And now we bring you Astro Children. No, Astro Children isn't a new morning cartoon or underground comic book. It is a band from Dunedin, New Zealand, who appears to believe that music should be fresh, fun, relatively unrestrained, and young at heart. (In addition, of course, to making them, us and everyone else involved with the indie music industry fabulously wealthy.) And one doesn't need to read the band's mission statement and core principles to discern their intent -- just watch the video for "The One We Start With", the opening track from their self-released EP Lick My Spaceship.
Lick My Spaceship is the kind of record that can make you look foolish trying to describe it, but I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it (my insurance is fully paid-up). To my ears the songs have a punk/garage core with predominant shoegaze and psychedelic delivery. I particularly like how the noisier numbers have some rough edges and a touch of chaos; I suspect these kids are great fun in a live show. However, "Interlude is a charming, all-too-brief, bit of sonic noodling. And the acoustic "Humiliation (Encore Song)" is a highlight track, so as a public service, we have embedded a stream of it below.
The band's sense of humor is evident in the sing titles. The opening track is "The One We Start With". "Interlude" is an interlude. "Humiliation (Encore Song)" is the song to be played when the crowd brings you back for an encore. Track six, "The Really Loud One", really is. The closing track is "Shoegaze", and you can imagine it played by the band standing in one place and staring at their shoes.
Astro Children are Millie Lovelock (also of Dunedin band Trick Mammoth) and Isaac Hickey. Lick My Spaceship is available at the Bandcamp link below in limited edition physical form or for $7 (US) as a digital download only.
Bandcamp
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