This Frozen Star
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This Frozen Star

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"This Frozen Star (Courier-Mail)"

This Frozen Star were a very different group to listen to. ’Colourful’ is a word that comes to mind when trying to describe their slightly trippy, indie-rock sound.

They’ve got a few bizarre titles including ’Electric Grandmother’ and ’Dodgy’ that intrigued me straight away, but they’ve also got some great guitar riffs and interesting lyrics that will keep you listening through to the end.

- Candi - The Courier-Mail - Brizbands


"This Frozen Star - EP (Time Off Review)"

You may have seen This Frozen Star's name floating around on a gig guide or line-up here and there recently and if you're yet to catch the boys live then maybe you should start here.

This self-titled EP is a very cleverly-written, cohesive piece of Australian indie rock that recalls some of the greats.

You can almost smell the atmosphere on 'Steakhouse Lullaby', which is one of the most perfectly titled songs in a long time. 'Following The Traffic' is a stomping little number with fuzzy bass and jangly guitar that should be on the radio right now while

'False Idols' is a classic-closer that gradually builds nicely, rounding out the EP perfectly. (BP) - Time Off


"This Frozen Star EP (Rave Magazine Review)"

THIS FROZEN STAR - This Frozen Star EP (Independent)

-Yes, track two is called ELECTRIC GRANDMOTHER

This Frozen Star are a local four-piece dealing in multi-faceted indie rock, dragging their genre horse through the pop fields and then dunked into the alt-country trough, before drying off in some nice bluesy rock hay.

Sounds like a fun time, and it's reflected on this EP. The songwriting is solid and avoids the pitfalls of cliche suffered by other similar bands.

The awesomely titled Electric Grandmother rolls in with stuttered drums and smooth bass line, with porno music wah-wahs lending to the slick verses before a Gomez-esque rock chorus complete with some solid "Ooooohs".

Steakhouse Lullaby is a surprising but fun country rock number that shows the band's versatility. Following the Traffic is energetic, swinging indie rock. False Idols is the strongest track, Mark Bretherton's vocals stretch a little here and the results are favourable. While the tracks are conventional they're executed quite well and are worth a go.
- Rave Magazine


"This Frozen Star"

BRISBANE INDIE-rock quartet This Frozen Star may claim to be as politically assertive as Bob Dylan’s second cousin - but that doesn’t mean they can’t record songs with a social conscience.

"We’ve recently finished a song called ’The Great Humanity Closing Down Sale’." guitarist Karl Pfeffer says. "Asides from being a contender for ’biggest mouthful of a song title’, it was inspired by politicians selling the cure-all for what ails us in a five-second sound bite."

"Mark [Bretherton], our singer, writes 99 per cent of our words. I think he’s a gifted lyricist. I always get a strong visual response to what he writes, even if we’re hitting on some of the old favourites like love, despair, social dysfunction and his Electric Grandmother."

Pfeffer says the band have a penchant for musical experimentation which stretches far beyond their live performances.

"We’ve recently introduced a few new gadgets and antics to our stage show. We’re very inspired by bands like The Flaming Lips, whose stage show is something like a carnival.

"For example, we strap a bunch of drums onto Mark and parade him around like a one-man band. We’ve also been running a ’rock move request’ through our mailing list, where I act out a request on stage. I’m still trying to work out how to safely set my head on fire while playing an uplifting solo. When I do, it will look great.

"We randomly grab people from the crowd to play tambourine, and although some times they might not be able to keep the rhythm, it does make the audience feel like they are in on the fun, because everyone’s laughing, and that creates intimacy that might not be there with other bands that play ’wounded teenager epics’."

This Frozen Star play the Beyond the Night charity event at Barsoma Sunday Mar 30.

LUKE HUDSON
- Time Off


"This Frozen Star"

This Frozen Star

Lifting their name from a detective novel by Ramond Chandler, this Brisbane indie-rock quartet describe their own sound better than any writer could.

"I'd say we're the bastard children of the Dandy Warhols and Tom Waits," says vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mark Bretherton. "But they'd both be ashamed because we haven't applied ourselves enough. We're essentially indie rock with Frankenstein-like bits of folk, blues, pop and psychedelia sewn on. Now we're just waiting for that lightning bolt to strike so we can get animated and start lurching across the landscape."

Bretherton says it's not what the band puts into their music that makes them great, it's more what they leave out. "I think everyone in the band tends to throw away the obvious stuff," he explains. "The first thing that comes into your head is probably a riff some 13-year-old across town ripped off Franz Ferdinand. The first lyrics you think of could be recycled Billy Joel lines if you're not careful, and we've already got one Billy Joel too many.

"So we try to excavate a bit, see what we can find six feet under, then go to the opposite extreme and check out the outer stratosphere. Once you start to cultivate that one sound and just start going back to it over and over again, you end up being kind of a cover version of yourselves. It's like the Eagles - they're out there every night doing full-band karaoke. Creatively you can never stop moving, or you don't deserve to call yourself an artist.

With a self-titled EP under their belts and a full-length locked in for next year, This Frozen Star are seeing out the year with a couple of gigs.
"We're all pretty restless," says Bretherton of the live set. "So I'm sure it will evolve a lot over the next six months and end up in strange and unexpected places.

This Frozen Star play The Alley Saturday Dec 2 and Thursday Dec 21. Their self-titled EP available at gigs and www.myspace.com/thisfrozenstar.

- Time Off


Discography

This Frozen Star (EP) - 2007.
Second Hand Smoke - Album TBA 2009.

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Bio

This Frozen Star are inspired by predictable things such as love, as well as less predictable things like franchise steakhouses and electric grandmothers. They don't sound like other bands and, most importantly, they don't sound like other bands in a GOOD way.

Influenced by anyone who's doing something differently and doing it well...your Arcade Fires, your Radioheads, Pixies, Stone Roses and so on.

The results: Nervous rock spliced together with delicate beauty. Intergalactic gunslingers kicking ass and taking names.

They say five listens are worth 1000 stupid descriptions.

"When I listen to these guys, I imagine that I am on the open road riding on a motorcycle through the desert, looking at the landscape enjoying my surroundings." - BFR Magazine

"This self-titled EP is a very cleverly-written, cohesive piece of Australian indie rock that recalls some of the greats." - Time Off