Hailing from the Blue Mountains, Antonia and The Lazy Susans are the latest in the Aussie wave of Female fronted folk punk and they came out swinging hard, making a name for themselves in the Indie scene across the country.
The project is an evolution for the lead singer Antonia Susan, who released a solo EP in 2015, now with an incredible band and an awesome name, she is ready to take on the world, one heart-wrenching song at a time.
Closure is the band’s debut effort and is being released through the label The Sad Grrrls Club. Recorded and produced by Jonathon Tooke, it features five incredibly personal and emotional songs that will be stuck in your head for weeks. Each track tells a story with a level of song writing that is incredible; it’s personal, it’s heartfelt, it’s super catchy.
The opening track and lead single, Home Here With Your Friends, features a chorus that is impossible to not sing to and an energy that is part angst, part punk and all emotion. The pulsing rhythms and gang vocal chorus will have you nodding your head first, then moving your whole body. The band recently released a homemade music video for Home Here With Your Friends, that shows the bands fun loving, easy going personality and this comes through in the song, even though it deals with quite serious subject matter, the song is fun.
Track two (Bloodties) slows it down a little, sounding like the text we all need to get sometimes, a reassurance that you are loved, even if your biological family isn’t always there for you. Antonia’s vocals really shine through on this track, her range and emotive tone showcased throughout. Grab the tissues because this one will leave a tear in your eye.
Track three, Grandfather, is everything to love about the band, super well written, deep, you will be singing it for weeks. This track is a showcase of the band’s dynamic range, musical skill and harmonies, starting with a very stripped back chorus and building to the top of your lungs scream and back to a subdued reprise. The song is also an example of the incredible story telling utilised by the band, the lyrics kicking you right in the guts even though your grandfather is fine.
Track four is a musical FU in the most fun way. I Don’t Like You features grunge style shifts in dynamics and tempo. The softer sections feature some incredible guitar playing, accompanying the vocals perfectly and the heavy sections show the incredible lock and groove the band has.
The closing track is the most emotional of the bunch, Skinny Legs, is the modern folk-punk ballad that you didn’t know you needed in your life. Again showcasing Antonia’s haunting vocals and emotive song writing, the song builds to a dynamic and emotional crescendo that only feels appropriate to be screamed when thinking about an old love.
Overall the EP is an incredible first effort and people are noticing, the band just finishing a run of shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra and set to support Sløtface (Norway) for their Sydney date and supporting AJJ (Andrew Jackson Jihad) (America) on their eleven show Australian tour starting in late September.
– Travis Salviejo