Actor Slash Model profile picture

Actor Slash Model

Debut CD out now through Mistletone Records!

About Me

Actor Slash Model, Gossip About Guys 8.4

"In a perfect world Melbourne's Actor/Model would be the kind of band that we (Australians) would be exporting to the world. They have influences but by no means are they as transparent as the local bands that actually do make it overseas. They are insanely catchy without blatently ripping off a previously succesful formula. Their stripped back honesty isn't bogged down with overly emotional and pretentious crap. They would fit in opening for an over-hyped overseas act just as much as they would knocking at an impromptu warehouse party.
Gossip About Guys is a brilliant five-track EP of catchiness and childish charm without even a whisper of the normal contrived bullshit that comes packaged with the majority of local releases.
The opener My Agent Says... is a catchy tongue-in-cheek play on their paradox nature of their chosen band name. It's sonically perfect and topped with an atmospheric feel. The track naturally flows from chorus to verse and back again.
The band create an unbelievable large sound for trio, especially evident on the second track Chicken Salt Coast which starts with a Strokes-like riff only to be layered in the similar harmonised vocals as the opening number.
I Dot Heart is a more airy number. Keyboards, although subtle at times, are brilliantly used as the central melodic backbone. There is also a series of quirky little sound effects on this track which you appreciate more and more on further listens.
S.S Slapper is an insanely energetic number that is strangely reminiscent of 80's computer games - without all the nerdery. It's fast paced and colourful but doesn't sound at all like that childish overly-happy hyper-coloured-stupid-fluro-whooo bullshit music that seems to be going around. It's the celebration track of the EP and although at time reminds me a little too much of Architecture In Helsinki it is a fantastic explosive spurt of joy that adds some nice diversity to the release. The closing number Laptop Dancing takes the ideas from the rest of the EP and melts them all into a fantastically awesome 7 minute opus. Each verse builds with occasional harmonies before rumbling into a chorus powered beautifully by deep guitars and more 'classic' pop vocals. A large instrumental piece complete with delayed melodic sounds and fuzzy feedback planted in the middle of the track nicely throws the listener off course before slowing bringing them back to the action with keyboards and another rising action. Blissful stuff.
I pretty much don't have a bad word to say about this 5 track storm of radness. It's as close to flawless-ism as you are going to get from a local band who are incredibly talented and putting together original and interesting music. Listening to this EP is the clearly the best way to spend 25 minutes of your day." - PollaroidsofAndroids.com

"Actor/Model use their setup of guitars and keyboards well and it’s fun. Simplicity is the key. it reminds me a little of Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim; synth pop or synth punk or both, lots of call and response vocals between the boy and girl. It’s never sugarsweet but has enough melodies to bolster it especially combined with skittering cymbals and a real danceablility…gung-ho and synth-punk." - Cyclic Defrost Magazine

"An arsenal of heavenly pop hits." - Beat Magazine

"Zoolander perfection. The debut EP by Melbourne’s Actor/Model takes the vainglorious vacuity of a catwalker and fuses it with future-tense Krautrocking intensity. Opening cut ‘My Agent Says’ is a throwback to the knob-twiddling heyday of Mister Quincy Jones: the moment Karen Anson depresses the keys on her splendid synth, your eardrums light up like the footpath in the ‘Billie Jean’ film clip. The songs here have a never-ending rush; guitarist Ricky French has never met a slashing riff he didn’t want to sustain for an eternity. The way the keyboards and guitar interlock is almost like watching two stars collide, or at least J Mascis finessing his guitar around Duran Duran’s new wave nonsense. Behind them drummer Philip Smiley is like an automaton on the autobahn, driving the pulsebeat and converting songs like ‘Chicken Salt Coast’ into exactly that – a highway blazing with unlimited speed. Art rock ballad ‘I Dot Heart’ laments the life of the demimonde: “This airbrush can’t conceal a frown,” sings French, in total Hush, Hush, Sweet Thurston mode, while ‘Laptop Dancing’ reinvents new wave in a way that will cause a whole heap of haircut bands to spontaneously combust. Let’s hope they tune in." - Shane Moritz, Mess and Noise Magazine

"...chord changes that make your heart happily twinge, and a warm harmony soaked sound, this song just gets better and better with every listen, an absolute winner." - Zan Rowe, Triple J Radio

