Cat Canteri

High Vibes 2008THE STILLSONS – CircusTUESDAY, 21 APRIL 2009(Green Media/MGM) More polished roots music from an urban centreThere’s actually no one called Stillson in this Melbourne four-piece. But they play like a family that’s travelled the country backroads of this nation for a while. The surprise is, they’ve only been around four or so years, assembled by a newly arrived immigrant from Britain, multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer Justin Bernasconi. His main foil in this band is drummer Cat Canteri whose sweeter vocal delivery adds a nice counter to his darker but still measured tone. They draw together strands of roots music – blues, folk, country – with instruments like lap steel, banjo ukulele, putting them in a similar category to Adelaide’s Audreys. There’s some mild-mannered country blues in Down The Line and more of an electric feel in Why Don’t You Need It?, not to mention a typical traditional blues crawl in Young Boy Blues. But the centrepiece of this album is Charity And Ghosts (Where’s Your Mama Gone) which cheekily slips in bits of The Middle Of The Road’s tacky 1971 hit Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep, helping to disguise a more sombre tale of orphans transported to Australia for cheap labour. That alone is a mark of this band’s abilities. BILL HOLDSWORTH