If you haven’t already noticed, Australian bands are having a real moment right now. Their guitar-centric music has been filling the widening void in the American indie rock vortex. Indie rock, which used to be the zeitgeist in the first decade of the 2000s (think “Young Folks,” “Lisztomania,” and “Cough Syrup”), has noticeably tapered off as rap gods and pop princesses have taken over. However, the craving for offbeat, spunky sounds has not disappeared completely and Australian bands like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are capitalizing on that.
Well, maybe not capitalizing. When I stop by The Teragram Ballroom to chat with the band before their show, it becomes clear to me that they don’t pay any regards to who consumes their music. Fran Keaney, the resident acoustic guitar player as well as one of the three singer-songwriters for the band notes, “Different audiences have different flavors that they respond to. If you try to go in with a deliberate intention I think you’ll get it wrong and be really frustrated.” Tom Russo, a fellow singer-songwriter and electric guitar player takes the idea even further by politely pointing out, “I don’t know if we even consider ourselves as part of any indie rock world. We would do what we’re doing no matter what.” Genre and popularity are clearly not a concern for the band. Their only priority is having fun and making music that is true to their roots.
Those roots run pretty deep. The band formed in Melbourne in 2013, but their history extends back much further. The band, made up of Fran Keaney, Tom Russo, Joe White, Joe Russo and Marcel Tussie, has been practicing together since their early adolescence, due in part to their likeminded musical tastes and in part to their kinship. Tom and Joe Russo, the band’s bassist, are brothers while Fran and Joe White, the other singer-songwriter and electric guitar player, are cousins. Marcel Tussie rounds the group out as a longtime friend. These close-knit familial and friendly relationships help the band act, think and create as a unit. So much so, that I’m worried about mixing up who said what when I listen back to my recording. Fran reassures me by giving me an easy way out: “If it’s something stupid, that would be Joe White who said it.”
While nothing they say is outright stupid, we do cover some bizzare topics such as laundry, sour patch kids, Limp Bizkit and even stranger: democracy. What starts as a discussion of the band’s democratic approach later delves into the “democracy” of America. On the surface, the band’s music is light-hearted and nonchalant, but when you look at the stories contained in the songs, it’s clear that recent events have impacted their lyricism. Especially on their latest album, _Hope Downs_. “We wrote it last year when a lot of big things were changing in the world,” Tom’s voice takes on a serious tone as he goes on, “Political things were going on. You know about that...and back home in Australia there were some things happening. It felt like the world was going crazy.” Despite these influences, the album never becomes a political discourse. Fran, Tom, and Joe each weave their personal experiences into the larger narrative of the world.
One specific way they do so, is through the use of clever characters. This practice extends back to their first EP, _Talk Tight_, where a particular Jenny pops up in “Wither With You.” Not to be confused with the Jenny who pops up in “Talking Straight.” “Or are they the same Jenny? Could be!” Joe muses. The casual stance they take with these characters comes about due to their unique creation. The characters are a mix of how they see themselves, how they view the people around them and pure imagination. Fran explains, “Previously I’ve written almost purely fictional. This album I tired to make it a little bit closer to me. I wanted to make sure the songs were coming from…an honest place. They’re somewhere between truth and fiction.”
Although the three songwriters take a similar approach when writing these characters, there are subtle and almost imperceptible differences in their styles. Fran, a natural leader, approaches his songs with an abundance of energy. His songs are often infused with a sunny surf rock aesthetic and operate at a much faster pace than most would think is humanly possible. Both of the Joe’s explain to me that it comes from his background as a drummer. Joe White starts by saying, “Fran’s been a drummer most of his life and then jumped on the acoustic guitar and kind of just blindly went on not knowing what the chords are. Playing in that way kind of comes out in these weird chords and,'“ Joe Russo finishes, “bizarre time slips. It fits the song somehow but just baffles everybody else.” Tom songs are “agile” as well, but they have more of a danceable “light footed” groove to them, which Fran describes as being Springsteen-esque. Joe rounds out the group with some slower (but definitely not slow) melodies that have a bit more soul and angst embedded in them.
These slight stylistic peculiarities are even more noticeable when I see them perform live. Fran swings his guitar and body around effortlessly, Joe White gets close to the mic and sings his heart out with a little more intention and Tom switches between swaying with ease and strumming with passion. The members that really captivate me on stage though are Joe Russo and Marcel. Although neither was as loquacious or animated as the guitarists during the interview, on stage their passion is palpable. Joe leans into the groove sensually while Marcel bounces to the beat while grinning ear to ear.
The band, which seems to have started as a hobby and a fun experiment, has turned into a full on commitment and career for the group. Ironically though, their songs still refuse to commit or conform. The songs spontaneously shift from chorus to verse to bridge, often leaving chords open. Sonically, “It feels like the windows are open,” Joe White tells me. For Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, every day is a like a breezy summer road trip with the car windows rolled down. As they cruise from town to town throughout the rest of their tour, they’ll be sure to bring the feel of summer with them.
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Written by Tori Adams
Photographed by Nicole Busch
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