Clever Sydney indie pop garage band Phantastic Ferniture have taken a cheeky major Australian inner city it could be Newtown in Sydney, Fortitude Valley in Bisbane or Fitzroy in Melbourne, millennial ethos, slightly hipster, and made a career out of it, crafting quite rocking with heavy guitars indie guitar music with a quirky, mischievous 20-something alternative groovy vibe. The release of their self-titled debut album sees Phantastic Ferniture – a play on the name of Australia’s most notorious and somewhat wrong el cheapo furniture department store of the same name – sees them bringing together an accomplished collection of indie rock songs.

They fall into the camp of low-fi indie youth bands and singer-songwriters such as Olympia, Middle Kids and Ali Barter, who, while they play with whimsy, are serious about the music underneath it. Album opener, ‘Uncomfortable Teenager‘ charts the course of teenage self-assertion, dreaming of leaving home while their

life’s a mess, trying to escape from bad friends and not really knowing who you are or where you’re going, all set to a brooding and rocking song that is fast enough that you could dance to it at a nightclub just as much as any electronic song, riding its flowing, strong emotion. There’s even a little bit of the spirit of the B 52’s ‘Rock Lobster’ in there, its corresponding party vibe.

American indie guitar singer songwriters Liz Phair and Kirsten Hirsch can also be very agreeably heard both in the guitar work and Julia Jacklin’s vocals. First single and biggest hit places the rather sensational and outlandishly titled and themed ‘Fuckin’ and Rollin‘ in another brooding and sweetly emotional musical arrangement. While insouciantly and seductively celebrating its ostensibly outrageous theme, “fuckin’ and Rollin, rolling around, just feels right”, this song burns with dark, brooding desire and smouldering passion. Phantastic Ferniture have been widely touted as a fun, summery band and with the funny name, you might be inclined to believe that.

However on closer listen, these are really serious, tightly written songs. The brooding emotion and lyrical commentary on the psychological internals and politics of relationships are laced with an underlying, lethal bite. The guitars and drums are turned up quite high and recorded quite heavily, so as to affect a quite menacing rock sound. Don’t let Jacklin’s female voice fool you or the inexplicable and inaccurate billing of Phantastic Ferniture as an overly silly, fun party band, these songs have real power, surge with rock n’ roll prowess and superlative

songwriting, taking you to a somewhat claustrophobic, confronting and psychological place. This isn’t for the faint hearted, and with fellow bandmates Elizabeth Hughes and Ryan K Brennan, has created something of a formidable rock beast with this album.

‘Parks‘ slows things down a little and puts the brakes on the seething rock menace lurking just beneath the surface to produce a slightly more reflective and longing song. But still, we feel like we’re in something of an internal, subconcious Hadean underground cave system of personal reckoning. All the other songs on the album continue in this vein, such as ‘I Need It‘, ‘Dark Corner Dance Floor‘ and ‘Mumma Y Papa‘. It’s sort of like the feel of the grey, claustrophobic early 80’s Cure albums Faith and Seventeen Seconds combined with a more leather jacket-wearing, inner city pub-dwelling rock ethos, more like Lou Reed and Patti Smith fans.

Despite the brooding, oppressive, heavy ethos, there’s a wonderful sense of pure alternative pub scene and bedroom rock band raw guitars and drums here, which is in line with the early Cure sound and ethos as well, just that The Cure were more lush sonically, with sweeping keyboards. But there was still that gritty guitar basis to their music. We are deep in serious alternative music heaven here. Don’t let the kooky name and album cover or misleading media hype fool you, with the three band members drawn with fern pot plants replacing their heads, Phantastic Ferniture are a serious rock band who play powerful music. While challenging, if you can handle the intensity, Phantastic Ferniture present some darkly beautiful and hypnotic music, rewarding to the committed listener.