FRESH MUSIC FRIDAY: SYCCO, ALPHA GOOSE, AND A.GIRL

Fresh Music Friday is back and more Australian than ever, as Katarina Butler, Zander Czerwaniw, and Tamsyn Bellew guide you through the latest (genuine) bedroom pop from Sycco, some funky beats from USYD’s own Alpha Goose, and the smoothest hip hop RNB from Sydney’s A.GIRL.

sUPERSTAR – sYCCO

Katarina: The opening bass riff propels listeners headfirst into Sycco’s yearning for fame and a release from middle-class boredom. Slightly repetitive and derivative of 00’s pop music, this song finds its place as a warm-up to bigger things from the singer.

Tamsyn: I like the vocalising at the beginning, but the chorus melody is monotonous and unwavering in stark contrast to the verses, which makes the song sound confused and anticlimactic. Its saving grace is the gradual build and development of the instrumentation with each chorus; overall, it’s a really nice, relaxed dance track.

Zander: This really is groovy, it feels like an automatic add to any house party playlist. It’s inoffensive but hits precisely the wavelength it’s looking for.

paranoia – alpha goose

Tamsyn: The sirens are overdone and the opening is too strong; its intensity leaves the song with nowhere to go. It has a lot of potential, but it’s repetitive and a little annoying – aside from the occasional punctuation of softer melodic riffs, which add a little interest. 

Zander: This song did not go where I expected it to, there’s a nice little funky breakdown in the middle and it’s got a kicker beat.

Katarina: Driving guitar melodies, funky slap bass and synth riffs: this song captures the wild energy of Alpha Goose and distils it into a headbang-able track. The suburban angst of being young and creative is background to the funky rhythm of this single. A sign of great things to come from the USyd based band!

Paranoia – A.GIRL

Zander: Takes me back to days of listening to All My Friends by Snakehips on loop. It’s got a really catchy flow and some great meditations on leaving the innocence of youth behind.

Katarina: Big things are coming for A.GIRL – she announces it herself on this track. Opening with a retro brass sound and quickly building into a samba-style rhythm, this song is perfect for dancing. As A.GIRL laments lost love, I lament the overproduced sound – bring back live session musicians!

Tamsyn: The way the instrumentation blends at the beginning is beautiful; it’s the perfect dance track with an infectious rhythm. It’s soft yet groovy, which suits A.GIRL’s smooth gentle vocals really well. I think the fake phone call is awkwardly placed – it disrupts the smoothness of the listening process – and I wish there was a little more differentiation between the first verse and the chorus, but overall I really enjoyed this track.