THE LEISURE SUIT – INTO THE ANTIPODES SUN

The Leisure Suit is a Sydney-based band whose lead singer, Grant Shanahan, uses a fake American accent. He sings of rivers as “riverrrs” rather than Aussie “rivas”, “twin” is pronounced “tween”, “bitter” is “bidderrrr” – you get the picture. Perhaps this is because the music is a mix of Americana, pop and lounge, but either way with all the Australiana references in the lyrics the yankee accent sticks out like a sore thumb. Grant also plays bass, acoustic guitar and keyboard, and wrote all the songs for this debut album. There are some interesting and poetic lyrics and the songs are about anything from walking out after a one-night stand, to racism, to what if a Japanese World War 2 submarine invaded Bondi? Back up vocalist Bek-Jean Stewart, on the other hand, has a soft, sweet voice. Maybe for the next album she should do lead vocals and leave Grant to sing back up and stick to what he does best: writing lyrics and playing instruments?

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