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Mary Varvaris
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Mary Varvaris
Mary Varvaris is a freelance writer residing in Melbourne, Australia. You can find her in independent record stores or leaning on the barrier. She is passionate about her dog (ask for photos), coffee, R.E.M. and Masterchef Australia.
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SORTED BY: REVIEWS

Review: Savage Garden – Savage Garden

Chorus.fm Savage Garden
Mary Varvaris

A lot has changed since Savage Garden released their eponymous debut album in 1997. Not that it’s surprising — everything from technology to politics has rapidly transformed in just 25 years, so why shouldn’t music also follow that trend? Pop music today is closer to Savage Garden than pop music of ten years ago, strangely enough. I love seeing The Weeknd, Paramore, and Dua Lipa inspired by the glitz of 80s synth-pop and improving on pop-punk with empowerment and new stories. In a way, I suppose the music that multi-instrumentalist Daniel Jones and vocalist Darren Hayes have released, both from their time as a duo and Hayes’ solo career, hasn’t truly left us.

As a kid growing up in Australia in the late 90s and early 2000s, Savage Garden were inescapable. They were making music when there was more funding for showcasing Australian music. You’d hear “Truly Madly Deeply” on the radio (which I heard on the radio days ago, coincidentally, so that you know how omnipresent the singles are in this country). They performed on weekend television, we played their albums in my house, people still argue about misheard lyrics to “I Want You,” and they sold a shit ton of records. They performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony. Delta Goodrem reworked her classic “Lost Without You” with Hayes. They played to huge audiences in their home city of Brisbane, Australia, a rousing response, to be sure, following mammoth tours around the country. Hell, Hayes even sang by Luciano Pavarotti’s side in a 2000 concert for Cambodia and Tibet. Savage Garden were massive, and rightfully so. 

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Review: Methyl Ethel – Are You Haunted?

Methyl Ethel - Are You Haunted?
Mary Varvaris

Methyl Ethel is one of the most exciting artists in Australia right now. Led by multi-instrumentalist and producer Jake Webb, the Perth-based artist gathers numerous artists for his live shows. Webb has built up an impressive reputation: he has gained accolades for his solo work; the third Methyl Ethel album, Triage, released in 2019, was a mostly solitary affair. The band has supported Pond on tour, released Record Store Day exclusives, and steadily climbed the ARIA Charts with each release.

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Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – See Through You

A Place to Bury Strangers - See Through You
Mary Varvaris

See Through You is relentless. Depending on your preference for in-your-face noise rock and post-punk, the sixth album from A Place to Bury Strangers – their first in four years and the follow up to last year’s excellent Hologram EP – won’t necessarily tick all the boxes for all listeners. For me, the record lives in an atmosphere beyond our tiny, insular worlds. The New York-based trio now comprises long-time vocalist and guitarist Oliver Ackermann and Ceremony (also known as Ceremony East Coast) veterans Sarah Fedowitz on drums and John Fedowitz back again after a stint with the band in 2016 on bass. See Through You is also the first A Place to Bury Strangers album on Ackermann’s brand-new record label, Dedstrange.

Since founding the band in 2003, Ackermann has produced, mixed, and mastered all its albums; their latest is no exception. How do an independent label and 20 years in music affect a band’s sound? Well, in the case of A Place to Bury Strangers, that experience and freedom have resulted in the catchiest, well-rounded album the group has offered so far. The Washington Post dubbed A Place to Bury Strangers as “the most ear-shatteringly loud garage/shoegaze band you’ll ever hear” in 2012, and while that referred to their live show, their recorded output is bloody loud, too.

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Review: Ducks Ltd. – Modern Fiction

Ducks Ltd. - Modern Fiction
Mary Varvaris

There aren’t many bands like Ducks Ltd. (formerly known as Ducks Unlimited) around anymore. That’s it, that’s the pitch. Just kidding, Ducks Ltd. are excellent because their music transcends genre, time, and space. After releasing an expanded reissue of their debut EP, Get Bleak, in May this year, the pair – Tom McGreevy (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming) – prioritised lively music and warmth with self-aware critiques of living under capitalism. The duo later somehow managed to release their debut album, Modern Fiction. At the same time, McGreevy was in Toronto and Lewis in his native Australia, unable to travel anywhere due to COVID-19 and Australia’s harsh border closures.

