In an age of overnight success and next big things (insert here any number of acts whose career has lasted as long as the length of their first album), it’s easy to forget how bands used to get things done. Once upon a time band’s got their personnel settled, rehearsed in a dingy studio, hit the road and played hundreds of live shows, released their own independent EPs and albums before moving on to headlining shows and the inevitable call from the major record companies. It is the story of some...
In an age of overnight success and next big things (insert here any number of acts whose career has lasted as long as the length of their first album), it’s easy to forget how bands used to get things done. Once upon a time band’s got their personnel settled, rehearsed in a dingy studio, hit the road and played hundreds of live shows, released their own independent EPs and albums before moving on to headlining shows and the inevitable call from the major record companies. It is the story of some of Australia’s greatest acts, from AC/DC and INXS through to The Living End and Powderfinger. It is also the story of Something With Numbers. Rising out of the booming Central Coast punk scene in 2001 and signing to indie upstart Below Par Records, Something With Numbers have grown from a branded “emo punk” band to a full-blown rock and roll powerhouse. They have watched as bands from their hometown were chewed up and spat out of the fickle Australian music industry, some garnering success whilst others fell by the wayside. However, none of this has deterred Something With Numbers from what they originally set out to achieve. The band has always chosen to focus on their own music as opposed to other influences and trends around them. So much so that earlier this year, after the band had written the music for the follow-up to their 2003 full-length debut Ettiquette, vocalist and eccentric front man Jake Grigg decided to stop listening to music altogether whilst he prepared to write the lyrics. Choosing instead to stick old vinyl album covers up around his lounge room for his creative inspiration, Jake would then spend every waking hour recording ideas onto his 4-track recorder - ideas he was hesitant about showing to the rest of the band for fear that the reaction would be that these new songs might be a little too “different”. Jake obviously got it completely wrong - the band were totally re-energised by his ideas, and spent the next six months fusing together what was to become their much anticipated sophomore record, Perfect Distraction. Recorded in Sydney and produced by Phillip McKellar (silverchair, Grinspoon), Perfect Distraction is a much more musical record for Something With Numbers. While Etiquette was as heavy as it was melodic, Perfect Distraction is an expansion on the ideas the band had whilst making Etiquette but not the experience needed to turn those ideas into reality. In simple words, Perfect Distraction is a pop record at heart. The eleven songs that make it up are as diverse as they are unique. Songs like “Spent” and “Bang Bang Bang” are the perfect progression from Etiquette, sounding almost like distant cousins of most of the songs on the debut. While others, like “Zombie”, drive through with the sparsest of bass lines until the chorus kicks in and brings the whole band with it. Lead single “Apple Of The Eye” is a dancer number that comes from a completely different headspace to anything Something With Numbers have done before, yet it’s performed with an honesty that captures their true essence. A record of vast scope with epic peaks and minimalist valleys, it isn’t until you get to “Goodbye Mickey Finn” that the band really shows their real creative depth. It’s arguably the band’s masterpiece. Starting off with the quietest of acoustic guitars and a raspy vocal, it slowly builds up through the use of a lone cello and violin, finally crescendos with the band kicking in to a full rock epic complete with string quartet. It’s the type of song that would even make Billy Corgan green with envy. The recording of Perfect Distraction was split between three different studios, with an American tour squeezed in for added pressure. More by good luck than bad management, Something With Numbers were invited to tour the US for three weeks with The Matches and MC Lars, and, as any young band would, they jumped at the chance and were soon flying high above the Pacific Ocean towards their very first US visit. Driving across America in a over cramped tour van making barely enough money to pay for petrol to get to the next town drew the band closer together and made them all realise that this was all that they wanted to do with their lives. With a new desire and focus, Something With Numbers returned to Australia to complete the recordings with McKellar, knowing that everything they had been working towards for four years was finally falling into place. For most artists the sophomore album is an anxiety-filled excursion of self-doubt and creative frustration. For Something With Numbers, however, it was not like that at all. This is a band that has been together four years are still all in their early twenties; a band that has performed with hordes of international acts including Good Charlotte, Millencolin, The Ataris, and shared festival bills with White Stripes, The Used, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jurassic Five, Linkin Park and Killswitch Engage, a band that has sold just over 10,000 records in Australia already; and a band that has toured this vast land more times than you have comments on your MySpace page. It’s all they want to do. Music for Something With Numbers is the perfect distraction. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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