The Thousands

OTOUTO (pronounced Otto-ootoe) spawn from the Two Bright Lakes fold: a bunch of friends and relatives in Melbourne putting out disjointed records (Kid Sam, Psuche) that push and prod lo-fi pop in all sorts of compelling directions.

The Melbourne trio could be painfully ironic, even childish: pots and pans, a woozy Casio and food references, but this is expertly played, complex music. Hazel Brown’s songs are sparse and insular, her vocals playing with scales and buried in simple observation: "I mistook a man eating sushi, for a man putting on a fake moustache". There are no guitar strums; it’s all tonal and slightly jazzy and held together by Kid Sam drummer Kishore Ryan’s intricate pots-and-pans percussion.**There’s also a soulful edge: the harmonies are delicate and when Brown sings "It rains on my heart as it rains on the town," you discover dramatic itch that was always there. OTOUTO do everything right here: simple ideas perfectly executed.