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Review: Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend

Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
Mary Varvaris

Wolf Alice began as a folk band. Not that you would know it if you had only heard their Grammy-nominated grunge single, “Moaning Lisa Smile,” or their commanding trysts into riot grrrl punk music (“Yuk Foo,” “Play the Greatest Hits”). You cannot pigeonhole the London group, not when they leaped from sophisticated balladry to shoegaze to rip-roaring metal tracks on their 2017 Mercury Prize-winning album, Visions of a Life. That’s why I love them so much. There’s always been something for everybody to love: if you like Mazzy Star, you will love “After The Zero Hour.” If you want to hear the British heavy metal revival, I reckon you will be impressed by “Visions of a Life.” If you like Britpop, “The Last Man On Earth” recalls the boldness, effortless cool, and timeless songwriting that defines What’s The Story (Morning Glory)? as a modern classic. 

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Review: R.E.M. – Reveal

REM - Reveal
Mary Varvaris

It’s no secret that I wholeheartedly love R.E.M. I talk about them regularly on Twitter; I call myself a R.E.M. enthusiast on Instagram. By the time they released Reveal, 20 years ago this weekend, the band was already significant to my five-year-old self. I could take one look at the opening scene of the “Losing My Religion” music video and know the song was starting. The water drips from an open window; Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry run across the dark room while Michael Stipe stays seated; Tarsem Singh’s “melodramatic and very dreamlike” direction still captivates me. I loved that song while not understanding why I connected with it at such a young age. Maybe I loved it because my parents did, too. 

My parents didn’t follow R.E.M. in the 80s. Sure, they would have heard “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” – which dad hates – and “The One I Love” (which dad loves), but besides those two tracks, R.E.M. wasn’t breaking through in Australia. They didn’t hear “Fall on Me” on the radio, which is a travesty if you ask me. Life’s Rich Pageant – my favorite R.E.M. album, depending on the day – spent seven weeks on the Australian chart. A year later, in 1987, Document enjoyed nine weeks on the chart. Out of Time sat pretty for a whopping 33 weeks on the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Chart. Automatic for the People spent 52 weeks on the ARIA chart. By 1992, the band was rightfully inescapable in my home country.

Despite the wild success R.E.M. celebrated in their “peak” periods – for some, the peak is their run on IRS Records; for others, it’s the four-album run of Document, Green, Out of Time, and Automatic for the People – the band’s later output is criminally overlooked. If you look at pure sales and chart positions, they are among the most successful groups of all time. They are the college rock band that could. If you’re a Radiohead, Nirvana, or Pavement follower, you know the influence R.E.M. has had on them. Some people proclaim any album up to Automatic to be their last great album. If you’re one of those individuals, I have a couple of questions for you: Have you heard New Adventures in Hi-Fi? How about Up? Most importantly, have you sat and listened to Reveal?

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Review: Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God

Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks of God
Mary Varvaris

If you had only heard the initial two singles from The Million Masks of God – “Bed Head” and “Keel Timing,” the sixth album from Manchester Orchestra, you could argue that the Atlanta group has learned how to groove. I’m not talking about groove-metal, Pantera style, although their take on “Walk” would be sick. They have always had that heavy edge, after all. Their songs have always been catchy; look at the youthful energy of “Wolves at Night,” the brilliant key change on “I’ve Got Friends,” the blues-inspired “April Fool,” or the undeniable “Choose You.” The list could go on and on. On their fifth album, A Black Mile to the Surface, the band combined their talent for unforgettable melody with ambitious, sprawling storytelling. In that sense alone, The Million Masks of God is the natural successor, a sister album to their 2017 instant classic.   

