Underground Lovers - Staring at You Staring at Me (2017)

2017 album from the legendary Australian indie outfit. Despite torturing their fans with a seven-year hiatus between 2002 and '09, the Underground Lovers' album Staring At You Staring At Me, proves that guitar riffs fused with synth-pop are a timeless mixture. Melbourne has long been the epicenter of indie and progressive music in Australia, and for much of the 1990's and 2000's, local band the Underground Lovers pushed sonic boundaries in a manner that made them cult favorites. Staring At You Staring At Me aptly paying homage to the band's hometown of Melbourne, even to the degree that Melbourne's obsession with footy is explored from a betrayed fan's perspective in the plaintive opening track 'St Kilda Regret'. Another preoccupation for some Melbourne folk, consumerism, comes in for attention via 'Conde Nast Trap'. This track's driving, rhythmic guitar beats showcase front man Vince Giarrusso's up-beat vocals. Influenced by a mixture of late '70s Joy Division and '80s pop, the third single form the album 'The Rerun' sees "Faceless users come undone". Clearly a reference to either drug addiction or ALP factional politics! Like all good Undies albums, Staring At You Staring At Me defies singular analysis. Elements of pop, shoegaze, synth-rock and pounding bass feature throughout, but rarely at the same time. Those old enough to remember 1994's Dream It Down will know one thing however: Staring At You Staring At Me showcases the Undies' varied talents at their greatest.