In this series, I look back at some Australian records that I don’t think received the attention they deserved. These releases can be several years old, or from the past few months.
I was drawn to Gift Shop for its cover artwork, an overwhelming display of plushies and cute ceramics you’d find if you tipped over a child’s toy box and laid everything out on a table with the beige of a Macintosh. Before you even press play, you know this record will feel nostalgic and warm.
What the noisy Fremantle quartet deliver is lyrics that recall early 2000s twee pop, and the bright melodies—absolutely drenched in reverb and distortion—are accompanied by bleeps, bloops, flutters, and other hard-to-describe sounds from the dial-up internet era. Like the cover artwork, you will notice something new each time you listen to Gift Shop.
“Dial Tone” is the busiest track and a fan favourite, a song that begins with a telephone ringing—”hello? hellooo?”—and, in just two minutes, crams in dozens of noisy sound effects, an unconventional chorus with two sets of lyrics performed at once, another ad-lib phone conversation before the second verse, plus an awesome glitch pop breakdown which is one of the most satisfying parts of the entire project.
“Earwig”, my personal favourite, features standout drumming and the harshest guitar tones. It’s a messy song—the first note seems cut off at the start—but the vocal melodies in the chorus are so pleasing and catchy, despite being made up solely of “doo doo doo doohs”. Frontwoman Anya’s lyricism also peaks here (in the verses, at least): it’s like she’s desparately trying to outrun a depression or anxiety (or in the case of the fantastic music video, earwigs. Maybe I’m looking too far into this song and maybe she really is just talking about the insects.)
“Puzzle” may feature simple storytelling (“I met this lady on the weekend, I saw her and we got to speaking”) but voice snippets from the recording booth sprinkled in are a reminder of how much fun went into its production. The song opens with a bandmate saying he can’t hear himself; we then hear him desperately yelling at someone to “get up! you, GET UP!!” before the song closes with “we were out of time as fuck … but I don’t think it matters.”
Anya’s vocals stay within a fairly limited range and are always slightly drowned out in the mix—this is not a bad thing! Her almost shy delivery and melodies are always pleasant and match the vibe of her lyrics, especially in “Sometimes”, the prettiest track on the record.
Gift Shop is an EP that seems messy and confusing at first, but with repeat listens reveals itself to be one of the most fun and creative musical endeavours I’ve heard from 2024.
Keep an eye out for Paint on Instagram. They’re hitting the road from October to November supporting Fool Nelson on their Australian tour.
