Sift The Noise to the glorious Sinking the band don't miss a beat. Mark these words - 2008 will be their year. (Inpress Magazine)
- Inpress Magazine