"This local three-piece make an appropriately (for those colder months, at least) moddy clash of wintry '80s British sounds and a definite pop/melody bent. 'I Dot Heart', at over six minutes, is particularly lush and enveloping. Lovely handmade packaging too, not that it really matters, but a nice bit of DIY always makes a CD feel more like a gift." - Clem Bastow

"Gossip About Guys displays an alluring uniqueness that could see this lo-fi three-piece propelled into the post-whatever, melodic indie stratospheres. Pairing a driving, insistent rhythm section with whirling synth and fuzzy guitar to create a moody (frequently melancholic,) almost Sonic Youth-esque ambience…Chicken Salt Coast sees the band's fusion of simplicity and substance in full flight - the guitar and synth sparring and intertwining with each other, whilst keeping pace with a pounding, insistent rhythm section to produce an off-kilter little gem. The call and response, male/female vocal dynamic in this track is executed with aplomb, but unlike say, a primal Frank Black/Kim Deal assault, both Karen Anson and Ricky French can sing in tune and tracks like other standout, 'My Agent Says…' benefit immensely from their harmonies…'seven minute prog epic 'Laptop Dancing', with its incredibly dense, competing layers could quite easily have ended up in a horrendous, impenetrable muddle, but instead seemlessly shifts between glistening clarity and a Dinosaur Jr.-like wall of sound..." - Nick Clarke, Beat Magazine.
Click on the image to buy 'Gossip About Guys'Out through Mistletone Records

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/2/2005
Band Members: Karen Slash Anson, Ricky Slash French, Phil Slash Smiley
Influences: Electrelane, Le Tigre, Sonic Youth, The Clean, The Models, Joy Division, Pavement, the usual...
Sounds Like: Ricky and Karen and Phil
Record Label: Mistletone Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

How/where to buy our CD! And very cheaply.

We're very excited to finally have our debut mini-album Gossip About Guys out through Mistletone Records and avaliable with Australia-wide distribution thanks to Fuse. About time. You s...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Sat, 19 May 2007 01:46:00 PST

Actor Slash Model under the Mistletone

We're very happy to announce that we've become part of the Mistletone Records family. This wonderful new label from Melbourne will be putting out our debut release 'Gossip about Guys'. The launch is h...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:08:00 PST

Camp A Low Hum

Wainuiomata turned out some damn fine weather for the first Camp A Low Hum, and generously gave me the New Zealand summer I never had as a kid: K-bars, Foxton Fizz, roman sandals and canoeing on ...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:51:00 PST

Christmas Eve Show with Crayon Fields - Northcote Social Club, Sunday 24th!!!

You are all very much invited to spend Christmas Eve with us and the darling Crayon Fields this Sunday at the Northcote Social Club. We can't wait - it's our last show of the year and caps off a wonde...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 01:15:00 PST

Live photos from Wellington

Thanks, Wellington - indeed all of New Zealand - we love you, and not just as a friend. Click or paste this link for some live pics from the San Francisco Bathhouse: http://neonsleep.com/partypho...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Sun, 01 Oct 2006 01:40:00 PST

NZ DATES!!! Starting Sep 22...come see us in NZ!!!!

This is going to be fucking ace. Please come down and support and we'll all have a good time. Playing with some great bands, seeing some snow, we even have a God-damn radio ad. The dates are...Friday ...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 03:39:00 PST

PONY FRI. AUGUST 11 !!!! WITH MOSCOW SCHOOLBOY, PINKY TUSCADERO AND APPLECROSS. GET IN EARLY!

that's the details. Nothing more. See you there....
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Mon, 07 Aug 2006 03:04:00 PST

SYDNEY SHOW THIS FRIDAY JUNE 16 - CLUB 77 (note change of venue)

Actor/Model play this weekend in Wollongong at the Oxford on Thursday the 15th of June and the following night, Friday the 16th in Sydney at Club 77. It's an early show there so no time to amble. Batr...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Wed, 14 Jun 2006 04:18:00 PST

Sydney and Wollongong Shows

Actor/Model play their first inter-state shows this June. Do yourself a favour and catch them at the Oxford Tavern in Wollongong on Thursday June 15 and at Club 77 in Sydney on Friday June 16. Both sh...
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Mon, 29 May 2006 02:50:00 PST

Songs Up

Actor/Model are pleased to announced they have mastered the ways of the Upload, and now have two songs for you to put in your boy and girl ears.
Posted by Actor Slash Model on Sun, 13 Nov 2005 08:58:00 PST