Austral Thylacine album review

 

Thylacine is the debut album by Austral, which according to their bandcamp page:

is a lively four-piece Australian Celtic band combining cracking uilleann pipe tunes, fiery fiddles, earthy didgeridoo sounds and energetic foot percussion.

My friend Connor Hoy, who I have known for now 11 years plays the uilleann pipes, flute, and whistle. I helped crowdfund the album’s production by contributing $250 in early 2020. I can’t remember how I found out about the project, and to be honest it wasn’t because he told me in person over a few drinks. I wish that was the case.

The album, except for the four cover songs, is entirely music and no lyrics. Because of this, and the tone of the music, I find it very peaceful to listen to even though it is often very fast paced. The songs are also quite short.

Throwdown Hoedown is the opening song and starts with sweeping pace of the violin, and then the whole band kicks in. The tune often changes and I suppose that’s because there aren’t any lyrics.

Thunderberg is a great song that sounds like an adventure. First I imagine a Lord of the Rings hike through mountains and hills, then through the wilderness in China, then the outback when you hear the didgeridoo. It’s very fast and has a great beat. The pace and tone drops later on, and then gets loud and slow. Its only downfall might be that it’s too long at 5 minutes 11 seconds.

Pound A Week Rise is the first cover song, a predominantly guitar-driven song. It tells the story of miners working hard to get a raise after moving to Adani with the promise of better pay, but finding that they’d been lied to. Angus Barbary sings, and his voice is brilliant. I sing this and Beeswing at work sometimes.

No Frills starts in a similar way to Throwdown Hoedown, but is perhaps a bit more repetitive. It is very fast, and when driving home from work it’s a fun song to listen to.

Edgy in Zurich is a nice change from the last three originals, with a slower, beat-heavy tune, except of course when the violin is playing. It is a bit repetitive.

Beeswing is another great cover song with Angus Barbary’s wonderful voice. It tells the story of a young man falling in love with a woman who cannot be tied down. As I said before, I like to sing this one while working. It is a bouncy sort of song, with all of the instruments played purposefully. But I don’t know, I’m not a musician.

Woodford Nights is a slow starting song. It is very delicate and slow, but then the violin starts and it slowly gets faster. The other instruments slowly join. Then it stops and kicks back in with the whole band playing at full speed.  Then it changes tune to be more adventure-esque with didgeridoo and low sounds. The next tune is a rushing sound like you’re running downhill. Then it starts to feel like it’s getting a bit long, but it’s at the 6 minute mark so go figure.

Thylacine is obviously the title song, and is a quiet tune with guitar. Then slowly the rest of the band joins. When I first heard it, I imagined the life story of the little Thylacine on the album art. Sometimes its life is good and sometimes bad, but overall good. The tune sometimes goes lower, and other times higher. It could be seen as being repetitive.

Bok Choy is a slow starting song, with a gentle tune of flute, guitar, and violin. Then the didgeridoo kicks in and the band gets into full pace, the beat starts hitting, so this would be another foot stamping hands clapping song to enjoy live in concert. It does start to feel a bit long, but again it could be because I’ve listened to it so much recently.

Billy Gray is a spoken word cover song with no music. Beth Knight sings, and while she has a great voice, I think that another attempt at recording it might have worked well if they had plenty of time. Sometimes it sounds like she doesn’t know what the next word is. Meanwhile, the story of Billy Gray is quite interesting. It’s the story of a woman being in love with the outlaw Billy Gray and his story.

Henry Bloods is the last song on the album, and additionally a cover song. It is slow, quiet, and I imagine scenery of isolation in the outback. The didgeridoo is more prominent, as are the uilleann pipes I believe.