The Thousands

Made up of past and present members of Boomgates, Teen Archer, Infinite Void and the Diamond Sea, the Melbourne punk pedigree runs deep in Deep Heat. But their debut EP Low Lights isn’t just a punk record. Sure you can hear hints of Sleater Kinney, Sonic Youth and sons of the Pacific northwest the Wipers but Jacquie, Gus, Katie and Alicia also mix some garage and ’90s pop into the harder-edged melody and guitar.

From the opening ‘Green Box‘ the album is driven by the three-way shout and response vocals with the hoarseness of Gus matched with the more melodic Jacqui and Alicia. Check ‘Negative Thought’, where it sounds like Gus is blowing his vocal chords to bits. I caught the band at a small house party a while ago where Gus indeed did just that – and although he cant speak/sing Danish it was at the same party that the band’s energy and guitar sound reminded me of Danish punks Cola Freaks.

The eight songs have been mixed and recorded by Plutonic Lab (one half of revered Melbourne hip hop duo Muph and Plutonic) and, while thankfully there are no ‘beats’, the driving and propulsive buzz of the percussion and bass is win win.