Melbourne MP3 of the Week: Appropriate by Great Earthquake

It’s been a big year for great earthquakes and it’s time we celebrate it in song. Noah Symons just released it.  And the lyrics are easy to remember.

“Appropriate” has no time to waste. Almost before you hit play it’s out of the speakers and you’re krumping inconsolably.

A dirty driving bass pins the song down, while the “Uh Oh” shout chorus essentially riffs over the song’s two and a half minutes. The metallic pig-nose electric guitar sounds straight out of Africa. Droning bagpipe-like accordions, twinkling xylophones and handclaps make it known we’re definitely partying.

With “Appropriate” Symons shows us Great Earthquake is essentially an instrumental dance band for sharehouse livingrooms, for driving around or out of town, even jogging maybe. The “Uh Oh”s become like a mantra for getting psyched, like air-punch running on the spot, Antony Robbins doing flashdance.

By the sound of this track, the forthcoming album (not due til next year) will sit well alongside the African/Zydeco traditions that influenced “Graceland”, though definitely naught for lyrics by comparison to Paul Simon’s album.

“Appropriate” is basically a jam and runs off the one idea, and in the classic formula of dance tracks it states the theme, builds it up, cuts it back, then lets it loose in a frenzied rhythmic conclusion. This song would be perfect on an ipod ad. But I don’t mean that derisively, ipods have pretty good taste in music.

Something about it kind of makes you feel you should be doing something with yourself, like turning off the Tour De France and riding a fixie real fast or in slow motion. I hate to keep mentioning that it’s winter, but times like these we need all the pep we can get.

Go get it here!

Great Earthquake is launching “Appropriate” on 30th July at the Grace Darling.