Southern River Band
Modern Romance
Independent
The band that put the bog laps and donuts into Thornlie are back with a new track to showcase Southern River to the rest of this big, sunburnt land.
Bogans they may be, but never has a bogan been so charming or as fancily dressed as frontman Cal Kramer. They’re also taking their musical cues from a very different place than bands such as The Chats, or Amyl & the Sniffers, who also fly the Bogan Pride flag high. Try Daddy Cool, some Eagles in the guitar harmonies, an ‘80s Oz Rock edge – hell, you could almost say there’s a mellower, not-quite-country-tinged AC/DC vibe going on, at a stretch.
Modern Romance is an insightful dig at the world of online dating, complete with these ultra-self-conscious lyrics from the normally uber-confident and extroverted frontman, “I’m double checking, second guessing every word that I say, just another of the stupid little games that we play.”
It’s not their catchiest, rockiest or “party-startingest” song yet, but it’ll still go down a treat at festivals and clubs from Toowoomba to Townsville, and Southern Cross to Sydney, and whets the appetite for album #3.
SHANE PINNEGAR
