BASICS (THE) Stand Out Fit In (2007) CD

There's a particular kind of Australian indie rock that sounds like late nights in sticky-floored venues, the kind of bands your friends argued about on the drive home. The Basics were part of that mid-2000s Melbourne scene that briefly made everyone think guitar pop was going to save us all, and Stand Out Fit In (2007) is a tight little document of that moment.

Power pop with a Nuggets-influenced chew to it, the Wollongong-via-Melbourne trio had hooks sharp enough to draw blood and a live reputation that made the record feel like a compromise. This one sat comfortably in the crates next to your Architecture in Helsinki and your early Vines records, which is not an insult. If you slept on it first time around, it's cheap enough now to stop making excuses.

Standard jewel case CD, Australian release, 2007.

Fans of: The Vines, Art vs. Science, early Karnivool, Australian indie rock circa 2005-2009.