Modern Architecture EP - Danny McDonald (Popboomerang Records)

As the former Oscarlima and Jericho frontman, P76 leader and onetime member of Little Murders, Danny McDonald should need no introduction. But if you're curious about on of the most ybderrated purveyors of Aussie guitar pop and want a jumping-in point, his new EP is as good a place as any.

Danny plays guitar and writes pithy, Australian-tinged songs with depth and there are five crackers on "Modern architecture". They range from punky-pop to jangle-rama and are chockfull of melody and fire. McDonald has armed himself with a sterling engine room (Tim Mills on bass and David Klynjans on drums), a stellar vocal partner in Anna Burley (Killjoys) and an ace producer in Craig Pikington.

Hooky "Cordyline" sets the pace with its short blast of jangle and soaring melody that could be the theme song for a TV gardening show - if they made a season about a genus of 15 kinds of woody monocotyledonous. It's ovr way too soon. Anna Burley joins Danny and band on the country-flavoured pop of "The Suburb I Grew Up In" and it's relatable in its lyric about decay without a whiff of cultural cringe. "Judge Me For My At, Not Where I Live" makes itself known with a brief flurry of guitars and makes a statement for rust belt towns all around the world.

Flip the bugger over and there's more of the same, although not with the same brevity. "Commuter's Lament" is mid-tempo, swoony pop that is easier in the going than any drawn-out trip on Melbourne public transport in winter. "Keeping the Dogs at Bay" is more working man's pop with a great feel. Hell, if singing about the mortgage belt can make Brooooce a multi, where's Danny's cut? He writes much bttr songs, for a start.

"Modern Architecture" is available as a vinyl seven-inch, a CD or in digital format here.

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