The Great Divides

Aussie export The Great Divides let loose a sweet and unfussed vision of jangle pop on their new cassette for Spoilsport. Like fellow Aussies The Goon Sax, who share a few aesthetic impulses with the band, The Great Divides are barely out of high school as their first album is released. Recorded by Dusty from fellow RSTB fave Dag, there’s a humble hummability to the record. Short and sweet, but packed songs that extol heartbreak and the kind of uncertainty that could only hope to accompany someone just entering adult life in these complex times, this ticks a lot of the right boxes around here. The band namechecks The Sea Urchins and The Clean, so if nothing else, the kids are all right after all.

There’s practically no flash to what The Great Divides are doing. There are hooks, but they amble rather than agitate. The sounds is spare, like the listener has dropped in on the band in their kitchen or bedroom, but don’t let that make it sound lo-fi. The record is intimate and confessional, a half-smile shared between friends that they’re just now letting us all in on. It’s a great jump start for the band. Can’t wait to see where they head from here.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.