The Million Masks of God is co-produced by vocalist Andy Hull and lead guitarist Robert McDowell, alongside Black Mile producer Catherine Marks (The Killers, Alanis Morissette) and newcomer Ethan Gruska (Phoebe Bridgers, Fiona Apple). With these two powerhouses on board, Manchester Orchestra turns the concept album dial up to 11. While the theme was abstract at the beginning of writing, it became far more straightforward following the loss of McDowell’s father to cancer. “If Black Mile was this idea of ‘from birth to death,’ this album would really be more about ‘from birth to beyond, focusing on the highs and lows of life and exploring what could possibly come next,’” Hull explained. The question here is, how well do they tell the story? Does the music itself match the quality of the concept? To me, it’s complicated.

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Review: Ronen Givony – Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense

Ronen Givony - Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense
Mary Varvaris

Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense isn’t your typical book about rock stars. For one, Ronen Givony opens his second book with this line: “First, a confession, and a caveat: I’ve only seen them fifty-seven times.” From the get-go, it’s clear that this narrator possesses the kind of voice that we can relate to. Chasing our favorite band across the world is the dream, is it not? Secondly, Not for You is an unsanctioned biography, if you can call it that. No members of Pearl Jam are involved in this book. Givony isn’t a journalist, nor a close accomplice of the band, he is simply a fan: “someone with no more credentials than you.”

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Review: Fell From the Tree – ENOUGH

Fell from the Tree - ENOUGH
Mary Varvaris

If the Pet Shop Boys’ vocalist Neil Tennant was the first music critic turned stupendously successful musician, Hannah Jocelyn aka Fell from the Tree should be the next in line. She is the editor at Singles Jukebox and has written for Pitchfork and Billboard, among others (I cannot say for sure whether her experience as a journalist influences her songwriting, but I would like to think it does). As an artist, her influences track from electropop, to hip hop, to post-punk; all wrestling for the same urgency.

“I thought I needed more time to sort it out, I guess I prayed too hard for the world to stop,” Jocelyn sings above a demanding bassline and beats bubbling with tension beneath her vocal on “Tread Water.” She is somewhat anxious, finally all her; on her fourth album, ENOUGH, the last album she will release under the Fell from the Tree moniker. Amid a global pandemic, personal issues are suddenly meaningless, right? But they cannot be so easily erased.

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Review: SUUNS – Fiction EP

SUUNS - FICTION EP
Mary Varvaris

There are no ifs or buts about it – SUUNS are a band caught in a unique juncture of past and present on their new EP, FICTION. On the eerie opener, “LOOK,” the Montreal-based band conjures an ominous atmosphere straight off the bat. Vocalist Ben Shemie recalls sermons, his vocals high in the mix; processed to the point where words are unintelligible but that doesn’t even matter. All you can focus on is the feeling “LOOK” demands. “FICTION” takes a leaf out of trip-hop legends Portishead’s books with beats contrasting against a mournful elegy: “Where are you from, you don’t seem to know,” Shemie sings. “Life is long as a day/And one by one, you see them fall/I can’t talk, can’t take anymore.”

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Review: Alanis Morissette – Such Pretty Forks in the Road

Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Mary Varvaris

Alanis Morissette needs no introduction, but she deserves one. At 21 years old, her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill sold 33 million copies worldwide, was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning five (including Album of the Year), and it’s one of the best-selling albums of all time. The singles are magnificent – each a warranted choice for best song on the album. Whether you were a year old in 1995, 13-years-old or pushing 30, “You Oughta Know” and “Ironic” were inescapable. Most astounding of all, Morissette channeled unflinching female rage in a fashion that was unheard of in mainstream music at the time. She also didn’t dream about growing older – she had one hand in her pocket, and the other one “giving a high five,” “flicking a cigarette,” and “hailing a taxi cab.” She effectively became the voice of a generation overnight – a voice for those who never expressed their desires, their fears, or their anger. 

In many ways, Morissette’s ninth album — her first album in eight years — Such Pretty Forks in the Road, feels like a love letter to her many past selves. Originally written for the 2018 Jagged Little Pill musical, opener “Smiling” calls back to the drama of “Uninvited,” as well as the Radiohead classic, “My Iron Lung,” echoing Jonny Greenwood’s descending guitar notes; only quieter. “Smiling” also paves the way for the rest of the album: she’s back, and she’s more confessional than ever. 

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Review: The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers

The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers
Mary Varvaris

“You are a beam of light / maybe that’s why your battery runs dry,” Elizabeth Stokes sings on the penultimate track of Jump Rope Gazers, the highly anticipated sophomore album from New Zealand group, The Beths. “You Are A Beam of Light” is the sole acoustic song on the album, and what a song it is. In the hands of another pop-punk songwriter, the track could come across as corny; or worse, convey zero emotion in a story that should tug at your heartstrings. Stokes, though, is a songwriter who transforms the mundanity and nostalgia of life into something universal and wholly captivating, while highlighting her introspective mind.

The Beths’ debut album, Future Me Hates Me was a surprise hit. Well, it was a surprise to the band. To everyone listening, it was clear that the four-piece had created something extraordinary. According to Chris Taylor at The Line of Best Fit, “Future Me Hates Me was one of the most self-assured and exciting debuts in recent years.” It’s true: with their debut, The Beths had me enjoying pop-punk for the first time since my teens. The success of the album propelled the Kiwis to newfound heights, spending 2019 touring with Pixies, subsequent to a stint in Europe and the UK with their personal heroes, Death Cab for Cutie (The Postal Service’s Give Up is an album Stokes knows front to back).

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Review: Gordi – Our Two Skins

Gordi - Our Two Skins
Mary Varvaris

Sophie Payten, the Australian folk-pop artist known as Gordi, is one of the finest songwriters to ever come from this country. In August 2017, she released her debut album, Reservoir, which peaked at #20 on the ARIA Chart. Following the release of the record, Payten dove straight into exploring her collaborative side; appearing on “Postcard” with Troye Sivan, as well as featuring alongside Julien Baker, Bon Iver, The National, and more. Last year, Payten worked as a doctor at the Prince of Wales Hospital after completing her medical studies at The University of New South Wales in 2018. In January, Gordi released her first song in three years: “The Cost,” with all proceeds going to the 2020 Australian Bushfire Relief. Her second album, Our Two Skins, was somehow created amongst all of this.  

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Review: Jess Williamson – Sorceress

Jess Williamson - Sorceress
Mary Varvaris

Something spellbinding occurs on “How Ya Lonesome,” the midway point of Sorceress – the fourth album from Texas-native, LA-based musician Jess Williamson – her already magnetic universe opens up before us in a kaleidoscope of hazy ‘70s cinema and meditative psychedelia, offering a story of love and uncertainty beside weaving pedal steel guitar, piano and synths. Sorceress sees Williamson remain true to her country roots while growing in ambition.

Williamson weaves untamed love letters to our confounding present and uncertain future – accompanied by musings on femininity (she questions what it means to be an aging woman in this society on “Ponies in Town”: “Am I aging well? Am I just an aging well?”), the pursuit of perfection; a search for meaning via Tarot, astrology apps and crystals; evocative critiques of capitalism and living online and details the lives and deaths of loved ones. Sorceress is an album about loss – lost innocence and facing mortality head-on – and self-assured insight. These reflections orbit around Williamson’s superb voice, a pure voice, a voice of might and vulnerability.

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Review: Hala – Red Herring

Hala - Red Herring
Mary Varvaris

When we discuss romantic comedy films, we think about the leads, namely (for me, anyway) the self-deprecating humor of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ undeniable charm and wit. Conversely, we also think of the songs that soundtrack first kisses, heartbreak, and the cheesy romantic gesture leading to our gorgeous couple’s reconciliation. Maybe it’s the heart-warming ending of The Breakfast Club, with the triumphant “(Don’t You) Forget About Me,” immediately springing to mind. Maybe you adore Love Actually and can’t help swooning over “White Flag” by Dido. Or the playing of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” as Hugh Grant’s Will mourns rejecting Julia Roberts’ Anna in Notting Hill. No matter what song comes to mind for you, here’s the star whose music should feature in the next Netflix rom-com: Hala.

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